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Son brings service, name back to Owasso
by Brad Trost
published in the Owasso Reporter, Dec. 07

Randy Pruitt learned from the best – his father.
From sweeping the floor to using a sander on a vehicle to doing office work and learning how to write estimates. Pruitt learned it all from his father, Bud.
Bud Pruitt was one of the most well known names in Owasso seven years ago.
Bud Pruitt owned what is now the Collision Center of Owasso. Seven years after Bud Pruitt sold his business, Randy Pruitt has brought the Pruitt name back to the auto collision world in Owasso.
Randy Pruitt opened Pruitt's Auto Collision of Owasso, 8231 N . Owasso Expressway, late last month.
Judging by how popular his father was and the trust the Pruitt name earned in Owasso, Randy Pruitt said he's not worried about going out on his own with his new business.
"We've had great feedback so far there have been a lot of people drop by and say that they are glad that we are back in town," Pruitt said. "Some people have called my dad to see when the shop is open. My dad tells everyone who calls that its me who owns this place and not him."
Pruitt has been around cars all of his life and making a living in the auto collision repair field seems like a perfect fit. Pruitt did all sorts of odd jobs around his father's auto collision repair business. Even after college, Pruitt came back to work for his father's business.
"It was natural. Everything I did there, it's like I knew how to do everything my whole life," he said.
Bud Pruitt sold the business in 2000 and Randy Pruitt stayed in the car repair business – this time via the corporate route.
Pruitt soon started working as a maintenance manager at Hertz-Rent-A-Car in Tulsa. Pruitt worked on Hertz's fleet of vehicles and primarily did oil changes, tire repair and body damage repair to the vehicles.
"At first, I loved it," Pruitt said. "There were no customers and all you did was just fix cars."
But it started getting old. When he worked for his father, Pruitt enjoyed the interaction with the customers. He didn't have that interaction at Hertz.
"At least with a body shop you get a variety of cars and different people coming in, I didn't get that at Hertz, it got boring. I had enough of the corporate life for seven years," he said. "I enjoy talking to the customers and helping them. When a customer's car is damaged, well, that's their pride and joy. They don't like it when their car is damaged.
"When you get it fixed for them and make them happy and see it on their faces, that's the best part of the job. I enjoy the interaction with the customers and just talking about cars with them. You would be surprised how many of the female customers want to talk about cars, too."
Now that Pruitt is back in his element, he's hoping his business will be just as successful as his father's business – with just a few minor differences.
"We're going to stay small," Pruitt said. He added that when his father opened the business in 1984, the building wasn't that big – perhaps 50 feet by 75 feet. However, a few years later, his father doubled the size of the building. His father's business expanded a couple more times in the following years.
"When my father sold the business, they were ready to retire, but the shop was getting way too big for him," Pruitt said. "Our goal is to stay small. We've got a good building to work out of – it's about 80 feet by 75 feet and we can knock down a few walls and get an extra 25 feet of space.
"We want to keep it a small family business."
Pruitt's hours are also family friendly – 7 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday - Friday.
"We're only the third body shop in Owasso and we should have good business," he said. "We're excited that we can serve Owasso again and we hope to do more with less."
Pruitt's Auto Collision of Owasso can be reahed at 274-4499.