If You're not sure who we are, or want to know more about us, I put together a little history about our business. It all happened back In August of 1970, a young man from Northville Michigan by the name of Bill Wilson opened his first Service Station in Lansing. Back in those days, your local Gas Station was also your local Mechanic who would take the time to check your Belts, Hoses, & Oil, and make sure your car was safe to drive.

Years later, and a few more service stations, Bill consolidated the multiple service stations into one Auto Repair Facility, getting out of the gas stations entirely. The story goes that Bill and his wife Geri, already parents to two children, decided that raising a family and managing multiple businesses was too much to juggle. So if they wanted to have one more child, they would have to consolidate. Hence in 1980, I was born ;) In 1978, Bill opened up the Larch Street location by the Capitol. 1983 saw the move to our current location on East Oakland Ave.

As time went on, Bill & Charlie’s built its reputation as a shop where you could trust your Mechanic to do the job right, at a fair price, and where integrity was non-negotiable. In the early 1990s, it was decided to offer a service to all the Volvo owners in the Greater Lansing Area by specializing in Volvo Automobiles. Specializing brought us new friendships that we still maintain to this day through our clients and suppliers. Working with Swedish Engineering of Ann Arbor, we strove to provide the best value and quality of service for Mid-Michigan’s Volvo owners.

Also in the 1990s, Bill was approached by a friend who advised him to use his experience and expertise to help solve Auto Investigations from Traffic Accidents and Vehicle Fires. Thus, Investigative Mechanics was born. Ever since then, Bill has worked with Geri, his Wife & Business Partner, to provide the Legal Industry with Expert Counsel for the toughest of cases, from Arson to Mechanical Failure, and everything in between.

It is that focus on accurate testing, informed expertise, and uncompromising integrity that guides both businesses founded by Bill, and remains our highest standard. Our Mechanics are well known to our clientele, as Bryon Franklin & Tim Duman have been with us since 1983 and 1984 respectfully. That has allowed us the time to consistently earn the trust of our clients over the years, and we hope we have the opportunity to earn yours as well.

2005 proved another year of change for us, when I returned to the family business to provide Service-writing and Operations Management to the shop at the beginning of the year. This was a change from when I worked at the shop in my High School years as an Auto Technician apprentice. Some of you may remember Brandon who provided service-writing for our shop from 1999 to 2002. Near the end of the year, Greg Days rejoined us as Operations Manager & Service-writing, while I focused primarily on Marketing our Business for Growth. Greg originally worked with Bill for a brief period before embarking on his degree in Automotive Repair at Ferris State, followed by a career as an ASE Master Technician with positions such as a Service Manager at a Chevrolet Dealership.

As we stand right now, there are four of us full time at Bill & Charlie's, those being myself, Greg, Bryon, and Tim. What the future will bring? Hopefully successful expansion and growth of our business as well as new services offered. That's part of the reason to let you all know who we are, so that you can grow with us as a part of our family that has been frequenting us for the last 36 years ;)