50 Years and Counting: Larry Cernosek Celebrated for Business Longevity

Published in Texas Automotive – Thomas Greco Publishing

Few businesses are built to last. According to 2024 data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 40 percent of businesses fail within the first five years and more than 65 percent falter within five years.

Just over 20 percent survive to reach their 20th anniversary. It’s a pretty rare accomplishment for any business to stay viable for half a century, and such a feat certainly deserves to be celebrated!

ABAT Board member Larry Cernosek (Deer Park Paint & Body; Pasadena) recently received recognition for this impressive achievement when he was honored at the Capitol for being in business 50 years. 

The celebration was quite an experience, according to Cernosek. “Few businesses make it to 50 years, so it was quite an honor to be recognized. Both the House and the Senate read the resolution on the floor, honoring my shop. My family and I traveled to Austin to participate in the reading, and it was pretty coincidental and meaningful that the Senate’s resolution took place on April 7, which was my father’s birthday.”

So, where did it all begin for Deer Park Paint & Body? 

“I was a maintenance worker for a chemical company when I got thrown off a crane and injured,” Cernosek recalls. “The company’s doctor insisted I needed surgery, but my doctor disagreed. The company paid me for two years before settling for $3,000 in 1973. When I tried to find a new job, no one would hire me because the company’s doctor had indicated that I had limitations because of the back injury he claimed I had.”

That wasn’t going to keep Cernosek down, though. He knew how to weld, and he was skilled at working on cars – he had previously restored and sold three ‘55 Chevys with assistance from his mother, who handstitched the pleats in the vehicle’s upholstery. Deciding to get into business for himself, he invested $2,000 from the settlement funds in a 1972 Chevrolet one-ton truck with the intent of purchasing a wrecker bed and offering towing services; however, “when I looked at the different wrecker beds available, everyone wanted so much money for them! So, I used the remaining $1,000 to buy steel and built a wrecker bed on my own.”

Fortunately, Cernosek had plenty of friends in the business who promised to direct work his way, so once he built the tow truck, he set about getting permits from eight local jurisdictions. “A lot of tow truck operators didn’t want to go into those cities because they said the police harassed them, but I made sure I had the right permits and never had any problems. Because I had the right to tow in so many areas, I got plenty of towing business.”

The truck was ready to roll in April 1975, and at the same time that he was putting wheels in motion as a tow truck operator, Cernosek was also opening the doors to Deer Park Paint & Body. “I’d pick up the vehicles, tow them into the shop and repair them,” he explains.

Cernosek credits his success and business longevity to his emphasis on customer satisfaction. “They just want their car fixed; they don’t care what we have to do to get it done. We handle everything with the insurer to reduce stress for our customers, and as a result, I have so much repeat business that it’s unbelievable.”

Helping people is Cernosek’s favorite part of the business, and it’s an important factor in his life. “I’ve served on many non-profit Boards. Additionally, my church started Sarah’s House, an emergency shelter for women who need support, and I volunteer time to repair their cars to help them get back on their feet.”

His least favorite part is dealing with insurance carriers. The industry has changed in the past 50 years, he notes. “Insurance companies were easier to deal with back then,” Cernosek insists. “Nowadays, insurance companies give people so many problems with simply processing a claim. We have to contend with insurance appraisers who don’t know anything about repairing vehicles and constantly look for ways to avoid paying to repair a vehicle properly and safely because they are not liable for that repair.”

But Cernosek knows that his shop is liable for those repairs – repairs that are necessary to ensure vehicle occupants’ safety in future collisions – so he refuses to succumb to insurers’ pressures. He focuses on running his business his way, the right way, and charges what he needs to charge to continue thriving. “I can’t walk into an insurance office and dictate what I want to pay for my policy, so what gives them the right to tell me what they’re going to pay me for repairs?” he asks.

When negotiations and reasoning fails, he files a complaint with the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI). “Because Texas isn’t a direct-suit state, shops are supposed to sue the vehicle owner who will be represented by their insurance carrier, but when I file a complaint, TDI responds with an email stating it’s a civil matter and instructing me to take the insurance company to civil court. So, I do.”

He certainly does! In fact, Cernosek estimates that he’s been to court around 350 times! And he’s often successful. “I always beat them on used parts, especially suspension components, because we have no idea whether that part was damaged in a previous wreck. We’re dealing with people’s lives, and it’s not worth the risk. I love jury trials because it’s relatively easy to convince a jury to vote against an insurance company – after all, how many of them have had a problem with their repair claim in the past?”

Typically, the insurers he’s faced in court will respond more favorably on future claims…for a time. “They’ll pay my rates for a few months, but then they want to go back to the same thing,” Cernosek shares his frustration. “They move their adjusters around pretty often and make blanket decisions, like lowering labor rates because other insurers are paying lower rates, but that’s against anti-trust guidelines because an industry cannot set rates in that manner, so I’ve got a complaint filed about that too.”

Cernosek definitely does his part to move the needle for the entire Texas collision repair industry, and that extends to his involvement with ABAT. “I have been involved in every state association for body shops,” he says, recalling how he joined ABAT when the Houston Auto Body Association merged with the statewide organization “to be unified when we go to Austin to get legislation passed to protect the consumers. All shops should be members of their state association as more members helps us have a stronger presence when trying to get legislation passed. We can share our experiences and help legislators understand why these matters are so important to our businesses. 

“Our legislators don’t know anything about our industry and depend on us to educate them,” he continues, urging shops to “get to know the elected officials who represent you. That’s the only way we’re going to get anything accomplished on the legislative front.”

So, what’s next for Cernosek? “I’ll be here, repairing vehicles and working to support the industry! I’m not planning to go anywhere – I’ll be around for another 50 years if I can! I love what I do. I love going to court to fight against insurers. It’s a great way to help others and promote a better future not just for the collision repair industry but for the entire community.”

Congratulations on 50 years in business, Larry!