General Motors' flood of recalls has bumped up the service business at Chevrolet of Wesley Chapel by about 40 percent.

Susan Cash, the Florida dealership's service director, says the recalls present an opportunity to build business after the dealership opened last year.

GM has recalled 13.8 million vehicles in the United States so far this year. Cash estimates that the recalls have boosted business from the usual 20 to 30 customers daily to up to 45, including many first-time customers.

Handling that extra throughput has required some creativity. Cash has had to boost staffing, alter hours and make sure that parts are available for certain repairs.

"It has changed business as far as the amount of business that's walking through the door, and you have to process the vehicles that are coming in on a daily basis for maintenance," she said. "This is giving us an opportunity to prove ourselves."

Many of Cash's recall customers are coming in to replace faulty ignition switches in Chevrolet Cobalts. But replacement parts are just trickling into dealerships nationwide. Cash says she orders parts as customers call and schedules service appointments when she knows parts will be on hand, typically two to three weeks in the future.

About 15 customers have had their switches replaced, and she says she has 60 to 70 customers awaiting parts.

In the meantime, Cash says, the dealership provides loaner cars from its fleet or rental cars if customers feel their recalled vehicles are unsafe to drive.

Cash has hired two more certified Chevrolet technicians and an additional service adviser since the recalls were announced. Technicians now start their days at 5 a.m., two hours before opening at 7 a.m., to handle recall work.

Technician shifts are staggered, with some opening the shop and going home in the midafternoon while others stay late.

Cash says she tries to fix recalled cars early in the morning before walk-in business ramps up.

Cash is approaching the recall repairs as a way to introduce customers to the dealership, which opened in November after Scott Fink, owner and a multipoint Hyundai dealer, acquired the franchise rights and moved the store about 15 miles to Wesley Chapel from Zephyrhills, Fla.

Cash says she tells customers about how a new dealership building is under construction at the site now, and about how GM is offering owners of recalled vehicles with the faulty ignition switches a $500 incentive toward a new-car purchase.

The recalls also help her tackle what she sees as a shortcoming of the auto industry -- too many customers have their vehicles serviced at independent repair shops rather than at their local dealerships.

"I want that customer to know that we're their mechanic, and I believe the auto industry has lost that reputation with the customer," Cash said. "The best thing I see about this is that we've had to do a paradigm change: "How do we take this negative and turn it into a positive to regain the trust of those customers?" c