Meet Dave Cheney

Dave started his automotive career while still in high school working at Franks Union 76 in Zion, IL. He started out as many people in this business do, changing oil and greasing cars. He also worked during this time at the Zion Firestone store. While he found the automotive service business in general to his liking, he discovered that tires and wheels were becoming his hobby and passion. After graduation Dave went to work full time at Sorensen Chevrolet, one of Waukegan’s largest dealerships. I was working there as a line technician at the time. Dave and I soon became good friends at that time, and have remained so ever since.

Dave started at Sorensen doing the usual apprentice type work, washing and servicing cars. Soon after he started, he was offered a promotion to the position of service advisor. It was in this position that he learned how important it was to properly communicate information from customers to technicians. He has never forgotten the lessons learned during that time, and continues to use those skills today. Dave believes that it is most important to be sure the technician understands what the customers concerns are. Good communication is the only way to be sure that a customer’s car is going to be properly repaired and maintained.

After a few years at Sorensen Dave was offered the service manager's position at a Chevrolet dealership in Salem, Wisconsin. This was an exciting time for Dave and was a great opportunity for him to acquire more of the skills needed to succeed in the automotive service and repair industry.

So it was by design that in 1981 Dave took the plunge and started his own business in Zion, IL. Cheney’s Garage was born as a full service auto repair facility, with an emphasis on Tires and Wheels. The business flourished, and after 6 years of growth and lots of tires and new customers, it was time to move to a larger facility in Winthrop Harbor, thus Cheney’s Tire Center was opened for business.

After many years of owning and managing his own business, Dave started thinking of slowing down and started looking at other opportunities. So in 2004 when someone made him a generous offer to purchase the business, he decided to take some time off and relax a bit. Dave worked at several things over the next few years, but found that he still wanted to be more involved with the repair side of the business. Dave had many years of experience and lot to offer, he just needed to find the right place.

As I said earlier, Dave and I have maintained a personal, as well as a professional relationship since the early 70’s. One night while we were just chatting on the phone, we both realized that it was time for us to work together again.

I am very pleased to have Dave join our team here at Northwest Auto. We are always looking for the “best of the best” to make up our team and I feel Dave fits in well here.