Lusti Motors

Rudy Lusti, founder of Lusti Motors moved to San Diego in 1962. He grew up in Nesslau, a small village in Switzerland and gained experience as a car mechanic working at a Volkswagen factory in Germany before moving to the United States. In the 1960's a service station for foreign cars was a specialized market, so Rudy was lucky to find a job with Fritz Ofner, who owned a Porsche and Volkswagen service station at the corner of Adams Ave and Park Boulevard. In 1964, only two years after Rudy Lusti moved to the San Diego, he bought the business from Fritz Ofner. Rudy named it Lusti Motors, and bought a house in University Heights to raise his family.

Like many family businesses, sons John and Andre were pulled into work at a young age. Mopping floors and cleaning bathrooms were some of their early memories of working with their dad and every now and then, they'd learn something new like how to change oil or service a car. Once both sons received their business degrees from SDSU, Rudy was ready to sell Lusti Motors. Initially, both John and Andre weren't all that interested in the opportunity to take over the family business, but their father convinced them that if they worked hard for their success, Lusti Motors could provide the means.

John and Andre took over the family business, and followed their father's advice, working hard in the office six days a week from 7 am to 6 pm. In 1996, Lusti Motors moved to the corner of Park and El Cajon Boulevard. This location has always been an automotive property; in fact, it was once the home of the first Chrysler and Imperial dealership in San Diego. John and Andre bought the property from Lance Dickson Motors, an independent Volvo Dealership, so they could begin selling cars and greatly expand their business.

Today Lusti Motors specializes in servicing European and Japanese Cars. With the economy as it is, less people are buying new cars and are altering their spending habits by investing in repairing the cars they already own. As an independent car dealership, Lusti Motors has realized this opportunity which and with a greater investment in marketing, the service side of the business is reaching an all time high.

According to John Lusti there is great benefit to running a family business on the Boulevard. Because Lusti Motors remained in the neighborhood where the family was raised, John enjoys the familiarity of his surroundings, running into friends and neighbors and the closeness of working alongside his brother. As revitalization picked up, the iconic Boulevard Sign which is located right in front of their showroom has become a great landmark to direct his customers and he certainly appreciates the enhanced landscaping and maintenance along El Cajon Boulevard. Lastly, the benefit of being in business for almost five decades is that they have gained dedicated employees, which is how they are able to offer the personalized service that their customers have come to love about Lusti Motors.

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