Jerome Roestenberg has been around cars since he was young, first working at his father’s auto shop as a teenager in the late 1960s.
But after learning the craft and business, the most essential advice gained from his father was the importance of the integrity and the details of the repair, something he has passed down to his two sons, he said.
Jerome’s Auto Body is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, and after four decades, it still offers personal service, Roestenberg said, dedicating time and effort to every detail and feature.
Jerome’s opened in Port Washington in 1976, and Roestenberg said that each year the shop has grown, the community connection has grown, too.
“We’re a community business that aims at serving our neighbors.” he said. “About 95 percent of the business is based off of referrals and returning customers. We make people want to come back.”
Jerome’s, which is located on 16 Munson St., started out as a garage, but now includes multiple back rooms, storage rooms and an outdoor garage.
Roestenberg said the expansion was necessary because Jerome’s was taking in more business.
Because of the expansion of the building, especially the garage areas, Jerome’s is able to service around 30 cars at once, he said.
Roestenberg said the business is able to function well because it’s a family-run operation.
His two sons, Mike and Jerry, work on cars daily, and his wife, Toni, helps out around the office.
“We’re offering service from my family to your family,” Roestenberg said, “that’s why we’re more intense and thorough with our work. It’s all about the integrity of the repair.”
Aside from servicing cars, Roestenberg said he cares deeply about the safety of his workers and the environment he and they work in.
To better improve his garage’s environment he invented vacuums that attach to sanders, so when they’re being used, dust and debris doesn’t spray around the garage.
He holds six patents on these vacuums, and sold them to other garages before the patents expired.
“It’s about environmental safety,” he said. “It keeps everything clean. You won’t find dust on the ground or contaminating the air in my garage.”
Jerome’s services all different types of cars, from common midsize sedans to Lamborghinis, BMWs and Ferraris.
Roestenberg said he’s not just in the business of car repair; he’s in the business of making people happy.
When a friend reached out about a broken wave runner, without hesitation, Jerome told him to bring it in, he said.
“If it fits in the shop, we’ll fix it,” he said. “We don’t limit ourselves here.”
When Roestenberg isn’t working on cars, he’s building car-related furniture for the shop. He built the back of an old-fashioned purple Cadillac, replacing the trunk with a classic backseat for customers to sit on in the office. Next to the Caddy, he designed and built a vintage bright red Mobil gas pump, and an old-time yellow stoplight.
“I love to build things,” he said. “Everything in the office, in the shop, I’ve built — all of the shelves, the spray-paint mixing room and the furniture. It’s all homemade.”
Jerome’s offers full-body spray painting, and mixes the paint in a spray room that he built, where he designed and constructed stainless steel shelves and racks. After the paint is mixed, it’s applied in the spray booth where he said he allows the paint to dry fully. Many other auto shops paint vehicles with the parts attached, Roestenberg said, but Jerome’s disassembles the parts and paints inside each crack and crevice.
“It’s just another way we commit to our quality,” he said. “We don’t take short cuts, especially when we’re painting. Yes, it takes more time, but with more times, comes a better job.”
Roestenberg is always looking for ways to satisfy his customers, he said. When he’s done with a job and the customer picks up the finished car, he said he calls to make sure everything is running smoothly.
“Again, it’s just something that was passed on in my family: We take care of our customers,” he said.
