Going to be blunt, so stand by....
Laundry list of services won't work. Booorrrring...and nobody cares about 99.9% accurate alignments. Put yourself in the shoes of a listener/consumer. Nobody will believe it. Why? Because they DISTRUST auto mechanics. You need to write a commercial that BUILDS TRUST with the audience. People have their own doctor...their own lawyer...you need to make them see the logic in having a their own mechanic. Establish honesty and value. How about this for a sample script:
Neon lights...fancy floors...comfy couches...good coffee. Snappy music playing in the background. Is this an auto repair place or a night club? Fancy distractions are fine if you want to take your car to someone who cares more about appearances than fixing your car. "XYZ Auto Repair" is for fixing cars. The couch is ratty...the shop is dirty...there's really no place to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee...but that's not why you go to "XYZ Auto Repair". You go there to get your car fixed and serviced. If you want foo-foo coffee and games to keep you entertained, go to your dealer and get wined and dined while they try and steer you to a new car. If you want your car fixed, go to a mechanic like "XYZ Auto Repair"...
Pitch it and it probably won't sell unless he/she has the guts to do something different than the other 1,000 auto repair places...but put it on the air and it'll get him more business.
Celeste:
Here is a Radio-Mercury Award-winning spot for a muffler store from 1995, though the idea is just as fresh today as it was then.
Here's another Mercury winner from 2006, for a transmission shop.
And here's a Mercury finalist from last year, produced by Clear Channel for a tune-up shop.
---------
One angle that might be fun to play with: what happens when you're off by 5%. Imagine painting 95% of a wall; what are people going to notice, the freshly painted part or the unpainted portion? Or filling the airplane with enough fuel to cross the ocean-95% of the way. (You could have a lot of fun with this gambit.)
You're the artist, Celeste. Your palette consists of words, music, sound effects, and silence. Have fun painting!
