BY DANI TIETZ
dani@mahometnews.com
Ken Thomason can’t decide what he loves more: fixing cars or helping people.
With his new endeavor as owner of TZ Automotive, Thomason doesn’t have to decide.
In early November, Thomason teamed up with his friend, Ed Zilewicz, to open their first shop at 1006 E. McDougal Rd., Mahomet.
“We’ve been talking about doing a shop for years,” Zilewicz said. “He does mechanics, but I do business. So, I’ve been wanting him to find a place that was good for him.”
Through their friendship that spans the last decade, Zilewicz knew that Thomason has what it takes to run his own shop.
“I’ve seen him working at 5:30 in the morning for customers,” Zilewicz said.
And despite being a widower with children at home, Thomason doesn’t leave until the work is done.
Thomason is known in Mahomet for his caring spirit.
“Everybody knows me,” he said. “I just strive to keep customers happy. I consider most of my customers as friends at this point.”
While Thomason will bend over backwards for a friend, he also goes beyond expectations for strangers.
Over the holiday season, a traveler was in Champaign-Urbana from out of town to see a game. When her vehicle broke down, and connections at the University of Illinois contacted him, Thomason went to the vehicle to jump it so that she wouldn’t have to call a tow truck.
He was able to get it back to the shop on McDougal Rd., in Mahomet, fix it and get her back on the road by morning.
“I don’t think people understand why he would just go do that,” Zilewicz said. “Because it’s the community we care about. We want to be the shop in town that’s just not all about the bottom dollar.”
It’s that old-time auto shop feel that both Thomason and Zilewicz want people to feel as they trust TZ Automotive with their vehicles.
Customers are welcome in the shop to shoot the breeze or look at what needs to be repaired, and sometimes, TZ Automotive will even make sure that the gas light isn’t on when the keys are handed back to the owner.
“When the car leaves the shop, Ken will have done everything he can to make sure that you’re perfectly safe and running,” Zilewicz said.
Thomason began his career as a mechanic in a friend’s parent’s auto shop. From there, he attended Lincoln Community College, where he studied auto mechanics before working for dealerships and in local garages.
His skill set can diagnose and repair anything from an oil change to an engine replacement. And he looks forward to providing service to vehicles with a diesel engine at TZ Automotive, too.
“I want people to know that they are going to get a fair and honest price, excellent service and a quicker turnaround than most,” Thomason said.
The community-oriented vision is something Zilewicz said he has put into his other business, TZ Enterprises, in previous years.
“I like making a difference,” he said.
Like most small business owners, Thomason and Zilewicz are working to make a difference and a living, not a fortune.
Zilewicz hopes that as TZ Automotive continues to build its foundation, the organization will be able to give back to the community, just as he’s done in the past.
“’I’ve been able to help people from time to time,” he said. “ By helping them get beds to sleep in or by getting them a dishwasher.
“Being a business owner is very satisfying in that aspect, of being able to give back.”
