If I operated the business like a lot of places operate, I would have been a millionaire many years ago.

Rudi Lusti is a car mechanic with a conscience: If you ask for an oil change, he won’t rebuild your transmission. The 4,000 customers of his North Park garage trust him like the family doctor. To become a new customer, you need a referral. He traces his honesty to his upbringing in the tiny village of Nesslau, Switzerland, which he left 30 years ago to see the world. Times staff writer Janny Scott interviewed him recently at his garage.

Most people come in here with problems. So you try to listen to the problems. We try to fix as cheap as possible; we try to do a good job for a fair amount of money. We don’t replace things that don’t need to be replaced. Because there are too many places around that do that.

If I operated the business like a lot of places operate, I would have been a millionaire many years ago. I don’t, because I think it’s dishonest. Really! You know, I sleep very well every night. I never can say, “Well, I shouldn’t have done that; I cheated this person.”

When I came to this country, I had $50 in my pocket. Of course now we have quite a bit. But every penny I made I can honestly say we made it honestly.

My father and mother, they were very nice parents. They taught us to be honest: Don’t lie to people because sooner or later it catches up with you; then you have to find another lie to cover up the lie. Well, I always wanted to go and see the world. My mother always wanted to do that, but she never could afford it. So I guess I got some of that in my blood.

In 1954, I believe, a friend of our neighbors came. We got to talking and he said he would sponsor me to come over here. He was Swiss, too, but I guess he had been here for a few years. Now he has a chicken farm in Ramona. A very nice man. As of today, he’s my best friend.

I took a train to Rotterdam, and there was the boat. I remember, I didn’t speak very much English at the time. On the way over on the boat--it was a big passenger liner--everybody you talked to, they were very important people, architects, doctors. And I said to myself, “These people are so smart, you know? I’m just a nobody.”

The boat docked in New York. Well, I had to stay overnight one night . . . . What I really was impressed by was the small bathtub. Could people bathe there? And the hotel was right in the middle of the city, of course. You know, you see all those big skyscrapers and I said, “No way I could live here.” Because you’re a nobody. You’re a little ant.

Well, I milked cows in Imperial Beach for about three or four months. You know, you have to work twice a day. You get up at 1 o’clock in the morning, then you milk until about 7, then eat breakfast, then go to sleep real quick. At noon you eat lunch. Then at 1 o’clock you go out to milk again. And on Saturday nights I used to play in the Swiss club. I played the accordion. So I would play till 1 o’clock in the morning and then go home real quick, change, go milk cows.

Over the years, people tell me, “Why don’t you open another shop here and there?” I’ve considered it many times. I could have done it, because there were always too many customers. I just didn’t want to do it because, well, the operation we have is a good size and you can oversee everything that happens, so you can keep control over it.

Actually, I’m trying to scale down a little so I can take it a little easier. I’ll probably build another car. Well, the shape of it will be very futuristic. It certainly would have a Porsche engine. Of course it would have suspension that could be controlled from inside.

My parents were here on two occasions. They both had never seen an ocean. I took my father fishing, on a half-day boat. I was really sweating it because I thought for sure he was going to get sick. Nothing! I showed him how to put the live bait on there. It took him about 10 minutes, so when he was done, it was all dead. Then, instead of throwing the line out, he just shook it over the edge. But he caught 10 fish that day. While I, the fisherman, caught nothing!

I think this country, if you’re willing to work, you can have anything. I tell that to my kids: You know, you were born here, you’ve got a lot more than I had when I came. Anyone who wants to work, they can do anything. You don’t have to have money to start.

I have many people that wouldn’t buy a new car unless I approved of it or would work on it. I feel sometimes I don’t have enough time to socialize with them, listen to them more than just a couple of minutes. Like when you go to the doctor, you want to talk about it. Sometimes I call them back later on and say, “Well, I’m sorry I didn’t have more time to talk to you.”

I think they appreciate that.