The kid in the old silver car

Forrest Pressler, a junior at Episcopal High School, likes to spend his free time working on cars.

I am the kid in the old silver car. In 1991, eight years before I was born, my father bought a 1985 BMW M6. For as long as I can remember, I asked him not to ever sell “the silver car.” He and I spent a lot of time together cleaning it and keeping it in good shape, and it is where I learned to use a clutch. When I turned 16, it became my car.

Throughout the years of keeping the car restored, we became good friends with Hans Richter at Texas-German Autohaus. Last spring, I asked Hans if I could work for him over the summer, and he hired me for two weeks. It was right after the Memorial Day floods, and while most of my time was spent vacuuming waterlogged carpets, I was also able to assist with pulling and replacing an engine on an Audi.

Working with the porters and the mechanics was an invaluable experience for me. They all taught me the importance of doing a job right and taking pride in my work. It did not take me long to learn that no car left unless it was running perfectly and did not have a grain of sand in the carpet or a water spot on the body.

Not only did I learn how to take care of equipment, but also how important it is to provide a pleasant experience for the customer. For me, that meant clean bathrooms, fresh coffee, clean cars and a clean uniform. For the customer-service people, that meant that the customer was always right, and communication was key.

Who knew that an old car could influence my life so much? It was fun to work on the car with my dad, and it taught me the value of taking care of things. It also led to a job that taught me to take pride in my work no matter what the job is and allowed me to see some of the things that make a business successful.

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