150 - Two Bays to Ownership: Alvin Lui’s Import Autowerks Journey
September 30, 2025 - 00:45:02

 

Show Summary:

Meet Alvin Lui, owner of Import Autowerks in Quincy, MA. He started in dealerships in ’99, opened a two-bay gas-station shop in ’09, scaled to a warehouse, and surprised his team with a new, owned facility two years ago. In this episode, Alvin shares how culture, training, and smart real estate moves shaped his growth, why he’s leaning into BMW/Mercedes with an eye on Tesla/EV, and the hard-won lesson to protect time with family. If you’re an independent shop owner who wants to evolve with technology, build a team that stays, and step into ownership (of your building and your life), this one’s for you.

 

Host(s):

Jimmy Lea, VP of Business Development

 

Guest(s):

Alvin Lui, Owner of Import Autowerks

 

Show Highlights:

[00:01:13 ] - Fall colors and family time set the tone as Jimmy and Alvin talk about seasons in life and business.

[00:03:02 ] - Alvin’s origin story, from Lexus oil changes to a BMW culture that knew his name and built confidence.

[00:09:39 ] - Startup phase at a two-bay gas station with a four-person team and 15 cars a day that forged processes.

[00:12:16 ] - Leveling up to a 2,500 sq ft warehouse, installing lifts, welcoming a new baby, and managing a transition.

[00:16:27 ] - Lease risk turns into ownership by purchasing a former Mercedes shop and surprising the team with a blindfold reveal.

[00:19:41 ] - Positioning the brand on BMW and Mercedes while adding Tesla capability to serve younger EV-leaning clients.

[00:22:02 ] - Hydrogen to hybrids, lessons from early experiments and why infrastructure and use case matter more than hype.

[00:24:35 ] - Power plus practicality, the rise of 700 hp plug in hybrids and choosing drivetrains based on lifestyle, not trends.

[00:27:34 ] - Move smart, not just fast, real estate timing, working on the business, and leveraging a 20 Group for playbooks.

[00:30:50 ] - Build a life, not a prison, take at least three weeks off, invest in coaching, and protect family time because you cannot buy time back.

 

In every business journey, there are defining moments or challenges that build resilience and milestones that fuel growth. We’d love to hear about yours! What lessons, breakthroughs, or pivotal experiences have shaped your path in the automotive industry?
Share your story with us at info@wearetheinstitute.com, and you might be featured in an upcoming episode.

 

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Episode Transcript Disclaimer

This transcript was generated using artificial intelligence and may contain errors. If you notice any inaccuracies, please contact us at marketing@wearetheinstitute.com.

 

Episode Transcript:

Jimmy Lea: Good morning, my friend. It's great to see you today or to be with you today. My name is Jimmy Lea. I'm with the Institute and this is the Leading Edge podcast. We talk about all things in the automotive aftermarket. About shops, the history where they are today, what's the future of where we're going?

Jimmy Lea: What do you see that future being so exciting. Can't wait to dig in deep with my guest today. My guest today is Alvin with Import Autoworks out of Massachusetts. Alvin, great to see you. How are you today, brother? I'm doing very well, Jimmy. Thanks for having me on this podcast. Oh, you're so welcome. And I love Massachusetts.

Jimmy Lea: I'm sure the colors are changing, the trees, the colors, the reds, the orange, the yellows. Are you seeing the same thing I'm seeing here in Utah?

Alvin Lui: Yes, we are getting the full chair. It's leave sign, change color. It is beautiful here in Massachusetts.

Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Do, have you gone around for any little road trips to look at the colors?

Jimmy Lea: Or is that just wallpaper for you?

Alvin Lui: No, we've been I think this weekend we're playing around with the kids to take up, take a trip, up to a little hiking path to kind of enjoy a little bit of nature, the fall nature.

Jimmy Lea: Oh, I love it. I love it. Two weekends ago, we hit the peak of the fall season here in Northern Utah, and so we went up and drove the canyon.

Jimmy Lea: There were a ton of people out. Ton of people, because they broadcast it, they market it. Hey, this is the peak of the season. Come look at all the colors. So we did. We went the very next weekend, so last Saturday, they closed the freeway for the amount of traffic that was trying to go up the canyon.

Alvin Lui: Wow.

Alvin Lui: That's intense.

Jimmy Lea: That's intense. 

Alvin Lui: That's unheard of.

Jimmy Lea: It was unheard of, man. There were so many cars going up there. They closed it down. Just absolutely amazing. And these mountain roads that we're driving, I mean, they are barely a one and a half lane road and it's tight turns, tight corners. I was like, no, we're going home a different way because that was a little too tight.

Jimmy Lea: I don't wanna be there with everybody else. And it's, this Highway six is one of the most dangerous highways in the state of Utah. So yeah we try to stay off of that one. Anyways, let's get into talking about you, Alvin. Well, I'm so excited to, to talk to you and finally meet you. We've been friends on socials for a very long time.

Jimmy Lea: I see a lot of what you're posting about the Euros that come into your shop. And that's where I wanna start is where did you start? How did you get into this business?

Alvin Lui: I started the business, I started this field working for a dealership. We, I believe that goes back to about 2009, where there was about eight or nine of us working at a small old dealership building working on BMWs.

Alvin Lui: So, I got my foot landed in this business because of my father. So my father was a bartender in the, in a little town of, wakefield, Massachusetts. And what happened is he surrounded his life of a lot of car guys. I never really knew that. And usually he kind of, he would be like hanging out talking to guys that own independent shops, that own dealer shops that work in dealerships.

Alvin Lui: And one of the things how I started was you know, I just, I was young. I had. I had a passion for cars and I really liked it. I went to school for it and one of my first jobs I landed was working at a Lexus dealership, which didn't last very long. So because I kind of got bored of oil changes pretty.

Alvin Lui: So after that, the service manager brought me to BMW working for BMW. It was great. It was a really great culture. There was about eight or nine technicians back then, and what was really great about it was every day the boss would come in, he'll say hi to you, you know, it was really great.

Alvin Lui: He knew your name. Every Christmas we would get a nice package from him, you know, it was awesome. So, so that's how I got into the business. And then about. 10 to 10 to 11 years later I decided to go on my own and I decided to go on my own. And then we started off at a small gas station, two big gas station.

Alvin Lui: So that's where the name came up in, put Auto Works because I like working on the Japanese cars, but then I still kind of had more of a love with the BMWs the German car engineering. I felt that the end a really great product and

Jimmy Lea: yeah,

Alvin Lui: What really helps with, I think with the business is the service, the customer service behind it.

Jimmy Lea: Oh, it totally does.

Alvin Lui: Within, yeah within any product. Doesn't matter what it is. So, that's how I got my footwear in the business. And then after that. We moved the shop, we moved the shop two to three years later down the street. We stayed there for about, we stayed there for another, probably like another 10 years, 10, 11 years.

Alvin Lui: And then right now, two years, two years ago we had an opportunity to move one more time to invest in a property and start our own business with working on. A previous Mercedes-Benz shop, but right now we are currently working on BMWs and Mercedes.

Jimmy Lea: Oh, dude. There's so much to unpack there with what you've been through to get into the business because here you are in 2009, getting into the automotive industry.

Jimmy Lea: When the world, at that time, I don't maybe you weren't to where the world was shutting down. I was in the real estate business doing mortgages and the world had shut down. I had then opened a business doing yard care, handyman and house cleaning. And it was tough going man. Oh 9, 0 10, oh boy, it was tough.

Jimmy Lea: So you got in the industry and it's unfortunate. So that's the first thing I wanna talk about. I'm fortunate that here you are. F