Tucked as it was into a quirky little spot in the middle of the busiest intersection on the Island, Courtesy Motors was a place where you always needed directions to find it, but once found you knew your car would be in good hands, whether for a simple oil change or a complicated clutch repair.

Now the reputable car repair business that was located for 30 years off Five Corners in downtown Vineyard Haven has moved. Last fall Courtesy Motors relocated to a bigger place off Holmes Hole Road. It has more space, more parking and friendly neighbors.

Owner Larry Conroy says he has plenty of good memories that went with the old location, but this new spot answers a lot of his business needs. To start with, it is four times larger inside than the old place. And it comes with certain amenities that others may take for granted. “We never had our own bathroom downtown. I laugh when I tell my customers, now I have two indoor bathrooms,” Mr. Conroy said.

On a frigid winter morning this week, Mr. Conroy was busy inside his shop, surrounded by cars needing various kinds of repairs. Two of them were vintage vehicles. A 1957 red-orange Chevrolet was in for a project that involves replacing brakes, alternator and power steering. Near the ’57 Chevy sat a blue 1950 F-100 Ford pickup truck waiting for a tune-up.

Mr. Conroy began the business in 1980 with his original partner, Skip Bettencourt, a resident of Chappaquiddick. “I was 28 years old, a former service manager for Ford, when the garage was next door to the Black Dog Tavern,” Mr. Conroy recalled. “I had done a lot of work there, worked in parts, done some sales and some service.”

Mr. Conroy said one day Jack Dario, the owner of Tisbury Texaco came up to him with a proposal. “He told me: ‘I am going to make you an offer you can’t refuse.’ He gave me the place for $400 a month for the first year. He told me: ‘I know you will do well.’ ”

And he has, steadily building a reputation through the years as an honest, skillful car mechanic on an Island where the vast majority of residents, summer and winter alike, still drive used cars (the phrase “a good Island car” needs no explanation here).

In the Courtesy Motors early days, Five Corners was a different place: Hancock Hardware store was across the street, along with a health food store. Al Brickman ran a bowling alley a few doors down and Jerry Mac-Kenty ran the the Fireplace Shop. “I remember, Skip and I would go over to the bowling alley to have lunch,” Mr. Conroy said.

Mr. Bettencourt was Mr. Conroy’s partner for 10 years. After that there was Paul Vandal, who worked with Mr. Conroy for the next 10 years.

Rick Vanderhoop came in as a partner in 2000 and is still with Mr. Conroy today.

And it isn’t just the neighborhood that has changed. The cars Mr. Conroy services today are dramatically different from when Courtesy Motors was a startup business in 1980. “When I got started, if a person drove a car for 50,000 miles and learned that they had to get a new engine, they were surprised. Now cars go for from 100,000 to 200,000 miles. Now when a customer drives over 100,000 miles, and they learn that they have to replace their engine, they are surprised,” he said, adding:

“Today, you don’t adjust anything in a car. Everything is done by a sensor. You’ve got to have the proper equipment to diagnose most problems.

“The old-time mechanic, a guy with a small toolbox with a screwdriver, a spark plug feeler gauge, is now a thing of the past.” He continued:

“When I started we checked the points. Now cars don’t have distributors.”

With the bad economy, Mr. Conroy has observed many car owners trying to get another year out of a car they might trade in. He has many repeat customers.

“Cars still need TLC,” he said.

And Mr. Conroy said he likes his neighbors out at the new location, which include contractors John Early and Heikki Soikkeli and Company, and Julie Robinson Interiors.

The address for Courtesy Motors is at 11 Dickson Way — coincidentally right near Breakdown Lane.