From Washing Cars to Owning the Store: Meet Jason Montalvo

People ask Jason how he ended up owning a Honda dealership. He’s always happy to tell them, so we wanted to share it here.

The short version

He was homeless. Then he washed cars. Then he spent about twenty-five years working his way up through this industry. And when it came time to run a store of his own, he chose The Bronx.

Four sentences, and every one of them is a longer story.

Starting out

Jason’s childhood was not an easy one. His parents struggled with addiction and illness, and for stretches of his childhood the family lived in their car.  At nineteen, with a young family of his own to support, he needed a job, any job. He found one in the newspaper: washing cars at a dealership. He took it.

It turned out he was good with people. He spoke Spanish, the customers spoke Spanish, and before long somebody noticed that the kid in the wash bay could talk to the neighborhood better than the folks in ties. They moved him to the showroom floor. That was the start of everything.

Learning the business

On the floor, Jason learned the two things he still runs this store on: listen to the customer, and tell them the truth. Not push. Not pressure. Listen, then be straight with people. It worked. Within five years he was a general manager, the youngest minority GM in his group, and he went on to help grow that business to twenty locations.

He’ll tell you he didn’t get there alone. The owner he worked for sat him down and taught him the language of business: how to read a financial statement, how the operation actually runs, what the numbers mean. Nobody had to do that for a kid who started out washing cars. Somebody did. Jason has never stopped being grateful for it, and he says so every chance he gets.

Why The Bronx

Jason could have opened a store anywhere. He picked The Bronx, and he’ll tell you why.

Honda is the number one selling vehicle in this borough. And yet a lot of people who live here were driving to New Rochelle, White Plains, or Queens to buy one. That told Jason something. Car buying has a reputation problem everywhere: the worry that you’ll be talked down to, or that the price on the paper isn’t the real price. Jason spent twenty-five years learning that the answer is not a better pitch. It’s showing up early, staying late, and being straight with people. He saw a borough that loves this brand and deserves a store it can trust, and he wanted to be the one to build it.

So the goal here is simple. A place that is transparent, safe, and willing to explain things. Help a neighbor buy or lease the right car at an honest price. Help them build the credit that gets them to the next thing, like a home. That’s the business he wanted to run, and this is where he wanted to run it.

Jason and his partners took over this dealership on August 1, 2025. Since that day, this has been the work: earning The Bronx’s trust one customer at a time.

The way he puts it:

“Our success isn’t just measured by sales, but by the positive impact we make in the lives of our neighbors.”

A proud couple of months

Jason has had some wonderful invitations this fall, and every one of them meant a lot to him.

In October he spoke with students at MS 244, The New School for Leadership and The Arts, for Latinos Make A Difference during Hispanic Heritage Month. He shared the real version of his story with them. We shared a short clip on our Instagram, and the response was incredible: 3,500 views in the first two days, our most-watched video ever. A huge thank you to Principal Eduardo Mora for the invitation and to those students for their questions, which were better than most interviews.

Later that month, Jason gave the keynote at The Bronx Small Business Development Center’s Celebration of Success luncheon at Lehman College, in front of a room full of Bronx business owners. Vanessa Joseph, the SBDC’s Regional Director, shared this afterward:

“He’s such an amazing speaker and really inspires the room. I had a lot of folks coming up to me letting me know they’re inspired to continue their journey.”

Thank you, Vanessa, for having him and for those words.

And this month, Latin Biz Today honored Jason with the Latin Business Spirit Award at their Spectrum of Success Gala, recognizing Latino business owners for what they build and what they give back. His wife Michelle was there to see it. Congratulations, Jason, from everyone at this dealership. We’re proud of you.

Jason at MS 244 with students.

What it means for this dealership

Hiring. Somebody gave Jason a shot once, and he wants to run the kind of place that does the same. Looking for work in sales, service, or the BDC? Email [email protected].

How people get treated. It’s why “customer first” is on our list, and why the person in for a $60 oil change gets the same welcome as the person buying the Pilot.

Showing up. A business that does well in a neighborhood owes that neighborhood something. That’s the thinking behind the Trunk or Treat we hosted last month, and behind everything we’ve planned.

Come say hello

Jason is here most days. Ask for him by name, he’d be glad to meet you.

Honda of The Bronx 2541 East Tremont Avenue, The Bronx, NY 10461 (718) 892-3300

New owners. New attitude. THE DEALS ARE BACK IN THE BRONX!