August 12, 2024 By Carol Britton Meyer, Photos by Carol Britton Meyer
Elie Yazbeck, owner of Elie’s Auto Service in Hingham Centre for the past 19 years, has enjoyed working with his hands since he was a child growing up in Lebanon. Next February will be his 20th year in business at 9 Short Street.
“My father was in construction, so I learned how to build and fix things from a young age,” he told the Hingham Anchor. As one of the mechanics on duty, Elie gets a great deal of satisfaction solving problems with customers’ cars and other vehicles “at a reasonable price and seeing them leave with a smile on their face.”
Services offered at Elie’s include mechanical repair, safety inspections, and gas.
Putting worried car owners at ease
“Although Elie’s main role and expertise is repair and inspections, his ability to break down specific car knowledge and honest work ethic combine to put worried car owners at ease to ensure any problem is properly diagnosed and handled with appropriate care,” according to the Elie’s Auto Service website.
Elie called one of his employees, Max Kramer, “a great mechanic who works on everything from clunkers and older-model cars to Jaguars and Land Rovers and everything in-between for people from all walks of life.” Elie’s son Michael also works there as a member of the dedicated staff.
In addition to providing a variety of auto-related services, there’s a small convenience store offering items ranging from coffee and snacks to motor oil and other supplies.
In the 1980s, Elie moved from Lebanon to the United States and then to Canada looking for new opportunities after growing up in the midst of a civil war. He returned to the United States in 1999, living in Beverly before having a house built for his family in Abington in 2014. “I always wanted to live [in this country],” he said.
Elie owned a gas station in Canada and a pizza place in Avon prior to buying the current business.
When a friend told him the current gas/service station property was for sale nearly two decades ago, Elie jumped at the opportunity to purchase the business from Global Oil in 2005 after it had been closed for six months. The Gelo family of Hingham operated a gas station and auto repair shop at that location prior to that time until it was sold in 1996.
‘It was an investment’
“I expanded, renovated, and updated the business — adding a canopy over the gas pumps and installing new underground storage tanks,” Elie recalled. “It was [a big] investment.”
One of the biggest challenges these days is inflation, because the higher costs cut into the profits and his goal is to offer reasonable repair costs.
The late Mark Cullings — who lived nearby — was one of Elie’s favorite and most loyal customers since he bought the business in February 2005. “Mark was a great guy,” he said.
Hingham resident Katie Sutton has been a repeat customers at Elie’s for years — for car service, inspections, and gas at this full-service station.
Full service at pumps appreciated
“I know there are folks in this community, including some seniors and I would suspect some with mobility issues, who very much appreciate [not having to get out of their vehicles],” she said.
Sutton noted as a good example of the fine customer service offered by Elie’s that several years ago, she brought her car to an auto dealership because her key fob — which only the dealer could fix — was not working properly.
Even though that was the reason for her visit, the dealership presented her with a list of $5,000-worth of items that were wrong with her car besides the key fob not working.
“I brought the list to Elie’s for a second opinion. He did one of [the things the dealership said needed to be fixed] and charged me $60,” Sutton said. “Ten years later, the car is still humming along just beautifully with more than 200,000 on [the odometer].”
She also recalls Elie following her to another service station when something was wrong with her car that he wasn’t able to help her with at the time to ensure she arrived safely. “This is what happens when you have a family-owned and -run service station in the center of your community,” Sutton said.
Elie likes the Hingham community in part because customers expect and appreciate good service.
“I’ve had lots of loyal customers over the past nearly 20 years,” he said. “I think that says something about the quality of service offered here. We never fix something that doesn’t need doing or replace a part that would still last for several more months. We’re busier every year than we were the year before.”
At the same time, Elie’s “caters to existing and longtime customers first and services their vehicles promptly. We always go the extra mile.”
In his spare time, Elie enjoys biking “and all kinds of sports.”
For more information about Elie’s Auto Service, go to http://www.eliesautoservicehingham.com/.