About Us
Dr. How's Auto Repair is a family owned/operated diagnostic and repair facility and has been in business at this location for 20 years.Owner/operator Howard Kusisto, aka the Dr., is an ASE Master Tech with L1 advanced certifications and has 30 years of automotive experience. Formerly a Sergeant in the USMC (semper fi), he also has a degree in computer science. This background, along with a highly analytical mind and a natural ability to fix....like everything....truly earns him his moniker. The kids even call him that! Howard knows that people rely upon their vehicles to carry their most precious cargo and takes that responsibility VERY seriously. When a vehicle goes out of the shop, rest assured that he would have no problem putting his own family in it with full confidence.
Owner/operator Suzanne Kusisto, aka Mrs. How, is an ASE certified service adviser and has 18 years of automotive experience. With a background in psychology and chemistry coupled with an affinity for research and diagnostics, Sue does everything at the shop other than physical repairs. Although, being the only child of a race car drivin', private pilotin', locomotive engineer (miss you, Ernie) she was wrenching at an early age and still does, IF she wants.
Jared Kusisto has been around the shop his whole life. He balanced EVERY tire around when he was about 8 and hasn't stopped learning. Nineteen years old now, he has completed the automotive program at the Columbia-Greene Educational Center and has decided to work with us full time for a year before attending SUNY Cobleskill in the diesel technology field. Jared has the same natural ability as his Dad, along with a meticulous eye for detail. We couldn't be more proud of his attitude, his work ethic and the man he's grown into!
Kyle Barror is our newest addition. Kyle has also been around the shop his whole life, but never had an interest in wrenching. We always told him he should be a lawyer or a politician due to his "gift of gab". Or as the Dr. puts it...he sounds like a BS salesman with a mouth full of samples. Twenty two now, we realized that Kyle would be great here a few days a week dealing in an administrative position. He has seamlessly taken to the role of effectively dealing with our customers, our suppliers and our finances. We have full confidence that at some point by the boys becoming more acclimated to the running and the philosophy of the shop, that we can step out on occasion and the integrity will be maintained. Plus, now they have a firm realization of why their step-mom/mom is such a nut.
Max, pictured below, is our Great Dane. Born in May of 2010, we didn't realize for a few months that he was completely deaf. We started training him with hand signals but realized that we needed the help of a professional when Max got to about 130 lbs. and was able to scarf things off the top of the refrigerator (James Pearson, www.dogtraining-ny.com). He was enrolled in boot camp on 1/1/11 for eight weeks of intensive training and has graduated, exceeding our expectations. Max is very social and loves coming to the shop. Now, about 180 lbs., he spends the majority of his time here sniffing tires, drooling and generally being a goofball.
The shop handles all phases of car and light truck maintenance with the exception of tire sales, alignments and transmission rebuilds. We intentionally keep the business small in order to ensure the quality of service.
The location of Dr. How's, directly off exit 21B of the NYS Thruway, brings in a vast array of vehicle makes. This diversity of vehicles means that the shop must be familiar across the board. However there are a few makes and models that we prefer not to work on as we value our sanity.
The location of Dr. How's, directly off exit 21B of the NYS Thruway, brings in a vast array of vehicle makes. This diversity of vehicles means that the shop must be familiar across the board. However there are a few makes and models that we prefer not to work on as we value our sanity.
