Mid Island Truck, Auto and RV Ltd. is a new dealership in Parksville. It has been operating since last July but David Bevis, one of the owners, said it’s time for the business to shift into higher gear this year.
“We did some renovations to the place and are getting ready to do a proper opening kind of thing,” said Bevis. “We did a soft opening a few months back but we’ve never really done a grand opening or anything. We are ready to operate as a full business this year.”
The grand opening of Mid Island Auto is set to take place on March 3 from 9 a.m to 6 p.m. Bevis said they are going to showcase another feature of the dealership on that day.
“We are opening our showroom, where will be stocking some custom motorcycles and stuff that we will be selling,” said Bevis. “We are excited to be doing this. We already have a couple of bikes in there and we’ll be bringing in four or five, like, really high-end motorcycles, like custom Harleys. It’s going to be spectacular custom bikes.”
Bevis originally had no plans to open a used-car dealership here. He moved to the area last year to retire, but that plan got sidetracked.
“I bought my house five years ago to retire here,” said Bevis. “But my friend and partner heard I was moving here and asked if I was interested in opening a used-car lot. I thought about it and started looking for a location here for six months until I found this place. And here I am. It’s not the kind of retirement I was thinking of.”
Mid Island Auto is located near the Parksville orange bridge on 669 Island Hwy E. It is situated nearly opposite another dealership, Bluenose Motor Co. Bevis wants the community to know they are not the same business.
“A lot of people think we are part of Bluenose which is one of the reasons why we’ve been doing a lot of advertising so we can get unassociated with that,” said Bevis.
“That’s the idea why we’re holding a grand opening to differentiate ourselves from them and some other places. People think we’re them or Five Star Auto, that used to be here a few years back. We want to get ourselves known for who we really are and what we’re really doing.”
Bevis said Mid Island Truck Auto and RV has a good inventory of vehicles — cars, trucks and RVs — with prices ranging from $3,000 to $55,000. They also provide financing and warranties.
“Most of our vehicles are fairly new; are high-end (vehicles) that are fairly priced,” said Bevis. “We probably got the biggest used-car selection in the Parksville-Qualicum area. We have more used cars than any other dealership, including the big company dealerships.”
Since starting the business in Parksville with a partner last July, Bevis said, “it’s been pretty good so far. Our biggest thing we have to do is kinda get our name out there as much as possible at this point, more than anything else.”
Bevis is inviting the community to come out on March 3 to check out the vehicles they have in stock as well as the custom motorcycles they will display inside their new showroom. There will be a barbecue and refreshments on that day.
“We are hoping for sunshine if not we will have a tent up,” said Bevis.