The Durango Motor Co. opened a combined used car lot, detail center and autogear shop Tuesday in Durango.
The 23,000 square foot car center, located at 1164 Carbon Junction, moved into the spot left by Tarpley RV, which closed in 2024.
The new location combines Durango Motor Co.’s pre-owned sales lot, previously located at 1240 Escalante Drive, and its detail center, formerly at 463 Turner Drive, Suite 103, to create “one unified campus,” the company said in a news release.
The change was done to better accommodate rapidly growing customer demand, the release said.
Durango Motor Co. serves about 100 customers each day and sells nearly 300 vehicles each month, according to the company.
The combined campus will reduce time spent shuttling cars between locations, improve operational efficiency and customer experience, and bolster company culture by bringing staff together in one place, said General Manager Michael Aus II.
“(It’s) both (impactful) on the efficiency side … with moving our cars back and forth, but also just culturally. Having people closer by and connected to each other is important to us,” he said.
Pre-owned sales, reconditioning, and glass and detail operations will now all be handled at the Carbon Junction location, Aus said.
Durango Motor Co. employs about 180 people, and looks to increase that number by 10% with the new expansion, he said.
“The past year, we’ve definitely been focused on our technician recruitment and our apprenticeships in our shops,” he said. “… Now that we’ve freed up some capacity in our main shop, those technicians are taking that next step in becoming full mainline technicians. So, we definitely made some strides there, as far as growing our staff.”
Ground was officially broken on the project in May 2025, but plans for the new site had been in development for three to four years prior, Aus told The Durango Herald last year.
The company originally expected the project to be completed by early 2026, but asphalt plant shutdowns and groundwork delays pushed paving operations to spring, which caused the opening to be moved to this month, Aus said.
Aus declined to share the cost of the project.
Construction on the expansion started amid a time of economic uncertainty relating to auto-based tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.
Just over a year later, some in the auto industry remain concerned.
Aus said he wasn’t worried then and isn’t now.
“We really haven’t noticed too much of an impact,” he said. “The wide variety of products and services that we have – on the vehicle side, everything from entry-level vehicles to premium models on both new and pre-owned – means that there’s still something for everybody. While affordability is important to keep in mind in any economy, we’re always well-suited to handle whatever’s thrown at us, because we really do try to offer something for everyone, and make sure that we have the products and services to meet people’s wants, needs and budget.”
Aus said the opening marks an important milestone for the company.
“I’m most excited about this next phase of our growth,” he said. “… We’ve definitely kind of stretched our current capacity to its limits here on our current campus, so this new facility just allows us … to be able to hire more staff, be able to take care of more people in our community, and more importantly, show that we are invested here and we do want to invest in this community, because it’s provided us our success.”
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