BO MARIJANOVIC - Owner/CEO
904-683-7230
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Drivelinellc@gmail.com
Hello everyone,
My name is Bo, and I hail from Eastern Europe. Born in former Yugoslavia, in what is now Bosnia, raised in Croatia, and, being Serbian made my life bit difficult during the early 1990's. If you know, you know... I came to the United States in 1998 at the ripe age of 18 with my parents and my younger brother, who still works with me every day. Hard work has been a constant throughout my life and as refugees, my family came here with no money, no english, no support, so powerty is not a foreign concept to me. While going to school, I was almost always working at least two full time jobs therefore I understand people with struggles and I try to help everyone I can every single day. Its the entitled ones that get the worse of me. Anyways once I learned english it took me 7 years to graduate college—not because I took breaks, but because I always had two full-time jobs, and took at least a class or two and since I refused to take out loans to pay for my education. I was always too poor to quit my jobs and paying for more than 2 classes was just not in the cards. In 2007 I finally completed my degree in Business Management from UNF. I also attended law school in Orlando in 2008 and 2009—but that is another story for another time. I am fluent in several languages including all dialects of Serbo-Croatian/Bosnian, as well as German and English, with some conversational knowledge of Spanish. I laugh when I hear young people complain about a “long” 45- or 50-hour workweek. I once had a week where I put in 105 work hours in one week. (May 2001) and on a regular I had 70-80 hours work weeks. I had no childhood or youth, lol. So if I am harsh, its because life made me that way.
I started Driveline in Dec of 2009, shortly after turning 30. What began as a small car lot on Hogan Road with six cars, trough discipline, integrity, concistency and lots of hard work has grown into a dealership carrying approximately 160 vehicles and as of this year, a full-service department.
The decision to open service department came from my own frustration as a customer. On one end of the spectrum, I was tired of paying extremely high prices at large dealerships and waiting three weeks or longer just to have a vehicle diagnosed. On the other end, I became equally frustrated with small, under-equipped shops where work was not done correctly the first time, there was little discipline or accountability, and I was repeatedly given incorrect answers by people insisting they knew how something should be done.
Eventually, I decided that if I wanted it done differently, I would have to build it myself—and build it better.
I knew very little about running an automotive service department when we started, but with my two right-hand men, Jesus and Rafael, I believe we have built something special and we continue improving every day.
Cars have always been a passion of mine, and classic cars are where that passion began. I have a particular appreciation for vehicles with heritage, history, and character, and I can talk about old Mercedeses for hours. Put an old Mercedes in front of me, and I can decipher the VIN and tell you the model, year, equipment, package, whether it is a two-door or four-door, manual or automatic—and I know the factory color codes by heart. I know, boring but I love it.
When it comes to Driveline, one of the things I am most proud of is the culture we have built. I have always wanted our company to feel like a family, where we take care of each other first. I believe that when employees genuinely care for and support one another, that same attitude naturally carries over to our customers and once you become one of our customers, you become part of our family as well; that part we call "Drive-Tribe".
Favorite quote: “I shall pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do, or any kindness that I can show, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”
I know you guys had a choice among thousands of dealerships across the country, and I sincerely thank you for choosing mine. We will not disappoint you.
Best regards,
Bo