About Certified Automotive Specialists

Certified Automotive Specialists Committed To Our Customers
Gene Morrill, along with business partner and wife Robin, guarantee the highest quality service possible. Our company has expanded to offer a full range of services and a staff that can answer all questions as well as solve any auto problem.

Our goal is to have our customers' cars last at least 200,000 miles or more.

Family Owned & Operated Since 1978

In 1978, Certified Automotive Specialists opened in Glendora and remains at its original location. Glendorians Gene & Robin Morrill, own and operate their auto repair shop along with a team of 10 employees-a true family company. We are proud of the quality work and dedication we bring to the repair of your automobile. We support Glendora, as well as surrounding cities, Azusa, Covina, La Verne and San Dimas.

Giving Something Back
In a world of give and take, giving back to the industry is a high priority of our company. Certified Automotive Specialists was founded on the premise that knowledge and educating your employees as well as customers is what makes a successful business.

In 1978, three Citrus College auto shop professors started Certified Automotive Specialists, located at the base of the San Gabriel Valley Mountains in Glendora, California. Their goal was to stay up to date with modern technology and give the students a place to practice the skills learned at school.

Gene Morrill was one of those students hired from the college. He was also encouraged to continue classes, earn an AS degree and join the Citrus College staff as a part time instructor, which he did in 1983. After a few years of working all day and teaching at night, the opportunity to buy the business and become a shop owner came to be. Gene, along with business partner and wife, Robin, took on this small 1,000 square foot shop with high hopes.

The company expanded and hired employees trying to make things work. Gene stopped teaching and going to training classes due to the load of working and managing this new found gold mine, a common mistake as he has learned. After many years of plugging along just making a living and surviving the ups and downs of the auto repair business, the decision was made to go back to the shop’s roots that the previous owners used, that of knowledge and education. Gene realized that he had no business sense or training, after all he was a technician like many of us starting out.

Gene enrolled in every class he could find. He joined automotive associations such as ASA and ASCCA and found other bigger, better shops than theirs to go to for advice. This was by no means an overnight fix. They spent many more years of gaining knowledge and educating themselves and their staff. Gene’s biggest challenge was hiring qualified employees. He believed in people and that a handshake would seal the deal, however this turned out to be a very poor business practice. Today the company performs a pre-employment and drug screening on every applicant before making any hiring decisions. This alone has caused them to hire better employees.

Every person at Certified Auto is required to be ASE certified, including service consultants. They also complete 8 hours of continuing education each quarter. They are proud to employ 5 master tech’s, with more on the way.

What Gene and Robin learned is the basics never change for servicing the customer’s needs. Be courteous. listen to all of your customer’s concerns. Deliver what you promise, but most of all have passion and enjoy what you do. In other words, just be a professional. Gene and Robin have found three keys for the success of the company:

1. The employee’s are their first priority. Trust them, train them and compensate them well.
2. The customers are “king” and will be best served if you take care of your employees.
3. The company benefits in the long run when the the first two keys are preformed well.

Through these principles we have grown to a 7,800 square foot, 16-hoist, mega shop with 12 employees. But, best of all, there is less stress and a lot of time off for the owners. Gene has always been an ASE master technician, but has since graduated from AMI with the AAM degree and writes an automotive information article in the local newspaper and has gone back to teaching part time at Citrus College. He is committed to giving something back buy encouraging and educating young people about our industry, as well as the community and especially our customers.

Remember if you’re not moving forward, you are falling backward and most likely won’t survive in this industry of ever changing technology.