‘I think we can do this’: Kuhly’s owner decides to expand, buys Dan’s Auto Care and puts wife in charge

QUINCY — Dan Pflibsen, owner of Dan’s Auto Care at 2600 N. 24^th for 32 years, had been looking to get out of the business for a couple of years but wasn’t having any luck finding a buyer.

Then he tossed out what he called “a BS question” to Colby Kuhlmeier, owner of Kuhly’s Import Specialist.

“One silly afternoon, I said to him, ‘Make me an offer.’ And he said, ‘No, I don’t want the burden,’” Pflibsen said. “Then the next day, he calls up and said, ‘Yeah, I’ll take a walk through.’ Then I dealt with him for a couple of weeks, and then his wife came out, we did a walkthrough, and it was just a perfect, perfect fit.”

Kuhlmeier, who took over Kuhly’s when his father, Mark, retired in 2018, isn’t leaving the business, which offers repairs and regular maintenance while specializing in German and Asian vehicles. Instead, he has bought Dan’s Auto Care and his wife, Stasha, has taken over as the business manager.

Pflibsen and his wife, Ann, sold the auto repair shop to CKSK, LLC, for $400,000 on Sept. 13, according to property tax documents filed in the Adams County Recorder’s Office. Colby and Stasha are the registered agents for CKSK, LLC.

Stasha’s first day at Dan’s was Sept. 16. She had previously worked for 9½ years at Gardner Denver in accounts receivable and accounts payable before she worked with her husband for about a year.

“(Colby) started kind of letting me free him up the last four months,” she said. “I was helping a little bit more, as far as estimates and stuff. He was starting to feel like, OK, she’s good. She’s got this. But it was a completely different world to me.”

The three employees on the Dan’s Auto Care staff are staying, and Pflibsen is sticking around for a few days to help with the transition. The name of the business will remain.

“Dan has a really good name for him, with the shop and the guys here,” Stasha said. “I was very fortunate and very lucky that the guys stayed. When we first talked about (buying Dan’s), Colby said, ‘Oh, no, gosh, I don’t need that stress.’ Then we talked about it again, and then he goes, ‘Maybe we’re young and dumb enough, you know?’ And I said, ‘I think so. I think we can do this.’

“It’s a well-established name, and (Dan) was looking for someone to come in so he can go now enjoy that next chapter. We have great mechanics in the back. Those guys are amazing, so why not? I mean, it was just like, yeah, let’s sign on the dotted line.”

The auto towing business Dan’s offers also will benefit Kuhly’s. Stasha said Dan’s also will be doing fewer engine replacements under new management.

“It’s not something we want to do as heavily,” Stasha said. “I did talk with the guys before coming over here, and they said they didn’t want to do as many engines as before. I said, ‘OK, let’s chill it back a little bit.’ … Guys end the day, and not only are they dirty head to toe, but they have worked too. I’m just like, ‘You guys are working hard.’ People don’t want that anymore.”

Colby and Stasha have known each other since they were in the same classroom in the fourth grade at Baldwin School. 

“I still have our class picture from then,” Stasha said. “You never knew. We were polar opposites in high school, but after high school, we met out and about as most of us do at the bars. 

“We laugh sometimes about how we’ve ended up in the auto business. I always welcome an adventure, and this was an adventure I could help my husband out on. He needed help after his dad retired. Colby was trying to balance the front (office) and working on cars, and we could help each other out.”

Stasha said by helping with the billing that she also got to see how the other half of the business worked.

“I would be a little bit more interested in a repair, so the guys at Kuhly’s explained it to me,” she said. “They would show me the old parts and stuff. Even the guys here (at Dan’s), there were a couple of times today when the guys were like, they could see my interest.”

Pflibsen, who took over the business when it was known as Bauer Auto Center, now plans to travel with his wife of 48 years. He’s happy to see the Kuhlmeiers have taken over.

“That was one of the priorities that my wife and I talked about,” Pflibsen said. “We really wanted our name, our tradition to carry forward. Then when we met the Kuhlmeiers, it was like we both felt very comfortable. It was perfect.”