From salvage to a sweet deal
<p>Jared Fuller is pictured with a 2002 Nissan 350Z that Treasure View Auto recently restored for a customer in Kalispell. (Caleb M. Soptelean/TWN)</p>
Something that began as a hobby has blossomed into a full-blown business venture.
Jared Fuller and Jacklyn Gamble started buying wrecked cars in 2012 and restoring them.
One thing led to another and the couple, who got married along the way, formed Treasure View Auto on Snowshoe Road. The company outgrew that facility and moved into a body shop on Warland Creek Road and outgrew that one too. TVA relocated to the body shop behind Chase Motors, 301 Mineral Ave., six months ago.
The growth continued so on Oct. 1, Gamble purchased Chase Motors from Dick Hoyer, who had owned the used car dealership since 2005.
“This gives us more space to grow,” Fuller said, adding that he has more business than he knows what to do with.
TVA, which has 10 employees, has expanded by word of mouth. Family members of those who have purchased vehicles have been located anywhere from Boise to Seattle to Billings, he said.
Typically how the situation works is that a potential customer calls TVA and requests a specific vehicle, say a 1969 Chevy Corvette. If Fuller can find such a vehicle, he and the customer agree on a price, which Fuller says is 50 to 75 percent of the Kelley Blue Book value.
However, Fuller said he has people who call him asking to see what kinds of vehicles he has in stock. He currently has a 2009 Chevy Cobalt with 40,000 miles and a 2007 Ford Expedition with 140,000 miles.
“I don’t typically have cars long enough to hit the (sale) lot,” he said.
Buyers typically don’t have a problem in getting financed because TVA sells the cars for less than they’re worth, he said, noting that banks only loan 80 percent of the value of a salvaged vehicle. And it is no problem to get insurance for salvaged vehicles, he said.
“It’s a way of enjoying a nice car that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford,” he said.
Gamble said she’s “a little nervous, but excited” about the expansion. “I think it will be good for the community,” she said.
Their long-term vision is to bring a Chevrolet dealership back to town after it left in 2007.
Caleb M. Soptelean can be reached at 293-4124 or by email at csoptelean@thewesternnews.com.