Auto Repair Experts in Woodland Park, NJ

Their grandfather always believed that common sense was a person's best investment in life. McBride Auto Body, Inc., guarantees their work for as long as you own your car. McBride Auto Body, Inc., has always been run by the old standards of doing things—if they are not 100% proud of the product that they have produced, it does not leave the shop.

A lot of people wonder how they have managed to outlive many of the other repair shops that were started back in the old days. For example, Joseph had been told that he was a dinosaur in the auto repair profession. His response was, "If it was not for us dinosaurs, the rest of you would not be here." McBride Auto Body, Inc., hopes that this article will give businesses some idea on how to maintain themselves in this day and age.

Joseph W. Carioti Sr., the founding member of this company, was an immigrant. He came to this country in 1910 from Calabria, Italy. He grew up locally and learned to repair cars in his yard. He was self-taught in the auto repair business. In 1937, he bought his first gas station and garage in which he started repairing cars. At that time, it was a very difficult task to be self-taught and open your own business.

For six decades, the Carioti family has owned and operated McBride Auto Body, Inc., and they are very proud of it. The men who own this company can actually look at a vehicle and tell you right away if it has been hit before. They can usually tell you by the work done on your car what shop did it. They can, with a glance, tell you what you need to have done, and approximately how much it will cost you to repair your vehicle.

McBride Auto Body Inc., was described then, and still is today, one of the largest and finest family-owned auto body repair facilities of its kind. It is one of the largest and oldest businesses in the Borough of Woodland Park. Joseph Sr. founded the North Jersey Automobile Association, along with starting one of the first salvage yards in this country, and establishing the North Jersey Appraisal Service.

He set most of the statutes and precedents that the industry operates under. A great deal of Joseph Sr.'s time was spent in Washington, DC, fighting for the rights of this type of business. Most of the people who are new to this field do not realize what Mr. Carioti has done for the auto repair industry and probably never will.

Anyone who has been in the auto repair business as long as this family has been knows that their reputation precedes them. They have always maintained a high standard of excellence, even in the roughest times. In 1977, Joseph W. Carioti Sr. passed away, and, in turn, the business was passed down to his son, Joseph W. Carioti Jr.

Joseph W. Carioti Jr. was born in 1944 and was raised literally in the auto body repair business. His family's home was located directly above the shop. He was self-taught, with the guidance of his father. He took classes so that he could become a certified witness for the court in auto accidents and he was a valued appraiser in the state of New Jersey. He served a term in the Navy and, upon his discharge, came to work at the shop with his father. He spent his life following his father's example. In 1999, sadly, Joseph Carioti Jr. passed away, and, in turn, his son, Joseph W. Carioti III, took over.

Joseph W. Carioti III was born in 1971, and is the third generation to run McBride Auto Body, Inc. He prides himself on being able to follow in his father's and grandfather's footsteps, carrying on the family tradition and continuing the legacy. He was also brought up in the shop the same way his father was, and he learned most of what he knows from his father and from hands-on experience.

At the age of 5, he was being taught to wash and tape off his first car by a great painter in the business, Henry Marshall; Henry had worked for the family from nearly the beginning.

McBride Auto Body Inc., spans the width of a city block and half the length. The building alone has 6,200 sq. ft. of work area for body repair and holds three large apartments on top. The main house on top of the building is where the family resides, and the other two apartments are rentals.

The building was set up to be a 10-man shop. The bays in the work area were all established for different kinds of repairs. In one work area, we have four bays for body repair, one lift area for the mechanical work, and one with a drive-on frame machine. They also have a fully functional spray room, recently redone with an up-to-date spray bake system set off in an extension of the building so that it does not affect the other work areas.

Since "a clean shop means clean work," all employees are responsible for replacing tools and making sure their uniforms are clean as well as their workstations. Stop in to see McBride Auto Body, Inc., and see for yourself.