Employee Spotlight: Abe Lopez

Abe Lopez’s favorite thing about being a technician is being able to resolve issues that others can’t.

“I enjoy solving the most complex things that other people can’t fix,” Lopez said. “The most accomplished feeling I get is when I fix something that nobody else can.”

Lopez is a technician at Landers Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram and has been here at the dealership for seven years. He was raised on a farm and has been fixing things his whole life.

Lopez learned how to work with his hands “out of necessity,” he said. “Things break and I had to fix them.”

In fact, the first vehicle Lopez ever owned had to be fixed before he could drive it. He bought a 1976 Toyota Corona at age 14.

“I bought it for $75,” he said. “It was broke down on the side of the road. I was riding by when I saw it and my mom took me back to where the car was. I asked the guy if it was his and he said, ‘It’s mine and it broke down.’ I asked what he was going to do with it and he sold it to me.

“I borrowed money to start mowing lawns. Then I bought the car and I fixed it. Because I was 14 and at the time I couldn’t drive it on the roads, so I would drive it on turn roads on the side of the fields until I was 16. Those were good times. I got my license at 16 and finally got it out on the road. I had that car until I was about 17 when it finally broke down on me.”

Lopez has had a love of cars since he was young and he’s seen a lot of change in the auto industry since he was a kid.

“The field has become complicated, and a lot more complicated than it was just five years ago,” he said. “I do try to help the younger people and I’m training one right now.”

Lopez loves being a technician at Landers Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram because of the camaraderie between everyone at the service department, and the customers he gets to meet every day.

“One main thing I want my customers to know is that they come first,” he said. “We are nothing without them.”