Heaven is in the details

TOY'Z-N-Motion owners offer homegrown service

MOSES LAKE — Josh Knopp and Cole Liebrecht have lived here all their lives.

Liebrecht said he fell into a job detailing cars when he was 16 years old.

"Ever since then, it just kind of became what I know," he said. "Kind of just something that grew on me without me knowing."

Knopp said he has been working on cars since he was about 15.

"Just the hands on, see the outcome of the vehicle when you're building it — lowering it, the wheels, the window tint, everything," he said when asked what he enjoys about the work.

The two men have, through their work with cars, known of each other for years. About two years ago, they started hanging out, and decided to go into business together.

On Feb. 1, Knopp and Liebrecht opened TOY'Z -N-Motion, located at 3426 Citation Road # 6.

"Job shortages around here, just nothing was available,' Liebrecht explained of the reasons to open the business. "(We've) done it for a long time, so we were like, 'Hey, why don't we just go ahead and start something up?'"

"It's kind of been a dream for both of us," Knopp said. "I've always wanted to open my own shop. It's just been a dream to actually work for ourselves, do what we want to do and make a living for ourselves."

The concept of TOY'Z -N-Motion came along at a time when there are not many detailing businesses in the area, Liebrecht said.

He said he likes the way progress can be seen when detailing a vehicle.

"You can go and you see this car that's totally grimy, disgusting and totally unappealing to somebody," he explained. "You can go in there, do what you do, and make it desirable again … You get to see the person's face, 'Oh wow.' That's what I like about it."

While it does not do repairs, TOY'Z-N-Motion deals with detailing, stereo installation, custom upholstery, washes and waxes and suspension work.

"We've lowered numerous cars, we put a set of Lamborghini doors on an MR2 Spider to open like a Lamborghini, we've done a lot of suspension work," Liebrecht said. "We're trying to (keep) our main focus on detailing … Lot of lowering of cars, from the kids from the high school."

Business has been picking up as the weather gets better, the co-owners and sole employees report. Working with several resident car lots also keeps them busy, as does increasing public business each week.

"You can have anybody clean your car, but I honestly think we take pride, we treat them like they're our own cars," Knopp said. "Maybe it's a job for somebody, but we take it as it's our own car. We'd want it the way, if we were driving it, to make the customer happy."

Being lifelong Moses Lake residents has helped the two become well-known in the community and in working with the vehicles.

"Being here so long, you know a lot of people and they'll trust you," Liebrecht said. "We're kind of the friendly, hometown people."