Top Value Transmissions looks to live up to name, encourage women to become mechanics

By Joshua Maloni

GM/Managing Editor

It’s not uncommon to find upselling in an auto repair shop.

But can anyone recall going in and finding downselling?

At the new Top Value Transmissions on River Road – just past Buffalo Avenue – “We will not replace anything that does not need to be replaced, because that’s not what we’re about. We’ll only do what needs to be done,” owner/GM Amy Musclow said.

“My main goal is to have people come in here, be comfortable with the work that we do,” she explained of herself, and lead technician/transmission specialist Jeremy Goldthwaite. “I want to know who they are; I want to know their story; I want to know if they had children, like, what's going on; see them grow up, have them come in and then see them later on; then have generations keep coming back to us – which I realize will take time. But that's my goal.”

Musclow added, “I am never going to sell something that somebody doesn't need. If you have something wrong with your vehicle and it can wait, I will tell you this is going to be needing to be done.

“Realistically, automotive repairs can be very costly, and I understand that. (But), as long as I can put food on my table and pay my employees, then so be it.”

Amy Musclow describes a transmission in need of repair.

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Advocating for women

Musclow explained, “I actually used to be a nurse. And then when COVID happened and everything, it was just something I didn't want to keep doing. And I also had a family. I had two kids. So, I was trying to look for something else. I went back to school to get a degree in psychology, and I've decided to put that into business. So, everything that I've learned in psychology and my electives and (what) I've done in business, I'm using that to grow this.”

At a career crossroads, Musclow realized, “I have always been way more comfortable working with power tools in my hands than doing anything that I'm, gender-wise, supposed to do. I have a 5-year-old daughter, and I wanted her to see her mom in an environment that was not, we'll say, ‘typical.’ And I finally just got to a point in my life – I'm in my 30s – where I wanted to do what I liked to do, not what I felt like I had to do.”

Unfortunately, Musclow found entering into the auto repair world wouldn’t be without its obstacles.

Though she had apprenticed with Goldthwaite and had a history of working on her own cars and family vehicles, “I was finding over the past couple years that, whenever I would go into an auto shop and I needed work, I wouldn't be taken seriously … unless my husband was standing next to me.

“My husband knows nothing about cars. He knows absolutely nothing. But it took him just standing next to me for them to give me respect – and I'm not OK with that.”

Musclow said, “With Jeremy and I being really close friends, and he was living in Ohio, and then he moved out here, and we're like, ‘Well, what if we went into business together? And I could then learn more hands-on while we're in the same spot?’

“I'm actually Canadian. He's American. We were looking into what would be the most feasible option to have a business where we're both working in it. And the states was a more feasible option. …

“That's kind of what just drove it. I looked around, and I'm very passionate about women being able to do jobs like this – because there really aren't many out there. And I feel that the more women that get into it, the more they'll want to – and just be like, ‘You know what? It is OK.’ ”

In addition to Musclow’s auto repair knowledge, Goldthwaite noted, “Working with her, she’s got a very good mindset businesswise, moneywise.”

“Jeremy, as my primary tech, he has over 18 years’ experience building transmissions,” Musclow said. In fact, she noted Goldthwaite has memorized almost 200 transmissions, from 2-speed to 9-speed, and from the 1950s to brand-new.

More than just transmissions

That said – and though the business is called Top Value Transmissions – “We do all general automotive care,” Musclow said. “We do not do inspections. There's a wait list for a license to do them. That’s the only reason why we don't do inspections. But apart from that, we do everything. If you need suspension work, or just your brakes done, or anything like that, you can come here.

“And what's great about our location is, if there's other things that somebody might need, we do have people on either side of us. So, for instance, we do not have the equipment to do a wheel alignment. It's a large amount of equipment. We don't have that yet. But (Steve’s Automotive) next door does. So, we're kind of working with him, that if we do have a customer that needs an alignment, it goes next door and gets the alignment they can’t get here. Then Manny next door, he does all bodies (Frontline Auto Collision). So, it's kind of like a one-stop shop. If somebody comes here, you've got everything right here.”

Hours of operation at Top Value Transmissions, 2035 River Road, Unit B, are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays – and by appointment, because “when I was getting work done on my cars, everyone’s always closing at 5,” Musclow said. “That's everyone else's work hours, too. I wanted people to be able to drop off their cars or pick them up at the time it was convenient for them. So, we will make that exception, as long as it's agreed.”

Visit www.topvaluetransmissions.com or call 716-215-6048.

The breakroom inside Top Value Transmissions “is really homey because, like I said, I’ve got two children. I've got a 5-year-old daughter and a 2-year-old son,” Amy Musclow said. “I wanted it to just be a place where people could relax. And if my kids had to come to work for the day, they have a place to hang out. They have the TV and they have the toys. They love having their little area.”