One morning when they were driving to school together, Josh Leenstra decided to count how many cars his dad has owned so far.
On that day the count was already well into the 40s.
Fast forward a few years, and it’s not surprising that Leenstra shares his dad’s interest in old cars and trucks, and that he now works as a service technician at a Squamish Ford dealership.
What is surprising is that Leenstra, who grew up in Lynn Valley, wasn’t too interested in taking automotive shop class as a teen at West Vancouver secondary.
“Originally I was actually more interested in the wood shop,” he notes.
Then his dad bought a 1951 GMC pickup.
“I wanted to learn how to restore it with him, so I thought the best place to get some sort of basic knowledge would be in the automotive shop,” says Leenstra, who was in Grade 10 at the time.
Although he continued taking the automotive class throughout high school, a career in the automotive industry was not on his radar. His dad owns a construction company and he was set to follow in his footsteps.
But class was fun and unlike any of the other ones he was taking. Leenstra says the curriculum was about 80 per cent hands-on and 20 per cent from books.
“You were always learning something new and it wasn’t painstaking to learn,” he explains. “It was something I really enjoyed.”
It helped that he had a great teacher, Victor Lo.
“I would not be where I am without him so I definitely owe him a thanks,” says Leenstra, noting Lo was supportive but challenged him to do his best and keep going even when the work was hard.
In Grade 12, Leenstra installed winter tires for another teacher at Rockridge secondary who had connections to the Subaru Rally Team of Canada and helped him get a position as an apprentice with the team. He worked with them for a year but was sidelined by a car accident in which he injured his back and leg.
But having a real job in the industry served as inspiration and Leenstra decided to pursue it as a career.
He attended a general mechanics program at BCIT and finished his first year. For the program, students complete one year of school then a certain number of work hours as an apprentice before they return for a second year. Leenstra says he has accumulated enough hours, but doesn’t have the time to return to school right now.
And he is enjoying his job.
“I love it,” says Leenstra. “I wake up in the morning and I’m excited to go to work.”
But automotive repair is complicated these days.
“There are so many electronics and computer-run systems on the vehicles now,” explains Leenstra, adding sometimes he gets cases in which he has to just plug the car into the computer and do a re-program. Electrical problems can be simple to diagnose, such as finding a dead module, or they can be more complicated, such as finding a pinched wire in the wiring harness.
“Just this morning I had the entire interior out of a truck trying to find a broken wire,” says Leenstra.
But finding the solution to an automotive mystery is what Leenstra enjoys most about being a service technician. He especially enjoys fixing a problem after a car owner has already been to two or three different repair shops and he’s the one who figures it out. The look on their face and the relief in their voice is rewarding.
“That’s what I love,” notes Leenstra, who says he plans to continue working in auto mechanics until he’s replaced by a robot.
And while Leenstra recommends a career in the trade, he admits it might not be for everyone.
“Anybody can do it. Whether they’re good at it? That’s another story,” he notes with a laugh.
