Women in Charge of the Garage

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Women in Charge of the Garage

The sign in Andrea Garcia’s tow truck proudly reads “girl power,” a boast made true not only at her self-named wrecker service but also at her family’s garage, Double A. Women play a central role in both Harlingen businesses. “Without them,” says Tony Garcia Jr., who opened the garage in 1995, “I probably would have closed by now.”

Josie Garcia and Andrea Garcia along with Rachel Rocha represent Double A Garage’s “girl power.”
Josie Garcia and Andrea Garcia along with Rachel Rocha represent Double A Garage’s “girl power.”

The women who run the shop today include Tony’s first wife Josie (who handles transmission work), his second wife Rachel Rocha (bookkeeping and tow truck driving), and Andrea, one of his daughters (parts and mechanics). But Andrea, who added Andrea’s Wrecker Service in 2005, is the main shop manager. She took over in 2008 when her father’s bout with myasthenia gravis, a chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disease that causes muscular weakness and rapid fatigue, intensified. Tony now serves as a consultant, which is just fine with Andrea. “I love having my dad here because if there’s something I truly don’t know, I go to him right away.”

Auto repair is the family’s stock-in-trade that became the family business after Tony partnered with his father over 20 years ago to run T&T Car Care in Harlingen. As the business grew, they added what eventually became Double A Garage to service bigger trucks allied with the railroads. Like her siblings, Andrea spent a lot of time at both shops. She hung out with her grandfather and her father while they worked, and she realized she liked auto repair.

To gain the trust and respect of the Double A Garage male mechanics as their new shop manager, Andrea began to jump in on repairs or frequently check in with them.
To gain the trust and respect of the Double A Garage male mechanics as their new shop manager, Andrea began to jump in on repairs or frequently check in with them.

“My dad didn’t force me into it. He sent me to college. But I wanted to do this. This is what I’ve know since I was about 7 or 8 years old.” It was a different learning curve, and not the expected one. “But my dad has never been the type of person to say ‘Hey, you’re a girl.  You can’t do things like this.’ My dad’s always had the attitude that ‘If I can do it, you can do it, and maybe even better than me.’”

Clearly understanding the power and salvation of family, the Garcias continued the tradition of teaching auto repair to the younger generation. Along with two brothers (10 and 16 years old) who can disassemble transmissions, Andrea said that Lucia, 8, can strip a motor. The lessons do more than occupy idle hands. “Our dad has always instilled in us the importance of work — work before play, earn so you can spend. Lucia’s not a girly girl. She’s not scared to get in there and get dirty. She’s probably better at it than my brothers.”

Despite Tony’s enlightened views regarding women working in the auto repair business, Andrea noted that there have been plenty of challenges. When she first took over as the manager, the male mechanics “didn’t want to talk to me, they wanted my dad,” particularly Ray, 62, known as the Mad Genius for his magical auto repair talents, who had worked with Tony for decades. “All of them were old school, the ‘oh, you’re a woman’ camp.”

The Garcias often work with the Harlingen City Police and are on call for tow truck services.
The Garcias often work with the Harlingen City Police and are on call for tow truck services.

Andrea decided that persistence made for a good strategy. “I just kept pressing,” jumping in on repairs, “so that they would realize I wasn’t going away.” The strategy took years, but it paid off. “But it was a long time coming. He and I had to start working together.  Now we’re at the point where he asks me to put a computer on an engine so we can diagnose the problem.”

Andrea doesn’t drive the tow truck as much anymore, because running the shop is so all-consuming, but she recalled the days when she and her sister Veronica would go out on 2 a.m. calls. “You never know who you’re rolling up to when you arrive.” Some customers were suspicious when a woman gets out of the tow truck. But “we’ve towed roll-overs and taken cars out of canals,” without a problem, she said.

Despite the challenges posed by franchise shops, Andrea’s family plans to keep the small business rolling along, adjusting to industry changes as best as possible. Armed with a $9,000 upgraded computer system, which allows her to diagnose even the newest cars, Andrea is ready to meet the challenges. Besides, if there are any lulls, they have the best strategy — “the power of prayer,” Andrea said, pointing to a burning candle emblazoned with the image of Jesus resting on a small shrine-like table in their break room. “When it gets slow, my family comes in here, gets in a circle and prays,” said Tony. “He’s our go-to guy,” said Andrea, pointing to the candle, noting that He has never let them down.

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