Skip to content

Cactus Autobody meeting customers’ needs

For nearly 20 years, Cactus Auto Body has been meeting the needs of its customers in the Estevan area. The company was started by cousins Lance Mack and Yancey Hagel in 2000.

For nearly 20 years, Cactus Auto Body has been meeting the needs of its customers in the Estevan area.

The company was started by cousins Lance Mack and Yancey Hagel in 2000. Mack was working at the coal mines at the time, while Hagel was at another auto body shop. At the time, they were looking to move on from their jobs, and so they started Cactus.

Mack takes care of the administrative and business operations side of Cactus Auto Body, dealing with customers, suppliers and Saskatchewan Government Insurance, while Hagel runs the shop end of things.

The company has now grown to include 10 employees, including the two owners, and they provide various forms of auto body repair, with their slogan of “You Bend ‘Em, We Mend ‘Em.” 

Mack said he gets to meet some really good people through the business, and there is a sense of satisfaction associated with the business.

“You’re helping people,” said Mack. “Some people have never been in an accident before, and they don’t know what to do. They’re a little frustrated, some of them. Cars are expensive nowadays, so they want their car to be taken care of. They want their car back to the way it was or better.”

Alex Kretts
Alex Kretts works on a repair project at Cactus Auto Body.

Cactus Auto Body is a always a busy place, and their activity level has picked up recently thanks to the hail storm that struck the Estevan area last June, Mack said the company will be working on hail claims for the next two to three years.

“We probably have 200 to 300 claims,” he said. “This shop has always been busy. It might be the busiest in southeast Saskatchewan. But we know everybody. We were … born and raised here. And we do good work. In a small town, you have to.

They have also handled a lot of repairs stemming from collisions involving deer and moose, and they have work from accidents that occurred during the winter months. Now that it’s warming up, they have to worry about vandalism- related calls, and he pointed out one of the vehicles they’re working on was keyed recently.

Mack expects Cactus Auto Body will remain busy for a long time.

Customers are appreciative of the work that Cactus Auto Body performs, he said, as they receive “thank you “ cards and other gifts from people whose vehicles they have repaired.