Kilcoyne & Scahill Motors opening new showroom
KILCOYNE & Scahill Motors moved their business to a new location at Sir Ernst Chain Road - the link road between Breaffy and Moneen Roads - in Castlebar, late last year. And in a few months, to mark their 10th anniversary, they will open a state-of-the-art showroom on the site facing onto the Moneen Road, writes Tom Gillespie.
The proprietors, both qualified mechanics, Ronan Kilcoyne and Donal Scahill, have gained a solid reputation in the west of Ireland for their sales and service.
Initially, each ran their own businesses, Donal in Mayo Abbey and Ronan in Clogher.
Ronan, who started in Cathal Duffy’s Garage, Castlebar, in 1996, where he served his time as a mechanic, told me: "We were both out the country before we came to Castlebar in October 2009 where we were in the Golden Mile Industrial Estate on the Breaffy Road.
"When we came to town we joined up because it would be a big undertaking for either of us to do it on our own. We set up the workshop and we set up sales. Thankfully, it has been very lucky for us so far.
"We moved into this new place in October and we will be 10 years in business this October.
"Considering we opened in 2009, business is not too bad. We were lucky we were not starting from scratch. We had our own customers and we just put the lot together and thankfully we have added to them too.
"The customers have been very good to us. We have got great support from them. We try our best to provide a good service for them."
Kilcoyne & Scahill Motors offer a complete after-sales service to ensure vehicles are maintained in tip-top condition. Their fully trained technicians have the latest diagnostic equipment so they can deal with any make or model.
Ronan, son of Councillor Michael and Phil Kilcoyne, continued: "We do car sales with cars we have in stock but if customers request a specific model we will source it for them.
"We provide a full after-service. It is not a matter of selling a car and leaving the customer to make their own after-sales arrangements."
Looking to the future, he said: "Later this year we will be opening the showrooms facing onto the Moneen Road and this will give us two entrances to the site. Hopefully, it will be open by June or July. The premises is up already. With the primary care centre nearby and MacHale Park, we have a lot of people passing. We will be able to present our cars in a better light and customers will have more comfort in the new surroundings."
There are nine employees at Kilcoyne & Scahill Motors and Ronan said: "We are blessed with very good staff who are very diligent in their work."
Father of two Donal is steeped in the motor trade. His farther, Des, who is still going strong, had a garage in Mayo Abbey having worked in Cathal Duffy’s Garage for years.
Ronan continued: "We are always trying to progress. We were renting the original premises and we bought this site in 2017 and started developing it in January of last year, and we moved in in October. Now we have easy access and loads of parking.
"From the point of view of car sales, the vehicles will be very visible to the public.
"It might be a small bit unusual, but good for customers, that both of us have a mechanical background. We understand what we are selling and the fact that we can provide the after-service is an added bonus.
"Sales at the moment are okay as there is a bit of uncertainty over Brexit and that is affecting all businesses. But considering all the uncertainly and the push on new cars from the manufacturers, we are holding our own.
"The move to the new site has given us a lift seeing that we are more visible than where we were."
Ronan, who enjoys his work, stated: "It is important to like that you are at. It is easy work then. If you don’t like the work you are in the wrong place. We are blessed that way that we both love what we are doing. There is a bit of variety every day. When you are dealing with the public you are always learning.
"We supply all makes and models. We carry maybe 60 to 70 cars at all times. If we don’t have something that suits there is no problem in us sorting it, if they are after something in particular. We do out utmost to try and satisfy the customer.
"What we sell is fully serviced, NCT tested and we stand over it with a warranty so the customer will have peace of mind.
"We can now arrange finance for customers and at competitive rates, even against the bank rates.
"The beauty about that is that everything is done in-house here. The customer can come in, look at the car and if they like it we can give them figures and run the application for them and get the paperwork done. This means they will not have to take time off work to go down to the bank and they are not waiting long as the lender will be back to us on the same day. So we could sign them up that evening when they are collecting the car."
You can view their stock online and their deal of the week at www.kilcoyneandscahill.ie. They can also be contacted on (094) 9020110.
Kilcoyne & Scahill Motors are open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with viewing available by appointment at any time.
* Do you have a story to tell about your business? If so, Tom Gillespie would be delighted to hear from you. Get in touch at (087) 9680780 or gillespietom49@gmail.com.