Started with a borrowed scanner and a promise to never oversell
Mike Sorensen was 27 when he leased a two-bay garage on Haywood Road in 1998. He'd spent six years as a technician at a dealership, watching service advisors push repairs customers didn't need to hit monthly quotas. He opened Ironwood with one rule for every technician he'd ever hire: if it doesn't need fixing, we don't fix it, and we show you why, not just tell you.
That rule is still the whole business model. We've grown from two lifts to six, added a full diagnostic bay, and became one of the few independent shops in Asheville with six ASE Master Certified technicians on staff. But the shop still runs the way it did in 1998: you talk to the person who's actually working on your car, and every recommendation comes with a plain-English reason.
Today Ironwood is a certified AAA Approved Auto Repair facility and has serviced more than 12,000 vehicles for West Asheville families, commuters and small businesses who'd rather trust a mechanic than gamble on one.
