Vendor Affinity Program Spotlight: Applied Automotive Technology

by Sofia EsHaq

Step into the world of Applied Automotive Technology’s (AATI) Gary Machiros and you will quickly realize he isn’t your average automotive vendor executive.

“I’m the president and business owner,” Machiros says, listing off his daily responsibilities. “But I’m also the lead relationship manager, the sales executive and the head diagnostician.” It’s a long list of titles, but they all add up to a single, undeniable truth: he  has the passion for the automotive industry pulsing through his veins.

As a second-generation automotive repair shop owner who has also worked closely with collision centers for the last 45 to 50 years, it’s safe to say Machiros knows the ins and outs of the trade like the back of his hand. When he speaks to shop managers to offer guidance, he doesn’t need to Google search anything; his expertise comes from a lifetime of working with cars, late nights and evolving with new technology.

“I understand the collision center. I understand what their needs are and what they need to be successful,” he explains. “We’re not just somebody you buy a system from that doesn’t understand the business. We live the business. We do it everyday.”

That deep immersion and dedication allowed AATI to witness the birth of modern vehicle safety systems. “We started out when ADAS was in its infancy,”  Machiros  recalls. “I calibrated my first car around 2005. It was a Lexus LS 430 and we did a dynamic brake force control calibration.”

Since 2005, the automotive landscape has undergone vast changes. Today’s vehicles are no longer just mechanical machines with isolated electronic modules. Instead, they are highly sophisticated, interconnected ecosystems. Machiros compares a modern vehicle directly to human biology: “Like the human body, many of your systems are interconnected. The braking system, the engine, the transmission, everything. You really have to understand vehicle network architecture because one thing always impacts another.”

To be able to navigate these complex systems, Machiros  says one needs to have a commitment to lifelong learning, something he believes is becoming increasingly rare. It is a trait he possesses himself and harnessed decades ago. While attending vocational high school, he was honored with the Ed Burns Award for being the most passionate student about learning. Shortly after, he took that passion to the ice rink, coaching high school and junior hockey when he was 20 years old. It was being on that ice that helped him  to realize his calling wasn’t just to do; it was to teach. “I spent a lot of time teaching at a young age,” Machiros  recalls. “And in the automotive business, to do what I do, you need to be a lifelong learner because the technology changes so much. If you asked me 10 years ago if I would be doing this, I would have had no idea because I didn’t even know the technology existed yet. But there’s an old adage that’s true: If you really want to know something, teach it.”

That dedication to teaching is what separates AATI from transactional equipment suppliers. When a collision center partners with AATI, they aren’t sent a manual and a box of tools; they are given a true one-on-one “tutoring experience.”

“No one else does this, that I know of,” Machiros notes. “It’s just the team from that collision center and our trainer. They aren’t in a class of 20 people. It’s a customized tutoring experience where we teach them how to calibrate, get to know them and truly understand who they are and what they need.” AATI is so confident in this hands-on curriculum that they always offer a money-back guarantee. “What good is the equipment if you’re not successful and you don’t know how to use it?” hey asks.

It is precisely because Machiros cares so deeply about the industry that he wants to call attention to issues collision repair shop owners may encounter regarding liability, safety and mobile diagnostics.

More often than ideal, busy shops opt for convenience by bringing in mobile technicians to handle their calibrations on-site. Machiros  warns that this quick fix can be a ticking legal time bomb.

“What I fear with collision centers is important,” he says gravely. “They may be using mobile guys who come into their facility, and those people may not be doing the work correctly. If they are doing it in the wrong environment, like outside or in an uneven parking lot, that’s really bad. These systems require a level of precision that is incredibly exact. If you’re relying on a safety system to work correctly, but it was calibrated in the wrong environment, it won’t work.”

Further, Machiros points out that outsourcing the job does not outsource the blame. “The collision center is liable. They are like a general contractor. If whoever the collision center hired to do the calibration doesn’t do it right, the shop is still legally responsible. And just because you bring it to a dealership doesn’t mean the dealership is doing it correctly either. That’s a fallacy.”

Machiros urges shop owners to carefully reflect on their current practices and break free from the false security of thinking that just because something hasn’t gone wrong yet, that you’re doing the best thing. “Even though you did it that way for 10 years doesn’t mean it’s right, and it doesn’t mean it’s safe,” he says. “People don’t like change and they fear it. But if the industry is always advancing and you never change, what’s going to happen to you 15 years from now? You’re going to get left behind. I want to see these collision centers embrace change, always educate themselves, and ultimately bring these operations in-house. Control your own destiny. The more you can safely control what is going on inside your business, the better off you are.”

For Machiros the ultimate reward that has emerged over decades of tireless advocacy is the breakthrough moments when a shop owner finally sees the path forward. “When I’m teaching in front of a class and I see the lightbulbs going on, that ‘aha’ moment where a collision center says ‘I understand what I’ve got to do now,’ that’s what you live for as a teacher. We’re making the world better for the person driving the car and the person fixing the car.”

It is that exact desire for mutual success that drove AATI to join trade associations like MABA and participate in its Vendor Affinity Program. In fact, AATI recently increased their support upgrading their sponsorship level from Silver to Platinum – one of the highest levels of participation!

For Machiros, a trade association like MABA provides an irreplaceable human connection that an email or a virtual meeting simply cannot replicate. “You need to get involved with a trade organization because you need to talk to your peers and learn from them,” he insists. “To actually go to a meeting, sit down with a bunch of people, break some bread, and talk about the industry – you can’t replace that. We all share the same issues, and if we communicate, we can help each other figure them out.”

Ultimately, what Machiros hopes others can take away from being a part of the association is forming long lasting relationships. “That’s what it’s all about. It’s about the relationships because long after a money transaction is done, the relationship is what has to last. And that’s what a trade association is.”

Want more? Check out the August 2026 issue of New England Automotive Report!