Lloyd's Tire marks 75th with major expansion

Tire Business staff

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (March 17, 2015) — Lloyd's Tire & Auto Care is marking its 75th year in business in a big way.

The company said it's celebrating the anniversary of serving Santa Cruz area tire customers for three-quarters of a century by finishing off an expansion of the single-outlet dealership's facilities along with investments in state-of-the-art automotive diagnostic and repair equipment.

The family-owned dealership, established in 1940, said it “has significantly increased efficiency and improved customer service” by expanding into a 9,000-sq.-ft. building adjacent to its existing facility at 303 River St. in Santa Cruz.

The new equipment provides for faster and more accurate alignments, allowing customers to take advantage of the service without the need for an appointment, the company said. The equipment also accommodates much larger vehicles than previously, and Lloyd's also added more service bays — for a total of 15 — “with room for future expansion.”

Lloyd's has posted a gallery of photos of the renovation work on its Facebook page.

Dean Schwartz

Co-owner Dean Schwartz said the new space and equipment “will allow us to provide the best possible service to our customers and maintain our position as a top-tier shop.”

Throughout its history, Lloyd's said it “has continued to innovate and invest to keep up with the latest automotive technology” found in today's sophisticated vehicles.

In 2013, the company said it made major investments to become one of the first automotive facilities in the nation to become fully certified in hybrid car repair and is part of the Hybrid Shop's network of repair centers.

The dealership said that — recognizing “the importance of sustainability, particularly in the Santa Cruz area” — it has received awards from the Santa Cruz Sentinel and Good Times magazine, and was a finalist last year in the Acterra Awards for Sustainability in business.

Among its latest major upgrades, Lloyd's added advanced equipment from Hunter Engineering, including three Hunter Hawkeye Elite alignment machines to its existing Hunter 811. The company claims to be the only shop in Northern California, including new car dealerships, to have four Hunter alignment machines.

(Lloyd's Tire & Auto Care photos)

Larry Johnson

Lloyd's also added four Hunter scissor lifts, including an RX16T-IS that allows techs to work on larger vehicles than before, an RX12AT-IS, and two RX10-IS lifts. The new lifts raise and lower faster, the company said, and the alignment machines provide numbers to the technicians much faster, “dramatically increasing” the shop's efficiently.

Lloyd's Tire co-owner Larry Johnson, a grandson of the dealership's founder, Larry Johnson, said the company is “very excited to mark our 75th year in business in Santa Cruz with this major expansion in our capabilities. I invite everyone to drop by and tour our new facilities.”

Throughout 2015, Lloyd's is celebrating the anniversary by offering tire and alignment deals and other specials for customers.

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