Today we’d like to introduce you to David Shirley.
Hi David, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was born the oldest to two deaf parents. My father worked in the automotive field (a mechanic for VW) and operated a body shop in our backyard after he had an injury that forced him to disability. My mother was an engineer for the Corp of Engineers in Ft Worth. Starting at age 5, I was pretty much the translator for my parents. Going from grocery store to utility companies to banks translating every aspect of adult life. Needless to say, i grew up fast! Also, around that age my father gave me quite a whopping for using a whole gallon of bondo on a hood he threw away…I had no idea that you were supposed to add hardener. The bondo just ran off the hood into the grass and was quite expensive at the time if I can remember. At the age of 13, I had bought my first car from mowing lawns, and me and my father worked on it until I received my driver’s license at 15 (hardship license). At that time my parents were divorcing, and I had decided school wasn’t my thing, I felt more advanced in the world than most of the students surrounding me. So, at 16 my mother signed an apartment for me, and I went to work full time in a body shop in Ft Worth (Keystone Bodyshop). I started as a detailer/porter and within a year after realizing my knowledge, was promoted to the shop foreman. I remained shop foreman for two more years until Toyota of Irving recruited me to come work for the dealership. I started at Toyota of Irving in 1991 and was placed in the parts department to gain knowledge of operating systems and parts systems before being put into their body shop. Within 6 months I was in charge of all parts distributions for the body shop. In 1993 I had advanced into the body shop office as an estimator and started my reputation in Irving with local adjustors to local clients and businesses. In 1999 I was promoted to the body shop manager of a 29,000-sf collision repair shop. I was highlighted in Autobody News in June 2000 as one of the youngest body shop managers at age 29. Also was recognized in Automotive Body Repair News (ABRN) in December 2000. In 2001 Toyota started a campaign for having Toyota Collision Centers certified by Toyota and launched the Toyota Collision Center Certified Program. I became the first Master Toyota Certified Manager in the United States. On January 19, 2002, the Dallas Morning News wrote an article regarding our certification. In 2012, the Van Tuyl organization (now Berkshire Hathaway Automotive Group) was trying to recruit me to open a brand new 50,000-sf collision center in Arlington at Vandergriff Toyota. After being at Toyota of Irving for 23 years I was reluctant but felt that I needed to advance my career to bigger and better things, so I accepted the job being promised to be moved to the corporate office once I established this new repair center. When I opened Vandergiff Collision Center .23 employees from Toyota of Irving followed me there. After a year of operating this new repair center taking it from actual $0 to $900k a month in sales, i was told I wasn’t needed anymore and was fired with absolutely no severance pay or anything…just bye! This was the first time in a corporate atmosphere and was the first time I had ever been fired. Needless to say, I was in shock. After a few months of discussions with my wife on what the next move was and with whom. I woke up one day and said…I am not going to work for anyone anymore…I am going to open my own shop! So with only $2,000.00 in my account after depleting my savings looking for a job. I found an investor (my old head painter) whom withdrew from his 401k and this helped me lease my first building. The old Goodson Acura Collision Repair shop, behind what is now Christ Church in Irving on 183. Greg Beauchamp was an awesome landlord and couldn’t say anything negative about him or the organization. At this time now I was trying to establish a business name. I couldn’t come up with anything and I mean nothing. Then it hit me…..what a better name than to call it my own name. So, i used my initials…James David Shirley (JDS). I knew this was going to be tough, opening a collision repair center not affiliated with any dealership or auto manufacturer. The first year, we did $3.2M in sales, second year was $4.8M in sales, third year was $5.5M in sales. After my first 5 year lease was up, Christ Church was expanding and had decided to not renew my lease. I started to look for a replacement and this was 2020 when Covid kicked in. I looked and looked and looked for a shop to accommodate my needs and I found this abandoned building at 222 W Airport Fwy. We bought it and converted it into a collision repair facility and have been operating it ever since. Our best year was 2023 where we did $7.5M in sales. Unfortunately, the industry has taken a downturn in repairable vehicles over the last 12 months. Insurance premiums have increased causing deductibles to increase to adjust. Insurance companies are totaling more vehicles due to the cost of repairs mainly from newer vehicle components, sensors, etc. and the complexity of repairs. This has affected shops from California to Florida and is industry wide. Repair volumes have decreased from 30-40%. 2025 is our 10th year anniversary and do not plan on going anywhere soon.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Besides COVID, the only struggles are how the economy and insurance premium increases have affected the industry. Insurance premiums increase. Reaction is to increase deductibles to make the premium affordable. If you had to adjust to afford the premium, you sure cannot afford to pay the deductible. We are seeing deductibles as high as $2500. Also, vehicles are now equipped with more sensors and equipment that the repair or replacement of these components and the complexity of the repairs far exceed the value of the vehicle therefore causing most to total.
All of this equals to less vehicles to repair.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I opened my business not to get rich but to provide myself and my employees with an above industry payline with unbelievable benefits (ie: I pay 100% medical and dental for my employees) no co-pays no deductibles. It’s not cheap but that’s where our profits go. A stable environment with better than most pay and the best benefits. I have employee’s that have worked for me for over 20 years. We aren’t just employees. We are family! We are doing what we as employees always felt what was right. How to treat clients to each other. It actually a perfect storm so to speak.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
The city of Irving is very diverse and has many cultures. It truly tries to bring the city back to its original desirable form. Cleaning and landscaping the city areas. The entertainment sector in Las Colinas like the Toyota Music Factory has helped the replacement of the old Dallas Cowboys revenue.
The dislikes is a was.. and that was the homeless population. It was pretty bad in 2020 but with the help of local churches and community efforts, we have found groups that help house the homeless and encourage new jobs to get them back on their feet. Christ Church used our old shop location for a homeless shelter and that made it much easier to move to a different location in 2020 when they did not renew our lease.
Pricing:
- We offer a 6 month no interest financing for deductibles and/or repairs.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://jdscollision.com
- Instagram: JDS Collision
- Facebook: JDS Collision
