‘My job is to listen,’ says owner of Petaluma’s Out West Garage

The first thing customers notice when they bring their cars in for servicing at Out West Garage is the affable and upbeat welcoming from Maria do Ceu. That warm and friendly greeting is a signature of do Ceu, who’s owned and operated the popular automotive repair shop on Second Street since 1999 and recently celebrated its 25-year anniversary.

With business booming and appointments often made weeks in advance, do Ceu orchestrates a finely tuned rhythm, balancing urgent customer needs with routine maintenance at the specialized Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Mazda and Subaru repair shop.

“My job is to listen,” said do Ceu, whose title is “service writer,” a position that also includes hand holding, hugging and customer assurance.

While women-owned businesses are not uncommon, a woman-owned repair shop is still a rarity. Like most career seekers, do Ceu sorted through a variety of occupations before focusing on automotive repairs.

It was not her first choice.

That was to be a music teacher.

A native of São Miguel ‒ the largest island in the Portuguese Azores ‒ do Ceu immigrated with her parents and older sister to Benicia in 1966. She was 8. None of them spoke English. It was a difficult transition for the family. They received little respect, despite her father being a pharmacist back home. Through the support of the Portuguese community, he landed a job doing pipeline work.

Later, he joined the housekeeping department at Kaiser Hospital in Vallejo and her mother became a caregiver.

Energetic and on the move, do Ceu found ways to earn her own money. From gardening and grocery shopping for “little old ladies,” to baby-sitting and selling vegetable seeds and the weekly Benicia Herald newspaper door-to-door, she earned money.

“I was very independent. I had a bicycle and I had my own money,” do Ceu said. “I was always on the go. I got to know all the business people. I started playing the drums in the sixth grade and when I was 12, I took guitar lessons. But mostly, I’m self-taught. In junior high I bought a Pearl drum set for $100.”

She played the snare drum in the Benicia High School marching band, timpani in the school orchestra and drums in a jazz band that played at dances.

“Both my parents were very supportive,” do Ceu said. “I’ve always put one foot in front of the other. I graduated with a 4.0 GPA.”

At Solano Junior College, do Ceu realized that whatever money she would earn from music would be insufficient for her needs.

“My dad had a hobby of buying cheap used cars and fixing them up before reselling them,” she said. “Because I spoke better English, he’d have me do the negotiating, then he’d make a low-ball offer and we’d get the deal. We’d go to wrecking yards and work on cars together. I was always a tomboy. There was no pressure for me to be more feminine. I was totally set up to work on cars.”

Through an affirmative action diversity program, do Ceu was hired by Sears Auto Center in Vallejo to install batteries and mount tires, a job that lasted for about a year before she found a job through Women in Apprenticeship at a shop that wanted a woman to help out with marketing.

“I had all the mechanical skills, so I was perfect,” do Ceu said. “It was a dual shop, with diesel and domestic repairs on one side and foreign cars on the other. My boss grilled me on what I knew and at lunch every day he schooled me to be his replacement. I just ate it up. I was really motivated. After two years working on domestic, I moved to foreign cars, where everything was much smaller and fit my size.”

After hurting her back, she became the service manager.

“Then I met Madeleine Clare, who installed fire suppression systems,” do Ceu said. “I was working as a service writer for independent shops. We moved in together in 1986. When we decided to have a baby, Madeleine became pregnant and gave birth to our son, Leo, in 1990.”

After a few years, the couple came to a crossroads — either keep Leo in school in Oakland or move to Sonoma County. They visited Petaluma and loved it. She wanted to open her own shop and was searching for a good location when she found that the former Barber Sign Co. site was available. That was 25 years ago.

“None of this would have been possible,” do Ceu said, “without my team of three technicians. I’m surrounded by talent. That’s what keeps things rolling.”

It also brought things full circle, offering her the opportunity to immerse herself in music and follow her dream.

“Having a successful business has allowed me to play my music,” do Ceu said, breaking into a smile. “Now I can play anywhere. It’s not my living, it’s my passion. I’ve always loved playing the mandolin and the bluegrass community. We have a bluegrass garage jam here at the shop every first Monday of the month, from 6 to 8 p.m. All ages and skill levels are welcome. We call it ‘Bluegrass at the Out West Roadhouse.’ It’s all stringed instruments, strictly bluegrass.”

Harlan Osborne’s “Toolin’ Around Town” runs the second and fourth Friday of the month in the Petaluma Argus-Courier. Contact him at harlan@sonic.net.