'Flying Scotsman' seeks to fix cars, business practices

Growing up in Livingston, Scotland, about halfway between Edinburgh and Glasgow, Steve Paylor loved to take apart cars in his father's wrecking yard.

But then he realized he'd better learn how to put them back together.

As he learned to put them back together, he learned to fix just about everything that could go wrong with a car.

Now he's bringing that knowledge to his new business, The Flying Scotsman Mobile Auto Repair and Service. Armed with a big tartan-covered truck, Paylor is out to change the way things are done in the automotive business.

Paylor came to Reno in 2000 after meeting the woman who is now his wife, Annie, while she was backpacking through Scotland.

He went to work for one of the dealerships in Reno doing lube jobs. But he quickly learned just how differently business was conducted.

"In Scotland, you're hourly. Here, everything is commission-based. Over and over I saw things I didn't like people being sold services they didn't need because (the dealership) would make more money," he says.

He stayed in the business, trying to make a difference. He wouldn't do unnecessary work, and he watched as mechanics would come and go, often due to the pressure they felt at work.

Finally, he had enough.

"To be honest, I didn't want my own business. I just wanted to be able to sleep at night, and this was the only way I could do that," Paylor says. "I wanted to change the way I do business."

And change it he has.

Paylor now drives the impossible-to-miss tartan truck to his clients' homes or business, handling everything from dead batteries to oil changes to diagnostic work. He's been on his own only since April, but he couldn't be happier.

"You actually meet the people whose cars you're working on. You actually talk to people and you get to ask what they want out of their cars. Maybe they don't want to spend thousands because they aren't going to keep the car; they just need it to run a while longer," he explains. "People are happy when they see me. I'm honest, and I'm like the next-door neighbor. They call me back, and they tell their friends about me."

One customer even put a picture of the truck on her Facebook page and called Paylor her hero.

Another, Conni Carson, owner of Living Springs Plant and Flower Company, became a repeat customer and a fan after she met Paylor at a networking group.

"It's the fact that he is so frank and explains things so honestly. He gives you an assessment of what's really wrong," she says. "You never get the feeling that he's trying to do more than the job wants. He creates convenience for the customer. It's very, very appealing. I can't afford to take time off to take my car in to a shop.

"Plus his accent and the truck ... it's just so great," she says.

Starting a new business left Paylor with little time for anything but work, so he and Annie spend most of their spare time with their three small kids; son Braeden, 4; daughters Allana, 5, and Allysa, 7.

The kids haven't seen Paylor's homeland yet, and his last visit to the small fishing village where his parents now live was a reminder of something Paylor doesn't miss the weather.

He loves Reno's sunshine.

"I don't like the heat so much, but the blue skies ... you can't beat getting up in the morning and seeing that," he says.

Business is seeing blue skies, too, Paylor says. Word-of-mouth, a new Web site and that crazy plaid truck all have helped garner business.

And Paylor's philosophy is likely to keep business growing: "You shouldn't have to buy a new car because you can't afford to fix your old one."

His own man

Who: Steve Paylor

What: Owner, The Flying Scotsman Mobile Auto Repair and Service

Family: Wife, Annie; son Braeden, 4; daughters Allana, 5 and Allysa 7.

He says: "A lot of places don't do business the way I do business. And I don't like the way they do business."