Waterford, MI — June 23, 2022
Some of our best stories come from leads provided by The Lasco Press readers. Such is the case with this fun and amazing tale of how a local businesswoman’s love of an automotive brand has contributed to the success of her company.
Baley Smith, the service manager at Waterford Mitsubishi, contacted me recently and asked me to stop by the dealership on Highland Road in Waterford Township. He said there was something he wanted to show me.
Intrigued, I put the task on my agenda for the day and visited the facility. The dealership, just east of the Oakland County International Airport on M-59, is undergoing a renovation and I assumed that was the purpose of his call. Good story, but a better one was waiting inside. Baley walked me back into the shop and showed me a dirt-covered 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander? “Check out the odometer.” Opening the door illuminated the center of the dashboard revealing the vehicle had 426,672 miles on it.
Some quick math calculated the driver averaged over 80,000 miles a year to travel that distance. I have never sat in a car that had almost a half-million miles on the odometer, let alone one that was just five years old. “I have to talk to the owner!” Baley handed me a note with her name and phone number, stating, “She is expecting your call.”
My Car is My Business
Eager to hear the details, I dialed the digits on the paper. My excitement was met with the enthusiasm of a high-energy woman by the name of Amanda Coe. Amanda owns and operates a courier service in Southeastern Michigan that delivers documents and packages to various businesses and other locations in the region. Her seven employees drive a mix of their own vehicles and the four Mitsubishi’s that make up her company fleet.
The obvious question was, “How do you rack up so many miles in such a short period of time?” She told me, “I am up and out the door every day at 3 am and I drive until my route is complete. Some days run late into the evening. It would not be unusual to put 800 miles on [Sparkle Beach] when there are a lot of stops to make.”
“Sparkle Beach?” Amanda has a name for each of her vehicles. That’s not strange, race car drivers often do that, many car and truck owners refer to their rides with affectionate or descriptive labels. What about the other three units in the fleet?
- The 2020 White Mitsubishi Outlander is “Whitey”
- The 2019 Mitsubishi Mirage is “Beanie”
- The 2018 Brown Mitsubishi Outlander has a moniker not really appropriate for a family newspaper.
Downtime is Money
For a business dependent on reliable vehicles, quick repair times are often more important than the actual cost of repairs. How does Amanda keep the wheels of her fleet vehicles spinning and her company earnings growing?
“When you put as many miles on a car as I do you have to expect that parts wear out and have to be replaced. Whenever I notice something not right, the car goes to the shop immediately so that additional damage does not occur from neglecting the issue.” Amanda went on to say, “I am picky about my cars and insist regular maintenance services are up to date on all my Mitsubishis.”
She is a wise consumer with a solid understanding of mechanical necessities. But wait, there is more.
Why Mitsubishi
“I just love Mitsubishi, they have everything I was looking for in a vehicle. Sparkle Beach (the dirty red metallic Outlander) was my first and it is so comfortable to drive. They are solidly built, economical, with great styling, and have proved to be so dependable.”
“With gas prices the way they are, it is incredible to get 56 miles to the gallon with my Beanie (the Mirage). I bought the other two Outlanders after my experience with Sparkle Beach and I am going to put 1,000,000 miles on that one.”
Get this lady in front of a video camera! She is a real-life driving testimonial to the Mitsubishi Brand. Oh, Amanda mentioned that she bought Sparkle Beach used, 80K a year is far from the actual annual mileage she clocks. The real number is 142K every 12 months. So, in four more years, I want to climb back behind the steering wheel and see all seven digits. She insists I will.
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