While Columbia Auto Service, located at 504 S. High School Ave., has only been open for two years, it has quickly established a respectable reputation as a business its customers can trust.
Owned and operated by Brian Roney, Columbia Auto Service opened its doors to the public Sept. 21, 2015, after Roney was led down an alternate route one day after church.
“I was on my way home from church and I usually don’t come this way. For some reason that Sunday after church, we came this way and I saw a for sale sign on the building,” he explained. “When I saw the for sale sign, I thought about it, talked to my wife about it, prayed about it and talked to the Lord about it. Finally, I got the feeling that He wanted me to do it, so I called the guy (who was selling the building) about it and bought it and opened up my own business. The Lord really led me to it.”
Roney hasn’t always been in the auto industry, though. He was working out of town building power lines and made the decision that he wanted to work locally to be around his family more often, which led him to an epiphany about a new direction in his career.
“I prayed about it and saw the Lord’s will in it. I didn’t want to get another job out of town. I wanted to stay local for my family. I thought nobody is going to go back to not needing a vehicle. Everybody needs a vehicle to get around,” he said. “So I decided to learn how to work on vehicles and keep them going. I enrolled in (Pearl River Community College’s) automotive class, and started to learn about mechanics. Then I got a job at the Chevrolet dealership and worked there on through school. When I graduated from school, I kept working there until I saw this place for sale. The Lord willed me to move over here and get this place.”
Now, Roney and Columbia Auto Service are a full-service mechanic shop.
“We do everything,” he said. “If you need a new set of wiper blades put on we’ll put your wiper blades on or if you need air in your tires, your oil checked — all the way to repairing engines and everything in between.”
There are only a few select things that Columbia Auto Service doesn’t mettle with. While it will service transmissions and diesel trucks, it does not do repairs on them. For everything else, though, Columbia Auto Service is the place to go.
“I’m a Napa Auto Care Center, so I get most of my parts from Napa if they have them. If Napa doesn’t have the parts, I get them from O’Reillys,” Roney said. “I’m typically able to get a vehicle in and out within the same day. Being a Napa Auto Care Center, I offer a two-year, 24,000-mile parts and labor warranty.”
Roney, along with two part-timers, Tristan Hutton and Colton Young, do all of the services and repairs at Columbia Auto Service.
“I do all the diagnostics. If I find out what’s wrong with it and it’s just a part that needs to be changed, I let them change it,” Roney explained. “If I’m busy and an oil change comes in, I’ll let them handle the oil change, but I oversee all of it.”
Columbia Auto Service is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. until 5 p.m., except for closing early at 3 p.m. on Wednesdays. However, Roney will work late to help his customers.
“If I need to work late sometimes, I’ll work late,” he said. “Some of my customers have fleet vehicles, so I’ll come in on Saturdays for them because it’s hard for them to get off during the week.”
Going forward, Roney is solely focused on following the Golden Rule.
“My short-term and long-term goal is to get up every morning, put God first and do stuff for other people like I want them to do for me. I treat people like I want to be treated.”
Columbia Auto Service can be contacted by phone at (601) 736-2101.
Pictured Above: Brian Roney, owner of Columbia Auto Service, is shown in front of his Bible verse sign. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
