by Claire Kultgen

Our family at Bird Kultgen Ford is committed to helping you maintain and service your vehicle throughout its life. From your first oil change, to any major repair needs, we have the team and tools in place to make sure your vehicle gets the best service possible in a timely manner. When your car, truck, or SUV needs maintenance or repair, our staff is ready to provide you excellent service.

Visit Tom Lalley, our service manager, and his team in our service department. We have 11 Ford factory-trained technicians including two Master Certified Technicians – Ford’s highest rating!  Our technicians regularly complete advanced training through Ford, and they are trained experts on maintaining and repairing your vehicle.  Our service advisors are ready and waiting to greet you upon your arrival. You can save time during check-in by scheduling your next appointment online. They will explain any maintenance or repairs to you and make sure you are kept up to speed with the progress on your vehicle throughout its repair. We can text message with our customers and show you what your vehicle needs so that you are able to see what we are working on and ask any questions. When you drop your vehicle off, our free shuttle will take you wherever you need to go and pick you back up when your car is ready. We also have a lounge area for you to relax while you wait for your completed repairs. Should you needs a vehicle, we also have an Enterprise Rent-a-Car right on site for your convenience.

For maintenance and light repairs such as an oil change, tire rotation, brake repair or new tires, stop by our Quick Lane.  Jon Taft, our Quick Lane service manager, will ensure you’re taken care of.  We have unique two-man teams of technicians that work on each vehicle for fast and efficient service, as well as a complete inspection and report card on your vehicle.  Need new tires?  We offer a huge selection and a Low Price Tire Guarantee.  There’s no appointment necessary, we work on all makes and models, and we’re open late and on Saturdays. Also, when you buy four oil changes, your fifth one is free!

As vice president of Bird Kultgen Ford, I’m proud of the level of service provided by our service department and Quick Lane.  Our Bird Kultgen team ensures customer satisfaction from start to finish.

Give us a call (888) 669-0178, visit us online to schedule your next service appointment, or stop by the Quick Lane for your maintenance and light repair needs.

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by Claire Kultgen

In the third and final installment of this blog series featuring the history of Bird Kultgen Ford, we’d like to talk about how Claire, daughter of Peter Kultgen and great grand-daughter to Jack Kultgen, continues a legacy of service to the community as the fourth generation of family leadership.

““I didn’t want anything to do with the car business. I didn’t get it. I thought it seemed kind of boring,” said Claire.

Growing up, Claire had wanted to be a pilot and see the world. After graduating from Baylor, she moved to Washington DC to fly small aircraft. To make ends meet, she also worked at an aviation nonprofit, and as time passed, she fell more in love with the fulfilling work the nonprofit did. Claire learned she enjoyed being able to serve people in need.

The opportunity arose for her to work at the dealership, and while at first she was unsure of how her desire to serve and connect with people would fit into a role in the automotive industry, she soon realized it would provide more outlets than she once thought.

“I thought I would always work in aviation, but I realized car dealerships help the community. I started to see, if you’re a good employer, the benefits that it can also have on your employees and their families.”

And she is profoundly glad that she came back. “I feel like God is using me here, professionally and personally.”

As vice president of Bird Kultgen Ford, Claire is able to interact with a diverse network of people from a wide range of backgrounds. She is able to listen and advise them, learn from them, and serve them as a pillar in the community.  She’s able to work with Bird Kultgen employees to make sure customers are always treated fairly, improve upon processes, solve complex problems, and push Bird Kultgen Ford to perform at it’s highest standards.

“We make sure you get the right car for you . . . we don’t recommend what you don’t need. We are a good place to do business. We always make things right and if something’s not right, we try to make it right,” she said.

She continues to run the dealership with the same core values and dedication to service as her father and great-grandfather. At Bird-Kultgen Ford, we don’t sell you the car we want to sell you, we sell you the car you need.  Just as her father before her, she ensures that Bird-Kultgen Ford is truly the place you want to do business.

If you need a vehicle or auto service, stop by and see the special way we treat our customers every day. Although this finishes our three-part blog series, our story is not done. We are looking forward to continuing serving you and the rest of the Waco community. If you have any questions, feel free to give us a call or stop on by the dealership. We look forward to helping you!

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by Claire Kultgen

Our story continues now with the second installment of a three-part blog series depicting the history of Bird Kultgen Ford. As you may recall, Jack Kultgen opened the dealership with Arthur Bird in 1936. Jack’s sons, Jack Jr. and David Kultgen, charted their own professional paths, however, Jack’s grandson Peter Kultgen was drawn back into the life of cars.

“I got into the business when I was fourteen years old,” said Peter Kultgen. “I was in junior high, had learned how to drive, and was not well behaved that first summer so my parents and grandparents put me to work to keep me out of trouble,” he said, with a smile. The long-term results of that plan have been in motion ever since. Other than his time spent enrolled in college, Peter has played a continual part at the dealership.

In 1987, Peter became the president of the dealership. He preserved the core operational values introduced by his grandfather years before, and he continued to run the dealership with integrity, loyalty to employees, and a dedication to serving the community.

“Our family has always been of the belief that you give back to your community, because it’s the community that enables you to have something to give back,” said Peter.

As a result of this belief, the Kultgen family and the dealership have been very involved in civic, community, and charitable activities. Peter has steadfastly emphasized the importance of recognition of his employees. Many of the employees of Bird Kultgen have been working at the dealership for 30, 35, and even 40 years!  Several employees started right after they graduated high school, or returned from military service, and have been there ever since. Peter is not only grateful for his faithful employees, but also for the positive effect that they have on Bird Kultgen’s customers.

“The fact that we treat our employees as extended family transcends through their attitudes toward customers, and they tend to treat our customers as extended family. We are all in this thing together.”

Peter also says that the key to interacting with customers is quite simply being friendly because, “In reality, you do business with friends.”  The Kultgens are grateful for those who have become part of the “extended family”—those customers who have visited the dealership for generations, bringing their families and friends with them. And really, they appreciate every customer, new or long-standing, as the dealership wouldn’t be in business without them!

We appreciate you taking some time to learn more about our history. It’s important for you to know that our goal at Bird Kultgen is to better serve you- our customer. Stay tuned for the final installment of this blog series coming next month. In the meantime, feel free to look at our website, or give us a call to learn more about how we can help you with your next vehicle purchase or service.

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by Claire Kultgen

Everyone has a story. It doesn’t matter who you are, or what you do, everyone has a story to tell and we at Bird-Kultgen Ford are no different. We want to spend some time in this blog mini-series telling you our story, how we came to be, and how we want to serve you.

Our story begins with two men: Arthur Bird and Jack Kultgen. Arthur was a businessman who set up supermarkets during the time when there were still many “mom and pop” shops. Jack was a WWI veteran who found work at a car dealership after he came back from the war. The two joined together and purchased Duncan-Smith Ford.  In October 1936, Bird-Kultgen Ford officially opened its doors. Having bought an already established dealership, Bird-Kultgen Ford was well on its way to success.

Business went “as usual” for the first several years. Jack continued to run the dealership, even after his two sons went off to fight in WWII. The war brought on economic difficulty as it halted car production. But like many other dealers Bird-Kultgen made it through, and when car production resumed after the war, we soon outgrew our facility. In 1947, we moved to a new location; the old location now being used as a garage by the McLennan County Record Building.

When Jack’s two sons returned, they decided to pursue other career interests. Jack Kultgen, Jr. became a philosophy professor, and David Kultgen became an attorney. But that didn’t mean the dealership was about to leave the business.

In 1987, David’s son Peter, Jack Kultgen’s grandson, took over the business, and under him the dealership continued to flourish. In 1993, we moved again, to the location in which we are currently residing. This building was formerly a factory which we converted into a dealership, and recently remodeled in 2015. This location was special because we were the very first dealership on the “Motor Mile”—the long stretch of road that consisted of several dealerships.

To find out more, you will have to come back to hear the continuation of our series. Although this blog emphasized our history, stay tuned for the next installment to find out how the history of this dealership truly affects you as the customer today. Feel free to visit our website, or stop by our historic location to see what Bird-Kultgen Ford is all about.

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by Claire Kultgen

Although we have been online for a few years, we decided to launch this blog to provide you with more information on vehicles and vehicle ownership. Our goal with starting a blog is to further help you meet your auto needs. From this blog, you’ll get a regular dose of fresh, original content.

You can expect our blog posts to focus on the following:

• Tips and How To’s
• Community News and Events
• Maintenance and Service Tips
• Money Saving Ideas
• Employee Profiles
• Important Anniversaries
• Manufacturer-Related News
• Plus any other tidbits we think you will find useful

This also gives you a chance to be a voice in our company and to interact with other customers. If we post something about a certain topic but maybe missed a lesser known, but equally important fact, we would love to hear from you. Feel free to comment feedback. If you have general questions you could also post them, but for specific questions, feel free to give us a call.

We’re looking forward to bringing you blog posts on a regular basis and hope to see you as a regular visitor to both our website and our dealership.

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