It’s all in the family at Capper Auto

Jeremy Capper has been in the auto industry his entire life, starting with sweeping the floors in his dad’s shop as a kid.

Capper is the general manager of Capper Auto in Washington, which sells Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram.

The Washington shop is one of three Capper Autos, all run by members of the Capper family. The first one was started in Williamsburg by Charles Capper in 1979.

“All of us kids pretty much started sweeping shop floors or cleaning cars,” Jeremy Capper said. “The boys all worked in the shop to start off with."

Jeremy Capper has run the the store in Washington for five years, while his uncle Ron runs the Williamsburg Ford store and his brother John is general manager of the Chevrolet, Buick, GMC store in Marengo.

Getting to know customers, either first-time buyers or loyal clients, is one of Capper’s favorite parts of the job.

He said he enjoys helping the public through buying a car, as it’s a significant and exciting purchase for most people.

“It’s one of the bigger purchases of their life, besides their house or whatever. It can be a very exciting time for them,” he said.

What sets Capper Auto apart from the competition is their straight-shooting honesty. Capper said customers will come in and be surprised by the ease of the process.

“We’re very very low-pressure, which is uncommon in the car dealership world,” he said.

In addition to selling new and used cars, the shop also offers full-line service and employs two master-certified technicians.

Those technicians have received more detailed and higher-level training than many mechanics.

“It’s a lot harder process to get through and to pass, and to get a passing status and get the title of master technician,” he said.