Peter Nasrallah They had a minivan lifted up in the garage. Two mechanics were at work underneath. They weren’t replacing the brakes or doing an oil change. They’d removed various panels of the vehicle and were hunting for rats that made nests somewhere inside.   Peter Nasrallah was on the phone with a customer on a weekday afternoon earlier this month in the front office of his shop while his two employees performed pest control duties, something Nasrallah’s newest employee hadn’t learned while in automotive trade school.  “I’ve always been the kind of person who likes to help,” Nasrallah said. “The one who roots for the underdog.”  Nasrallah often takes on other people’s hardships, even this Agua Dulce minivan owner’s problem with rodents. The mechanic said he’s gotten these cases before where people, who live in rural areas and regularly park their vehicles outside, will have problems with rats’ nests deep inside their vehicles.  SCV Auto Care employee Justin Paz looks for rats in a vehicle with shop owner, Peter Nasrallah, on a weekday afternoon earlier this month in Canyon Country. Trisha Anas/The Signal “Look at this,” he said, pulling out his cell phone and finding a video of someone in his shop removing a particular rodent from within the interior trim of another vehicle. The mechanic in the video was using a set of four-claw grabber tools, often used to pick up a fallen tool in a deep part of an engine compartment. In the video, he was successful. But it was hardly the kind of work you’d think a mechanic would have to perform.  Nasrallah, who’s the owner of SCV Auto Care in Canyon Country, has been in business for almost 10 years. He’s been working with automobiles almost all of his life. But his earliest aspiration was to work in counseling and with youth. He said he’s always just wanted to help people.  Originally from the San Fernando Valley, Nasrallah grew up working on cars as a necessity.  “I couldn’t afford to take them to somebody else to work on them,” he said. “So, if something went out, we just did it. I had my oldest brother — he used to build transmissions — so, I’d help him. But everyone in my family would work on their cars, and I’d help them.”  Nasrallah also learned from the old Chilton auto repair manuals. He picked up skills from mechanics, and he’d eventually take classes, go to seminars and, on some occasions, even learn from YouTube videos.   At one point in his younger life, Nasrallah worked for his older brother’s automotive parts supply company, which served the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys. He said he learned much from his brother.   “My brother’s a business owner since the early ’90s,” Nasrallah said. “In his industry, he’s well respected — from the local mechanics to the vendors and the corporations that he buys from. They all value his input, and he treats the guy sweeping the floor the same as he treats his main salesman.”   That’s something that was not lost on Nasrallah. In fact, he’s lived his life that way, treating people with respect, and being there for others when they need it.   “It’s just a good character thing,” he said. “I always tell people that it’s rare for you to say that your brother was the best boss you’ve ever had. Family’s usually not that way. But he’s a great example.”  According to Sherrey Jones, who got to know Nasrallah some years back when she was having trouble with her vehicle, the auto mechanic missed his calling.  “He makes you feel like you’re the only one in the world who he helps,” Jones said. “But that’s who he is with everyone. Really, he should’ve been a counselor.”  About five years ago, Jones’ nephew had gone to a lake with some friends. The sun was going down, the water was turning black, and Jones’ nephew dove into the water and never came back up. Doctors said he must’ve hit his head on a log in the water, which caused his neck to snap. When one of his friends found him in the water, he couldn’t move his arms or legs. His injury was later classified as quadriplegic.  Jones’ family put up a GoFundMe page to help pay for hospital expenses and other medical costs. The family also made rubber wristbands with the web address for people to use to donate. Nasrallah heard the story and offered to put the wristbands on his counter in his shop to help the family raise funds.  “He bends over backwards, sideways, up and down to figure out how he can help,” Jones said. “And he just has a way of building you up and encouraging you.”  SCV Auto Care owner, Peter Nasrallah, works on a vehicle on a weekday afternoon earlier this month in Canyon Country. Trisha Anas/The Signal A couple years back, Nasrallah volunteered his time to help Boy Scouts from Troop 58 complete their automotive merit badge.   Troop 58’s assistant Scoutmaster, Saul Gonzalez, had known Nasrallah since he was a kid, according to previous reporting in The Signal. Gonzalez became a regular customer at the shop. The two even became friends. He realized how well Nasrallah explained things and knew he’d be the perfect one to help his Scouts.  Nasrallah was a natural teacher, Gonzalez said. The assistant Scoutmaster’s son, Andres, added at the time that he learned things he’d take with him throughout his life.  That’s what Nasrallah had hoped to pass along from the beginning.  “They (the Scouts) got something more out of it,” the mechanic said. “Not necessarily just automotive education, but that it’s OK to help others.”  Justin Paz, who’s been working at Nasrallah’s shop for about four months, said his boss is all about mentoring beyond just the trade. He’s a “people” person and someone who passes on the idea of doing what’s right. When it came time for Nasrallah to find another employee, he didn’t simply want someone with the most impressive resume.  “He could’ve found a more experienced guy who could’ve done a lot more,” Paz said. “But he was willing to take that risk with me.”  Nasrallah had reached out to Paz’s automotive teacher at North Valley Occupational Center in Mission Hills. Nasrallah and Paz talked over the phone, Nasrallah asking very few questions, according to Paz. Nasrallah said that he could tell Paz was a bright kid, that he came from a good background.  “I came over here to visit him,” Paz said. “He was straight-up honest with me. He’s like, ‘I know you’re new, but we’re going to take care of you.’”  SCV Auto Care worker Justin Paz, left, holds up a flashlight while shop owner, Peter Nasrallah, looks into a vehicle that’s infested with rats on a weekday afternoon earlier this month in Canyon Country. Trisha Anas/The Signal And that’s been Paz’s experience so far. He said he feels like family at the shop, and as such, he’s even gotten to know Nasrallah’s wife and kid. Ultimately, Paz appreciates the confidence his boss has in him.  “I know he wants me to do my best,” Paz said. “And I know he sees potential in me.”  Nasrallah does see it, too, and not just his potential as a mechanic, but as a human being.  “I get something out of it, as well, whether he knows it or not,” Nasrallah said. “I see the progress. And it’s just very, very gratifying. I want him to look back and say, ‘Hey, that guy helped me out a lot.’”   Nasrallah brought up a previous employee who’d come up in the shop and who has since started his own business. Nasrallah was thrilled to say his former employee is currently thriving.   On that weekday afternoon earlier this month at SCV Auto Care, Nasrallah called for Paz to come out from underneath the minivan. He asked the young mechanic to run across the street to The Home Depot to pick up some rat traps. Paz probably never thought, when he was in mechanic school, that he’d ever be doing that as part of his job.   What he was learning, though, thanks to Nasrallah, was that his work isn’t just fixing cars. It’s helping people.   Know any unsung heroes or people in the SCV with an interesting life story to tell? Email [email protected].  Peter Nasrallah, owner of SCV Auto Care, works in his office on a weekday afternoon earlier this month in Canyon Country. Trisha Anas/The Signal The post Faces of the SCV: Mechanic goes from automotive to advocacy appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.