Checkered Blog by Checkered Flag is the automotive play place in Hampton Roads Virginia

Meet smart center Virginia Beach's Brand Specialist Drew Spade

CB: How long have you worked here?

Drew: I started here at smart last month. I worked at Checkered Flag Hyundai and Volkswagen before that. And before that I was in the Navy.

CB: Which Hampton Roads city or county do you live in?

Drew: Virginia Beach.

CB: How long have you lived in Hampton Roads?

Drew: Since 2002. Before Virginia Beach I lived in Portsmouth. Like I said, I was in the Navy for about 8 years, so where I lived depended on where I was stationed. My last two stations were in this area, so it was Portsmouth and then Virginia Beach.

CB: What are your hobbies?

Drew: Fishing and cars. Oh and I have a 2 month old baby. I am also an aquarist, not an Aquarius [laughs], but, you know, someone with a large aquarium. I also read a lot.

CB: What kinds of books do you like?

Drew: Anything really. Well, anything but romance. Not too much into Fabio, haha.

CB: What is your favorite restaurant?

Drew: Smackwater Jacks. The service is great there. You do not have to worry about anything. The lunch prices are really good, too. I usually have the steak.

CB: What is in your MP3 player (or CD player) right now?

Drew: Hmm, my MP3 player...there is everything. I like everything from classic to rock...It just has to have a good beat.

CB: What movie have you seen most recently?

Drew: Like at the actual movie theater? I do not really go there. I watch movies on Pay-Per-View though, and the last one I saw was No Country for Old Men. But I would go to the movies to see Indiana Jones and the new Hulk coming out. And probably Iron Man. I am big into comics.

CB: What pets do you have?

Drew: 13 fish, an African Spur Thigh Turtle, a leopard gecko, and a snapping turtle.

CB: What is one thing about you that people would be surprised to know?

Drew: I write music. And I play the guitar.

CB: What is one invention you could not live without?

Drew: The stove! I love cooking.

CB: What is the best thing about working for Checkered Flag?

Drew: The people. Company stability... And also the versatility. I got certified at Hyundai and Volkswagen, and now I am at smart. But really the people are the main thing that keeps this company going. There is such an emphasis on customer service.

Meet CF Toyota Customer Rex Pimentel

Where do you live? In Virginia Beach.

What kind of vehicle do you drive? I have a 2004 Toyota 4Runner.  It's gold.

What do you like about it?  When I drive it, I feel secure.  I drove a Camry before and traded it in for the 4Runner when it reached 20,000 miles.  We got that Camry at Checkered Flag, too, and another Camry, also.

What do you do? I work for M & G Electronics.  I am an assembler.

How long have you lived in Virginia Beach?  Since 2000.  I moved here from the Philippines when I married my husband.  I grew up in the Philippines.  You know, even in the Philippines, I loved Toyotas, and I worked in Japan for a while and I drove one there.  Toyotas are easy to drive, parts are easily available ... I feel comfortable with them.

Do you have children? Yes, a daughter who lives here and two sons, who live in the Philippines. They are all grown.

Do you have pets? Yes, two cockatiels, named Bruno and Bubba, and two parakeets, named Michiko and Giant.

What is your favorite restaurant?  I love Japanese food and so I like local Japanese restaurants.  And I would like to go to Ruth's Chris; I haven't been there yet.

What are your hobbies?  Bible study.  And I love to travel.

What do you like about Checkered Flag? It's priced reasonably and I know in my heart that I can trust them.

Meet Checkered Flag Toyota Customer Yvette Jump

The Checkered Blog caught up with this multi-tasking mom at Checkered Flag Toyota where she was having her 2008 Toyota Sienna serviced.  Yvette is a military spouse with a large family, as well as a substitute teacher and a student working toward her teaching degree.  How she found time to stop by Checkered Flag, we'll never know, but we're glad she did!

Checkered Blog:  What's the best thing about your vehicle?

YJ:  The navigation system all year and the heated seats in the winter.

CB:  Why did you choose the Sienna?

YJ:  Actually, it was between the Honda Odyssey and the Sienna and it was refreshing because both the Honda and Toyota salespeople told us that either vehicle would be a good fit for what we wanted. 

CB:  Where are you from and where do you live?

YJ:  Seattle originally, but my husband's in the Navy and we have been in Virginia for five years.  We now live in Suffolk.

CB:  Kids?

YJ:  Three kids, two dogs and two cats.

CB:  !!!!!!

CB:  Best local drive when you have time?

YJ:  Beach.

CB:  Do you have a favorite restaurant?

YJ:  Bangkok Gardens in Ghent.  It's good I don't live closer.

CB:  Why Checkered Flag?

YJ:  The service here has just been excellent.  I came in today for an oil change but a rock cracked my windshield on the way in and they are going to see if they can take care of it for me today.  That's one example.

Meet Checkered Flag JPA's Phyllis Hunter!

It’s officially spring and there just might be music in the air at Checkered Flag JPA. I recently caught up with Phyllis Hunter who joined Checkered Flag in 2006 and currently serves as a Jaguar Silver Certified Sales Consultant, Audi Brand Specialist and a New and Pre-Owned Sales and Leasing Consultant. When I first met Phyllis I was beyond excited to learn that she is also an incredibly accomplished soprano!

Originally from Texas, Phyllis has performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City, at the Frankfurt Opera’s Bicentennial celebration and during the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy. She has also sung all across the U.S. and Europe, in cities such as Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Houston, Sante Fe as well as in Vienna, Austria and Brussels, Belgium!

Phyllis has lived in Hampton Roads for 25 years and is the co-founder of the Virginia Art Song Society, a unique organization dedicated to the study and performance of art song. She has appeared in many productions locally, including the Virginia Opera’s Die Walkerure and the Virginia Symphony’s rendition of Hailstork’s Songs of Love and Justice. In the spring of 2002, she toured Sicily with the William and Mary Symphony.

When not performing or working with customers at Checkered Flag, she enjoys cycling, reading, cooking and spending time with her husband and three sons.

Meet Checkered Flag VP and Director of Fixed Operations, Jim Huber

The Checkered Blog wants to introduce Checkered Flag’s new Vice President and Director of Fixed Operations, Jim Huber! Since the beginning of March, Jim has been in charge of all aspects of Checkered Flag’s service operation, including parts and body shop operations. Given that nearly half of Checkered Flag’s workforce of 700-plus are in fixed operations, it’s clearly a major responsibility. Jim took the helm following the retirement of long-time fixed operations chief Ray Carlile.

Jim isn’t new to Checkered Flag, though. He’s been with the company for 17 years. Jim came to Checkered Flag in 1991 and worked as the Service Director of Hyundai/Isuzu/Suzuki/Mitsubishi for about 4 years before he was promoted to Vice President of Service Operations. He’s also held positions as Vice President of the Checkered Flag Body Shop and as the head of the reconditioning center at what is now Driver’s World. Additionally, he served as Service Director at Checkered Flag Jaguar/Porsche/Audi/Saab/BMW, back when the brands were all in one location. When BMW moved into its own new digs, he took over the reins there as Service Director so, to put it mildly...Jim knows Checkered Flag inside and out!

Jim has spent his entire professional career in the retail automotive industry. He told us that he was drawn to Checkered Flag by the good reputation of the company and especially by its philosophy of putting customers and employees first. "It’s just the right way to do things," he said.

When asked about what he sees on the horizon, he explains that Checkered Flag really wants to focus on finding ways to make things even more convenient for customers. He mentioned the success of the extended hours Express Service lane at Checkered Flag Toyota. "We want to conduct a thorough review of our operations to see if there are more services that we can offer on an express basis, without appointment. We also want to look at our hours to make sure that they are fully meeting customer needs. Those are just a couple of things that we’d like to look at."

Jim and his wife Mary have been married 29 years. They moved here from Pittsburgh nearly three decades ago after they came to Virginia Beach on vacation and decided they liked it so much, they wanted to make it their home. In his spare time, Jim "tries to play" golf, and also bowls and shoots pool.

Congratulations and good luck, Jim!

Checkered Flag Toyota is Tops!

Checkered Flag Toyota just got the word that it has captured Toyota’s prestigious President’s Award. Toyota bestows this honor upon dealers with top-level customer satisfaction scores – the measure of how well they serve both sales and service clientele – and productivity. Checkered Flag Toyota general sales manager Josh Hamilton says the dealership learned informally about two weeks ago that it had received the award, and when the news was announced in a recent staff meeting, "everyone was very excited about it. It’s great to earn this recognition." Congratulations to everyone at Checkered Flag Toyota Scion!

smart center Virginia Beach is OPEN!

"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."

This is actually not the official motto of the U.S. Postal Service (they don't have one), but a lot of people think it is. I think that it should become the official motto of The Checkered Blog because I went out in torrential downpours this morning to get you the scoop on the opening of smart center Virginia Beach. I was not the only one who braved the rain, however. Here is smart center Virginia Beach’s awesome staff hard at work this morning.  (Gary Gullickson, smart brand manager; Paige Bias, smart brand executive assistant; Mike Sullivan, C.D. Morris, and Kate Heidbrick, all smart brand specialists.)

 

These first photos show that the dealership really turned out great. It’s SO clean yet modern and showcases the smart cars beautifully. And, of course, no Checkered Flag dealership would be considered complete without a gorgeous cappuccino machine (LOL).  There definitely isn’t another building like it that I’ve seen. Hours today are 10am-7pm and test drives are being offered on a first-come, first-served basis. It was crowded this morning, but people seemed really into checking out the static display on the showroom floor, watching the different videos and reading all the literature on options, safety, etc.

Please, come back and visit us often as we will be posting all sorts of information about the new smart center.  If you have questions or want more information, stop by 5193 Virginia Beach Blvd. or call 757-687-3447.

Reminder: smart center Virginia Beach Opens Tomorrow!

I feel like I need some Star Wars like theme music for the opening of smart center Virginia Beach which, as FlagRaiser reported earlier this week, WILL BE HAPPENING tomorrow, March 8 at 10am.  Instead of "be there or be square" I should say "be there or be stupid".  Hahaha.  Ok, that wasn't really funny at all.  I am hoping (as I'm sure you are, too) that the great satisfaction that I get from making smart puns diminishes in the coming weeks. 

Anyway, stop by smart center Virginia Beach tomorrow to have a look at the dealership and the car and even take a test drive (remember to bring your license though!)  If you can't make it down, check back here soon as I'll be posting pictures and info on the new facility.

California Dreamin'

As I hail from the Golden State, I was relatively psyched when we moved to Virginia Beach. Comparable latitude coupled with miles of lovely coast placated my inner beach girl. I was surprised on my first trip to the local beach however by the lack of groovy surf mobiles, namely, the lack of old VW buses with surfers, skimmers, etc. piling out of them. Where have all the VDubs gone, I wondered?

It turns out, according to VW technician Dave Morill at Checkered Flag, that they are still around, but that the moist air makes keeping them up especially difficult in Hampton Roads and The Outer Banks. Dave’s worked at Checkered Flag for about 9 years and has a ‘56 VW Bug that he tinkers on. He says that there are probably 4 or 5 tech’s at Checkered Flag that work on the older models. "Everyone else is too young to remember the old air-cooled engines," he laughs. While they see more models from the 70's and 80's, Dave maintains that the folks at Checkered Flag are more than happy to take a look at your vintage Volkswagen. They also have the skinny on where to get parts, both locally and nationally. Supply channels for those models ‘70 and newer are more active than those for earlier models. Dave told me that a lot of parts do come from the West Coast but that there are a couple of good local sources as well.

I did some poking around, too, and found that www.oldbug.com is a good resource as is this ebay "neighborhood" and locals seem to swear by The Bug House in Virginia Beach.

Meet Checkered Flag Volkswagen Customer Sue Klingbeil!

Where do you live?  Virginia Beach

Where are you from originally?  St. Louis, Missouri.  I came here because of the Navy.

What kind of car do you drive?  A 2000 VW Passat.  It's got over 102,000 miles on it!

What do you do?  I am active-duty Navy and a full-time nursing and women’s studies student at ODU. I am a senior and will graduate in August. I also have two children - two boys, ages eight and one.

Where is your favorite place to drive?  I just drive to ODU and back, everyday!

What's your favorite restaurant?  I love Italian and, really, anything with a lot of carbs!

Do you have any pets?  We have a five-month-old American Bulldog puppy. We got him as a gift for Christmas in St. Louis. His name is Louie, for St. Louis; my son named him.

What do you like about Checkered Flag?  The service department is convenient and always available when I need it.