From the Magazine: ‘From zero to 100 in no time’

 Platinum Automotive Repair in Niagara Falls, Ontario, is the CARS 2025 Shop of the Year Award winner

Sometimes, it can be a simple comment that can change the trajectory of a person’s career. It could be a suggestion on how to do something, that piece of advice you needed to hear or even something that confirms whether or not a place is the right fit for you.

It was the latter for Sam Medici. As a technician at a local dealership, it was one conversation that made him realize he needed a change. So he grabbed lifelong friend Frank Bilotta and began the journey of opening their own shop.

And they committed to ensuring anyone walking through the doors would be treated like family, that they would receive the absolute best service and that their vehicle would get the best care.

It’s those core tenets that have made Platinum Automotive Repair the 2025 CARS Shop of the Year.

Medici and Bilotta have built a thriving business in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Spend a few minutes standing in the foyer and you’ll see customer after customer be greeted warmly — sometimes with a hug — referred to by their name more often than not, some chit chat about the family and life, and then it’s down to business to schedule their vehicle in for service.

A clean, welcoming waiting area provides drinks like hot coffee or cold water, snacks and a visual presentation of a professional shop.

“My big thing was try and make it as woman-friendly as possible, so they feel welcome,” Medici said. “Just so they feel that when they walk in, it’s a clean place — not just a typical, grungy, smelly, ‘you sit on the chair and you’re dirtier than when you first sat down’ kind of thing.”

The journey

Medici’s story starts when he was a teenager, working as a co-op student at a local shop amd sticking around for 17 years. It was where his family had their vehicles serviced. Medici values comfort and stability, not one to make a change. But with Frank working at a local dealership after leaving the same shop Sal was at several years prior, he considered the move to join his best friend. Multiple times, in fact. He turned down job offers twice to work at a dealer.

“I was afraid of change. Change is always hard. I think change is one of the biggest things,” Medici said. “It’s tough. You’re used to your surroundings. You know your everyday in and out. You know what you’re going to be doing. You know the people you work with.”

But he finally made the jump. The decision came while he was the shop foreman and shortly after a day when he asked his boss for a raise.

“His response was: “If you want to make more money, you make more hours,” Medici recalled.

That took him back. When he’s putting in 70 hours a week, how much more room is there to grow, he wondered.

“He told us that ‘if you’re not happy, you’re easily replaceable,’” Medici said, a comment that further shocked him. “So that never left my mind.”

Six months later, he was out the door for good because if he was going to make the leap to be a shop owner, he better do it while he was still young.

“I kind of regret not doing it even sooner,” Medici admitted.

The pair heard that a local shop owner was moving out and that a spot was available. They jumped at the chance. Medici and Bilotta fully moved in, renovated the location and opened the doors, while all along the way realizing that their decision wasn’t an easy jump.

“It’s always the uncertainty of: You got employees, you got a rent, you got everything,” Medici said. “There’s so much that’s on your shoulders.”

The transition

Platinum has six bays in all. Four are full mechanical bays, plus one for alignment and another that has a scissor lift for those emergency fixes. They have three licensed technicians, in addition to Medici and Bilotta — but they aren’t in the bays anymore. Medici handles all the customers who come through the door, while Bilotta handles the back of the business.

 “He trusts me and I trust him,” Medici said of Bilotta. “We didn’t have a plan of what was going to happen here. We just opened a door [and said], ‘Let’s hire some guys, and we’ll go day by day.’ But honestly, it went from zero to 100 in no time.”

It made sense for Medici to be the face customers see when they walk in the shop’s door. He had previously dealt with customers regularly at his first shop, understood the software and handled accounts.

He told Frank, “I’m hanging up my tools and you’re going to get as many guys as you need back there to make this work.”

The transition to being an owner was made easier because he and Bilotta had been friends for so long —  their fathers were also best friends.

“We both know our personalities,” Medici said. “He knows what will fire me up and where to draw the line.”

“I don’t want to just run a business. It’s just not about dollars and cents. I want people to leave here knowing that they were treated fair, treated right.”

As mentioned, Medici isn’t someone who jumps at change. But the comment made by his former employer kick-started his transition — either out of the trade or into his own shop.

“We had such a large amount of customers that we would always do side work for family and friends that would support us,” he said of the confidence in getting the shop off to a good start.

And he had a good mantra for how he wanted his business to run: Make it work. Make the customer happy. Don’t let anybody leave mad.

“I don’t want to just run a business. It’s just not about dollars and cents,” Medici explained. “I want people to leave here knowing that they were treated fair, treated right.

“If there’s a problem, they would come back and I would resolve it as fast and conveniently as possible.”

Neither Medici nor Bilotta have formal business training. They were two guys who knew how to fix cars really well and treat people the they should be treated. But running a shop? It’s been a learning curve. Meanwhile, they’ve also tried to bring in people who know what they’re doing. They recently hired someone to handle the accounting and financial side of things — and, as Medici said, help him run the business more efficiently.

“There’s a lot more things I’m learning as we go on with the business,” Medici admitted.

And the transition has been more mentally draining. He recalled his days of being in the bays and being physically tired at the end of the day. He’d look at his wife, who works a desk job, and wonder why she’d be complaining of mental fatigue at the end of the day. Now he gets it.

“My mind doesn’t stop. I’m always thinking, ‘Did I call this guy? Is this quote alright? Did I forget this? Is this person getting picked up? Did this car get done? What’s coming in tomorrow? Are the bills paid? Are my guys paid?’” Medici said. “It’s just nonstop. I am physically not tired, but mentally, I am exhausted 24 hours a day.”

Trust, the most important currency

Platinum’s approach to customer service sets the shop apart. They talk to each customer about their goals for their vehicles, whether they want to keep them long term or just for another year. This is, of course, after a warm greeting.

“Whenever somebody walks in, my big thing is I like to greet them by their name,” Medici noted. “So when they walk in, they’re known. They feel welcome.”

There is no overselling of repairs. Instead, the team chooses to prioritize what needs to be done. That builds trust, Medici said. He believes that if customers are happy, they will refer friends and family. He learned that from experience, saying he has worked for the cousins, aunts and uncles of people he only saw once.

“I’m not just going to go to town and try to sell everybody everything. I don’t want them to leave here saying, ‘That guy tried to sell me everything. I went in there for this, and now I left with all of this,’” Medici said. “I want everyone in here to come in here happy and leave happy. I don’t like comebacks but I know that happens from time to time.”

And he ensures that every customer coming through the door knows they can trust him.

“I treat everybody like if it was my mother,” Medici said, explaining that he’ll explain to the customer what’s required from a safety and maintenance perspective, outlining what needs to be done now and what can wait. If something isn’t urgent or the customer doesn’t plan to keep their vehicle long, then that can require a rethink.

“Don’t put good money into a bad car. I’ve talked people out of repairs, I think sometimes more than what’s normal. But it’s for the best,” Medici said. “Yeah, I want to run a business. I want to be successful. But I rather them put their money with a good car that’s worth it, than just keep dumping hundreds and thousands of dollars into something that’s not worth it. And I think people see that I’m being honest with them.”

And that effort has paid off.

“A lot of my customers, they just leave their credit card numbers on file: ‘Fix it, charge it, have a good day, don’t question me,’” Medici said. “There’s a little trust right there. That means a lot.”

Managing the turbulence

Rising prices are a constant challenge. Medici has seen it hit especially hard with tires. And he tries to keep prices in line with what customers have been used to over the last few years.

“I don’t want to keep having to pass everything on to the customer. But things keep going up, like hydro, rent, parts,” he said. “Everything’s taking a toll on the bottom line of everything.”

Medici works with his jobber partners, particularly Automotive Warehouse in Niagara-on-the-Lake,  to find the best prices so his customers can stay happy.

“I do find that people are not necessarily shocked at the prices, but in general, a brake job that maybe was $300 or $400 five years ago is now $500-$550 for the same thing,” he said

After all, customers need to get the work done on their vehicles to get to work or their kids to their sports and hobbies. And he’s built the trust that when he tells a customer something needs to get done, they let the team do the work.

“If I call somebody and say, ‘Mr. Jones, you need this, this and this,’ I pretty much just told to go ahead and they usually don’t ask for a price because they know I’m always going to be fair with them,” Medici said.

“Whenever somebody walks in, my big thing is I like to greet them by their name. So when they walk in, they’re known. They feel welcome.”

And the shop does this all while its default position is to put the best parts on customers’ vehicles. Platinum chooses parts that it knows will last long and come with at least a three-year warranty.

“I don’t want to put any economy parts on — ball joints, tie rods, anything like that — because the price point is clearly going to be less, but chances are, in a year, you’re going to be back with a noise and then you’re going to be looking at me, pointing the finger at me.”

And if they want a cheap part, he’s straight up with them. But those customers are the exception, rather than the norm.

“There aren’t many people that ask me for economy stuff. They really don’t. They just want it fixed. They want a good warranty — and they want it like two hours ago,” he said, joking about the last part.

It comes back to the conversation about honesty.

“You need to look people in the face. You need to be straight. You need to be honest. It only takes one time — you only need to screw somebody over once or lie to them or get caught with your pants down and they’re not coming back,” Medici said. “They’re telling everybody everything about their experience, good or bad. I’d be embarrassed and ashamed if I had that reputation because I don’t want that reputation.”

---

This article originally appeared in the December issue of CARS magazine