Cars, Community and Confidence: Skillender’s Automotive Center
by Chasidy Rae Sisk
When it comes to running a successful automotive repair business, Jacki Skillender recognizes that it’s about more than just the cars; it’s also about instilling customers with the confidence to make the right decisions about their car care needs and creating a community that makes them feel welcome.
Located on South Route 9 in Howell Township, Skillender’s Automotive Center utilizes the latest diagnostic tools and technology to offer everything from routine maintenance to more extensive repairs, but the most important service they provide to customers is education that empowers them. “Most people don’t really understand how their cars work, so we make it easy,” Skillender says. “I explain what is needed in simple terms and take it a step further by teaching them why certain repairs are necessary. We share photos and videos to help them see the problems we find because building confidence is really what this business is all about. We never forget that our customers are entrusting us with their lives and their children’s lives, and we strive daily to deserve that trust they’re placing in us. I sleep well with the knowledge that we’re doing our best to help people.”
Skillender and her team take that desire to help people beyond the shop as well through their philanthropic efforts, participating in multiple food and toy drives throughout the year as well as giving their time to deliver food to the underprivileged. “It’s just how I was built.” She credits her father, Terry, for teaching her to have a humble heart.
Terry also taught her the business, raising her around his automotive businesses since she was just a child. In 1994, he purchased an old gas station and opened the doors to Skillender’s Automotive Service. “One day, he called me and asked me to come in and answer the phone because it ‘doesn’t stop ringing,’ and once I started answering it, I never stopped,” Skillender recalls. “My father did all the business work, but I was the face of the business, working directly with the customers every day to make sure we met their needs.”
When Terry passed away in 2008, Skillender was faced with the choice to sell or run the business, but that was barely a choice at all! “I love what I do,” she shares, and despite being a “woman in a man’s world,” she finds it “gratifying and rewarding” to share her knowledge, attention to detail and caring nature with the local community. “Our customers know there’s no nonsense; they’re going to get the repairs they need without any nonsense or extra unnecessary expense. It costs nothing to be nice to someone, to be compassionate with what they’re going through.”
That belief was reinforced in 2011 after a mechanic in her shop – Skillender’s husband – fell and hit his head, suffering a traumatic brain injury that stranded him in the hospital for the next year as he learned to live again. “You never know what’s going to happen in life, and that experience helped me truly realize what is important in life. I spent a lot of time in the hospital that year, and that left us shorthanded at the shop. Despite being so busy that we often had to schedule appointments further out than usual, our customers stuck by us. Their devotion truly felt like evidence that we’ve always done right by them.
“Our customers know that we’re always there for them,” Skillender adds, noting another example of a former customer who moved to Florida but still called for advice on his car repairs. “That speaks volumes and shows that we’ve built the necessary trust and truly helped people.”
Skillender praises her team for going above and beyond to create the reputation the shop enjoys. She’s joined in the front office by Lori, her assistant who “keeps me on task” and listens to customers compassionately. “Her attention to detail extends beyond the customers to myself and the other employees.” Four mechanics work at the shop, ranging from a 24-year-old to the two most tenured who have 80 years of experience between them. “It’s a good mix. Our newest technician is more technologically inclined, so he’s teaching us about different training opportunities even as he learns himself. We also have a gifted diesel and gas mechanic who isn’t afraid to jump into anything. Our head mechanic is a master diagnostics technician, skilled in all things electrical; he’s an absolute wealth of knowledge, and nothing leaves the shop that he doesn’t touch. He generously shares his knowledge with our other technicians, helping to train the next generation.”
Skillender worries about what the future holds in store for the automotive repair industry. With fewer training opportunities available since the pandemic, she believes that there needs to be a push for more education in several ways. “We need seasoned mechanics to teach new mechanics, or we’re in for a lot of trouble,” she predicts. She also promotes the need for access to data and repair manuals that will help independent shops succeed. “We shouldn’t have to send customers back to the dealership, where they’ll pay more for repairs, simply because we can’t get the repair manual.” She stresses the need for the Right to Repair Act to go through as she laments, “People are struggling – insurance costs have gone up by 30 percent, and costs are getting out of control.”
But some costs are necessary. “As individual shops and as a collective industry, we need to be investing in training the next generation,” Skillender insists. “This is key to the future of all shops, but it’s especially vital for small mom-and-pop shops like ours. Without training and specialized knowledge, we’re not going to be around anymore. Small businesses don’t just support our customers with their repair needs; we support local fire departments, sports teams and even kids’ lemonade stands. If we’re overtaken by big corporations, it’s going to negatively impact our communities. We have to accept that this is a different time. Jobs and demographics are changing, and we need to adapt.”
The need to keep abreast of all these changes led to Skillender’s recent decision to join AASP/NJ, inspired by the association’s new executive director of the mechanical division, Joe Ocello. “When Joe came out of retirement to encourage me to join the association that he was going to be part of, it was an easy ‘yes.’ He’s a go-getter who listens and is results-oriented. I know that he’s going to make sure we’re able to get the training that we need to ensure the success of our business long into the future. Without that knowledge, we have no future.”
Want more? Check out the October 2025 issue of New Jersey Automotive!