We’ve often noted that 90% of Sonoma County’s after-warranty Jaguar repair work passes through us, a fact we’re quite proud of. Now we’re noticing that Land Rover owners have discovered us, too: Lately, more than 30% of our business is from Rover owners.

There are several reasons for the increase. For one, there’s been a big increase in the number of Rovers locally, part of the general four-wheel drive/utility vehicle trend. The brand name is a good one, too, supported in popular perception by years of safari movies and documentaries showing rugged Rovers flying across the Serengeti Plain or patiently grinding their way up into Uganda’s Mountains of the Moon.

When those Rovers come out of warranty, their owners start looking for a repair facility that’s modern, reliable and acquainted with British vehicles and engineering. Our long experience with Jaguars, MGs, Triumphs and other British makes also extends to Rovers, and word gets around about our knowledge and experience.

Something that’s helping get the word out extra fast is our recent acquisition of Autologic 1, a computer for diagnosis and repair of onboard systems, suspension calibrations and ABS repairs. Like any vehicles with character, Rovers have their quirks. One of them is that readouts can go haywire after the car has been in an accident. Once other repairs are made, a persistent problem has been how to get the computer-operated instruments back in whack.

Autologic easily diagnoses and repairs the problem, eliminating what until now has been an irksome part of Rover repair. “You can’t do without Autologic if you’re doing Rovers,” says Mark Singleton. “People are learning we’re a one-stop place for Rover repairs.”  ■