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The ARC Is Making Headway Promoting The Benefits of Rebuilt Engines

In a competitive, mature industry like ours, your support is critically important

Progress is being made by the Automotive Repower Council (ARC) in its effort to better educate consumers concerning the benefits of repowering, i.e, installing a rebuilt engine, or utilizing machine shop services, compared to purchasing a new or used vehicle or installing a used engine.

ARC Chairman, Dave Deegan, recently made a presentation to the Houston Engine Rebuilders Association, which is making a donation to ARC. "It appears to me that we are starting to gain more and more acceptance from machine shops every day," said Deegan. More acceptance means more industry participants pledging financial support so ARC can expand its "buy rebuilt engine and machine shop services" message to consumers.

The ARC message is currently receiving radio broadcast publicity on the Consumer Automotive Repair (C.A.R) Show which informs and entertains a weekly audience of more than 2 million listeners. Roger Kwapich and Dan Pietras have been hosting the highly successful show for more than four years.

Kwapich told me that the show covers a broad range of automotive questions, but that he is solidly behind supporting the ARC message. "When we have the opportunity, we try to get people to think that if their car has 125,000 miles on it and it has a worn out engine, they should look at the rest of the vehicle to see if it makes economical sense to install a rebuilt engine. We try to get people thinking that a remanufactured engine can be as good or better than the original engine. We also have a ‘Question of the Hour,’ sponsored by various automotive companies, and once every six weeks we air the ARC Question of the Hour which speaks to what a rebuilt engine is and why you should consider one." To find out more about the C.A.R. Show and learn what radio channels in your area carry the popular program, go to their Web site at www.thecarshow.com.

Dave Bowman and Sam Memmolo of the hit TNN cable Crank & Chrome television show, the successor to the Shade Tree Mechanic, have an ARC poster on their shop wall which television cameras occasionally pick up. ARC is investigating the possibility of creating a Crank & Chrome show soley focused on rebuilt engines and machine shop services. The show would air the one-half hour ARC program four times over a 12-month period. The show broadcasts on Saturdays and Sundays reaching a combined viewing audience of 1.8 million. To find out more about the show, visit its Web site at www.crankandchrome.com.

ARC is currently at the printer with a 16-page consumer booklet entitled "Sticker Shock," which uses photos from precision machining operations and price comparisons of new vehicle purchases to extol the cost savings and performance benefits offered by rebuilt engines. Current ARC members will receive 100 complimentary copies of the booklet. The remainder will be available through ARC’s Web site and for distribution to the public and trade.

ARC’s Web site can be viewed at www.repower.org. In addition to informing the public about ARC and the benefits of rebuilt engines and machine shop services, the site lists ARC engine rebuilder members by state so consumers can access ARC members in their area directly.

Also over the past six months ARC has accomplished the following:

•Sent releases entitled "Best Kept Secrets" to national woman’s magazines.

•Sent releases entitled "Engine Trouble" to 1,700 newspapers.

•Sent releases entitled "Awesome Engine Noises" to 3,400 newspapers.

We’re making progress! But, the more engine rebuilders and their suppliers who make a financial pledge, the more broad reaching our message will be. For more information on joining ARC, call 419-734-4488 or fax to 419-732-3780.