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Nathan Rhodes is the Owner of Total Automotive, an independent auto repair shop based in Chattanooga, Tennessee. With a background in machining and welding, Nathan’s passion for cars began as a teenager maintaining his own vehicle. After working his way up from an installer at Pep Boys to a skilled technician, he eventually opened his own shop in 2019. Today, he leads a tight-knit team focused on quality service, honesty, and building long-term customer relationships.
In this episode…
The auto repair industry has evolved dramatically with the complexities of late-model engines and rapid urban growth. Independent shop owners must navigate changing customer expectations, technical advancements, and increasing competition. How can small auto repair businesses stand out and thrive in fast-paced environments?
According to Nathan Rhodes of Total Automotive in Chattanooga, Tennessee, it all comes down to integrity, skilled craftsmanship, and strong customer relationships. By focusing on quality over quantity and hiring technicians who share his values, Nathan has built a trusted local brand known for doing the right thing — without relying heavily on advertising.
On this episode of Gain Traction, Mike Edge welcomes Nathan for a conversation about starting an auto shop from scratch, the role of vocational training, how to manage oil consumption issues, and why personal connection is at the heart of lasting success. Nathan also reflects on the challenges of hiring the right people and his vision for expanding into tire and alignment services.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- [01:42] How Chattanooga’s rapid growth impacts traffic and boosts local auto repair business
- [06:05] Why learning to fix his first car sparked a passion for auto mechanics
- [07:06] Nathan Rhodes’ early days: from Taco Bell to Pep Boys and hands-on training
- [08:55] Total Automotive’s layout, culture, and commitment to cleanliness
- [10:13] The importance of educating customers and building trust in auto repair
- [13:29] How shops are addressing the oil consumption issues plaguing modern vehicles
- [16:56] Why hiring the right people matters more than just filling roles
- [23:53] The quote that inspires Nathan’s entrepreneurial drive
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Quotable Moments:
- “We’re well-known for doing the right thing — even when it’s not the easiest route.”
- “If you can get up at 7 a.m. to build someone else’s dream, you can get up at 5 a.m. to build your own.”
- “Most people come in here and they want to talk to me — that personal connection is huge.”
- “Nobody checks their oil anymore, and that’s causing major engine problems we see every day.”
- “I’d rather take my time and hire the right person than fill a spot just to get someone in the door.”
Action Steps:
- Prioritize hiring quality technicians: Take time to find people who align with your shop’s values and craftsmanship standards.
- Educate customers consistently: Build trust by explaining vehicle issues clearly and honestly, especially with complex systems.
- Maintain a clean and organized shop: A professional workspace sets the tone for both employee pride and customer confidence.
- Prepare to invest in essential equipment: Don’t delay upgrades like alignment systems that support core services like tires.
- Build a business on word-of-mouth: Focus on doing the right thing consistently — loyal customers will spread the word.
Transcript
00:02
Welcome to the Gain Traction Podcast where we feature top tire and auto repair professionals, shop owners, industry executives and thought leaders and share their inspiring stories. Now let’s get started with the show. Hey folks. Welcome to the Gain Traction Podcast, the official podcast for tire business. I am Mike Edge. Your host, Nathan Rhodes is our guest today. He is the owner of Total Automotive in Chattanooga, Tennessee. All right, so before we start this episode is brought to you by Tread Partners. It is the digital marketing agency that specializes in multi location tire and auto repair shops. Tread Partners works with its clients that have hundreds of locations, down to five locations. Get a professional review of your digital marketing structure from an agency that works exclusively in this industry. Let’s let Tread Partners take a look under your digital marketing hood today.
00:56
To contact tread partners, visit treadpartners.com my past guest shout out today is for Roy Littlefield, Vice President of Government affairs for the Tire Industry association, also known as tia. He and I discussed the important issue of right to repair. I highly recommend you listen to this. I highly recommend that you get involved. It’s a big issue and it’s important for all of us. It’s, it’s basically freedom that you get the right to repair your own vehicle versus having to take it back to a dealership or you could take it to an independent tire and auto repair shop. It’s that big a deal. But you can find this podcast@gain traction podcast.com. All right, Nathan. We were introduced by Stephen Stamy. Welcome to the Gain Traction podcast.
01:42
Thank you.
01:42
Yeah, Stephen was an old time guest on this show. One of my, I don’t know, I think he was in my first year, so he recommended that I have you on the podcast. I’m glad we met.
01:51
Yeah, me too.
01:52
Yeah. So tell me about Chattanooga. It’s a slow growth town. Not moving very fast at all from what I hear.
01:59
Well, yeah, maybe not.
02:02
No. That place is like a, that place is like a rocket right now, isn’t it? I mean, it really is.
02:08
Yeah. I mean, there’s a lot of construction going on with the highways and interstates and things like that. You know, they’re moving in strides, we’ll say that. So they’re having to do a lot of construction and that regard just due to the growth. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
02:27
How’s that affect business for you guys?
02:29
Well, you know, I, I, it’s good for business, you know.
02:33
Yeah.
02:33
I mean, bottom line is you get more cars, get more traffic, you get more exposure and you get more business.
02:39
You Know, do you pick up? Because I think of Chattanooga, Nashville, you know, I’m above you guys in Kentucky, but I think of Nashville and Chattanooga as two cities that have signs out front all the time saying wide. And, and the growth in those two cities is just, it’s so exponential that I do not look forward to driving anytime I have to drive through either one of those. I mean, it’s like a choke point now, you know.
03:07
Yeah, me either, honestly.
03:10
But I mean, I’m serious. The last time I had to go to Atlanta. It’s not worth flying to Atlanta from where I live, so it’s easier to drive. But Chattanooga, I ended up literally stopping on the interstate. I think it was on the south side. Like I was already through, but I was there for like 30 minutes, not moving. I mean, not even an inch. Like, just stick. Stay still. It was it.
03:34
Yeah, yeah, I can see that. Yeah. The Ridge cut, they call it is always getting squelched down there. And they started construction on the other side, the north side of the Ridge Cut, widening it. And when you come through the Ridge cut, basically leaving the city of Chattanooga, you know, that’s where you make the decision if you’re going to Atlanta or Knoxville.
03:56
Yeah.
03:57
And most everyone’s going to Atlanta, but you know, they’ve had a tough go of it right there. They’ve had to widen that quite a bit. It’s taken, it’s taken a very long time.
04:06
Yeah, it feels like they’re always widening it.
04:12
Yeah.
04:13
Well, tell me about yourself, you know, into audience. Are you born and raised in Chattanooga?
04:18
Actually born and raised in Ringo, Georgia, just right outside of Chattanooga. It’s on state line.
04:23
Yeah.
04:23
Tennessee, Georgia state line, Northwest Georgia. Small town called Ringgold, Georgia. Went to Ringgold High School. Didn’t get into sports too much. Played a little bit of sports, but was more than a vocational interest. Basically in high school. Shortly after that, I did some vocational school. I actually went to school for machinists and welding.
04:49
Nice.
04:49
So, yeah, went to a northwest Georgia technical college for machine shop and welding and learned how to do all different types of welding and measurements, of course, and some machining work, that kind of thing. So.
05:05
Well then how’d you navigate to automotive?
05:09
You know, it’s funny, when I was coming up and getting of the age to drive, it was pretty much known weren’t going to just be given a car like kids are now. I mean, kids get cars now when they get to that age. They Buy. It was never even a possibility when I was a kid. So in order for me to drive, I had to buy kind of the first piece of junk that I came across. And of course, you know, I was constantly, you know, if I wanted to be on the road, I was constantly working on that car. But I’ve always been into cars. Kind of a gearhead, my dad was into cars, he had muscle cars and he was big into that kind of thing. So I’ve always been kind of into cars.
05:59
But again, as a kid growing up driving, I had to kind of work on my own cars.
06:05
So for you then, automotive was not just a, I mean it was a need in the sense that you needed to know how to do it. But you liked it. You liked it too?
06:15
Yeah, yeah, I did. You know, I always wanted to fix up a car, have a neat hot rod, that kind of thing. And it’s kind of known for cars. In school, I know I was first guy that, you know, chiseled up a stroker motor and that kind of thing when I was in high school and I had a Nova and I put, you know, big and little tires on. I had wide tires on the back and skinnies up front and always modifying stuff.
06:41
When did you, if you don’t mind me asking, when’d you graduate high school? Okay. So we’re close to the same age, but I had a cousin about 10 years older than us and he had the jacked up Nova with the wide tires in the back, little ones in the front. We thought he was the coolest dude around, you know, But I mean. Yeah, that’s awesome. Well, so fast forward, how did you get to your, to owning Total Automotive?
07:06
Wow. It’s a long time ago, you know, when I was in high school because I was driving, of course we had to work, you know, so I had a part time job after school. I started, you know, in the kitchen at Taco Bell, pretty much to pay for my gas and insurance on car. And you know, I, I’m, I got.
07:28
I got to interrupt you. I wore Taco Bell, the Taco Soft Shell Taco Supremes out when I, that was my go to.
07:36
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I remember that. Anyway, I had a friend of mine, his name was Brian, and he got me a job at Pet Boys as an installer, which is, you know, sweeping the floors, taking out the trash, that kind of thing, you know. Eventually they let me start putting tires on. So I was mounting and balancing Tires, they did accessories in those days. So I put running boards on and it just escalated from that to shocks and struts and then brakes and then next thing you know I was doing tune ups and valve cover gaskets and this kind of thing. Tools were, you know, I was taken by these guys, these mechanics that I worked with that had all these neat tools. Yeah, huge toolboxes and they, you know, I was really impressed by these guys.
08:29
So I started buying myself some tools and just got into it in that regard. It took off from there. I started making some pretty decent money as a alignment specialist and started taking some ase test and you know, gosh, rest is history. Just kind of took off from there.
08:48
That’s awesome. That’s a cool story. So tell us a little bit about Total Automotive. Your how many bays do you guys have?
08:55
Oh Gosh, I have seven. I have six racks but I’m gonna say probably nine, 10 days flat. Spaces. Yeah, yeah, we’re very fortunate. We’ve got a nice spacious shop. It’s kind of set up like a dealer. There’s not, you’re not driving in, you know, with these small bay doors. I’ve worked in some shops like that, but yeah, our shop is very spacious. So it’s 5,000 square feet just to shop. You know, I’ve got a really nice office and some storage space. Yeah, we like to keep it clean. You know, I feel very serious about keeping a clean, well organized shop. And the guys can vouch for that.
09:42
So crack the whip on that.
09:44
Yeah, yeah, I don’t like messiness, I don’t like that kind of thing. But yeah, we got a really nice space. Very, very fortunate in that regard.
09:52
What would you say? Like, you know, one of the, my biggest listening audience is dealers, tire dealers, auto repair shop owners like yourself, operators, you know, managers, frontline sales folks and everything. What, what would you say set you guys apart? What do you, what do you think makes you guys a special shop there in Chattanooga?
10:13
Well, personally, you know, I mean, cleanliness.
10:16
Obviously is one of them and I think that’s a big deal. I’ve been in my fair share of shops and people think it’s clean. And I know that’s a subjective opinion, but it’s a big deal.
10:28
Well, we’re well known for doing the right thing. I mean, let’s face it, in this industry there’s a lot of misconceptions about how cars work. And most people driving don’t understand how complicated these late model engines and the components Associated with them. Drivability check engine lights. When we had emissions here, we’re not emissions county anymore. But when emissions came about and everyone had get emissions tested, you know, there was a lot of uncertainty about, you know, what was going to happen with people. And you know, they couldn’t get their car registered if they had a check engine light on. And it was very difficult to navigate through that and explain to people, you know, how complicated car. Unfortunately, when check engine light comes on, it doesn’t tell you why it’s on.
11:14
Yeah.
11:15
So, you know, but my shop specifically, you know, we’re well known for doing the right thing. I mean, our customer service speaks a lot by itself. I mean, most people come in here, they want to see me and I’m working in the shop, working on the front counter. But I take that very seriously and I want to educate my customers, my clients on, you know, what’s going on with their vehicle and explain to them, you know, how complicated it can be. So I feel very strongly about that. We don’t do a whole lot of big advertising, unfortunately, it’s not in the budget for that. So most of our businesses come from word of mouth. Yeah, you know, we’ve done pretty good. This, this actually today is my six year anniversary for being open.
12:02
Congratulations.
12:03
We opened in April of 2019.
12:07
So you opened on April Fool’s Day in 2019, huh?
12:11
Yeah, pretty well. Well, yeah, actually open, it started sometime in March, but officially. Yeah, yeah.
12:19
That’s awesome though. Well, congratulations. I’m glad. I’m honored to be interviewing you then. But so with that size, how many employees do you guys have now?
12:30
Three. There’s three, there’s three employees and then myself.
12:33
Okay.
12:35
Yeah. And that’s kind of gone up and down over the years. You know, I’ve got two veteran technicians and one guy who’s, you know, five, seven years in the industry. The other two guys, 20 plus. So.
12:50
But you guys are really almost like a boutique shop then. I mean, you’re very intimate with your clients, I mean with your size and everything. So I mean, it’s, it’s likely that all the people in your company, your business, know your clients very well.
13:06
Yeah, yeah.
13:09
What do you see most of all today? What, what you talked about, the late model cars and everything. What do you, if you had to say in the Chattanooga market, what’s the car that you guys work on the most? I mean, what’s up? So, I mean, obviously it’s going to be kind of detrimental to that vehicle. But whatever it is, what’s, you know.
13:29
Pretty much across the board with variable valve timing and oil consumption issues are something that we deal with on a daily basis. You know, oil consumption has become a real thorn in our side as of late, and you know it. We can talk for hours on the reasons why and why this is happening. But you know, we do a number of engine replacements here because of oil consumption. And gosh, I hate to sound like a father browbeating their child, but you know, no one checks their oil anymore. They get their oil change, they think they’re good until the next oil change. And in most cases that’s just not the fact these days. Variable valve timing works off of, works in conjunction with oil and oil pressure.
14:19
Proper levels, the proper thickness and you know, if, if those vary in any shape, form or fashion wreak havoc on engine. So we see that a lot dealing with it today. I mean, just camp phasers and things like that.
14:36
See, I got five kids. It’s funny, I’ve got a couple of them that are very conscious of things like this and I need them to be, you know, because everybody’s driving and now I got a couple of them married off now. But I mean, I’m saying when they were growing up, I’d be like, hey, how’s your oil doing? I don’t know, you know, and, but then I had a couple of them that were always on top of it, you know what I mean? And they would tell me and I’d be like, yes, thank you. You know, it’s like, and it’s like, because it’s like running a little mini fleet, you know, when you got every kid’s driving or something. Some are off to school or camp or something and then, you know.
15:11
But yeah, it’s, it’s funny that I, I see I’m on the side that always checked. Even if I’m gonna go drive somewhere, I just want to be safe. And I’m checking everything before I get on the road. There’s some of my kids. It’s just like, hey, dude, if it starts, I’m gone. You know, And I think a lot of the population’s that way.
15:30
It’s not just kids. It’s grown up.
15:32
That’s what I mean. Yeah, yeah, they just think, you know, hey, the key works and I stick it in here or I hit the fob and it takes off. I’m, I’m good.
15:43
Yeah. Yeah, well, you know, it used to be there was a standard that one quart every 3,000 miles was an exceptional amount of consumption. And now they’re saying one quarter every thousand miles.
15:58
Yeah.
15:58
And some of these cars only hold five quarts of oil. And they’re in the manufacturers telling them that their interval is somewhere between five and 7,000 miles.
16:06
I know, yeah, that’s crazy.
16:09
Will tell you that if you’re out. Yeah, you’re out. And it happens a lot. And then the next thing you know, they’re like, man, this thing’s a piece of junk. Man, this car is not worth a flip. You know what I mean? It’s like you run it out of oil, it doesn’t have any oil in it. But that’s just one out of, you know, hundreds of different things that we deal with. But I guess that’s just something that sticks out in my mind right now is oil consumption and the fact that there’s tons of cars riding around with very little to no oil in them. Crazy.
16:42
It’s mind boggling. Well, if you had to give any advice to, you know, like I said, we got our biggest listening audiences, guys like yourself. What advice would you give to somebody that’s thinking about starting up a shop?
16:56
Oh my gosh.
16:57
Well, what’s the biggest thing you’ve learned or encountered? I mean, you know, and that you could pass on and say, you know, this is what I’d do different or this is what I did right, you know, as a business owner.
17:09
Yeah. Well, I think one of the things that I did right was being very cautious about my, who I hired and employed, you know.
17:19
Okay.
17:20
Yeah, I’ve made some bad decisions in the past. Knee jerk reaction to just putting a body into the sh. And you know, it’s difficult. I think if you ask anybody, you know, it’s hard to find good technicians, mechanics, somebody that shares your vision and takes their job seriously. I’m fortunate because I have a couple of craftsmen that agree with me on how things should be done. And they’re not there just to turn some flat rate hours and make a bunch of money. You know, they want to do the job correctly, they want to use the correct components, you know, so I think that’s very, very important. I mean, sheer numbers and volumes can make you a lot of money, but it can also bite you in the butt too.
18:07
Yeah.
18:07
Wind up with a bunch of comebacks and rechecks, unhappy customers. That word of mouth moves along very Quickly as well.
18:14
Yes, it does.
18:16
You have to. You know, like I said, someone just asked me the other day about putting someone else, you know, on the front, help us with just the number of customers we got coming in. And I’m like, you know, I want to take my time and find the right person.
18:33
Yeah.
18:34
You know, because it’s difficult. I mean, it’s. It’s difficult. It’s very difficult. The cars are even more complicated than what they were when I started, and that was when they were just really starting to get into computer things. So it’s. It’s hard. What about one of the things that’s been a challenge for me?
18:51
What about tires? Do you guys do anything in tires?
18:54
We do. We do. We don’t do a whole bunch in tires, but I’ve purchased tire equipment, and I’m hoping to grow in that area. I need to. I want to. Yeah, I know that tires and brakes are, you know, a lot of shops. Bread and butter. And that’s how you get into, you know, your other repairs.
19:14
Well, it’s. I always hear it gives you. The tires. Give you a lifetime customer for everything.
19:19
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And, you know, we. We’re. We’re doing more and more tires by the day. I don’t have. Sadly enough, I don’t have an alignment machine as of yet. And when I do sell a set of tires, I’m a little bit like, oh, God, man, you know, I hate to put on a set of tires on a car and not be able to offer an alignment, you know? Yeah, that’s coming up real soon. I mean, finally I’m in a position to where I can purchase an alignment, the alignment equipment I need. But, you know, it’s not five or six grand. You’re talking about 30, 40 grand to get into a, you know, alignment system, so.
19:55
Yeah, yeah, no, I hear you, but I think it’s the right move for you. I mean. Yeah, you got it. You got to have it. Yeah. Well, what’s your. On a personal level, what’s your favorite movie of all time? It doesn’t have to be of all time, just a good movie, you know, and everybody always. If I ask. If I ask this question. I don’t always. I used to, and I love this question. But, you know, some people go, man, I got like three or four. All right, well, let’s name a couple of them. So if you got. You got more than one, let me know.
20:23
Yeah, I like my. I guess my favorite. My Go to. And I’ve watched it a hundred Times probably is the Natural with Robert Redford.
20:31
No kidding. I don’t know that I’ve had anybody say that on this show since I started. But that’s a great movie, man. You’re a baseball guy if you like that movie.
20:41
I am. I am a baseball guy. I played baseball a little bit in school. But it’s something about that era.
20:47
Yeah.
20:47
I don’t know what it is. I love the 40s. The music, the big band music that they played a lot in that movie.
20:54
Yeah, and story.
20:55
But I don’t know. The Natural always sticks out to me. Of course, I love A Few Good Men. I really like that movie Shawshank Redemption. These are some really movies that I can just watch over and over again. But the Natural, I’d have to say is probably my favorite movie.
21:12
That’s impressive, man. You probably liked that modern movie, baseball movie. Money Pitt. Did you ever see that?
21:21
I never sat down to watch it. I’ve seen snippets, okay, but I’ve never sat down to watch it.
21:27
That’s a good one.
21:28
And then. Is that the one that’s got the guy in it that used to be really heavy? Curly headed guy? Heavy guy. Oh, gosh, I’ll never remember.
21:36
Now. This one’s all about the. A true story. But most of it’s true in there that it’s about the Oakland A’s and how he dialed them up based on statistics. And it’s a statistical game. He realized Billy Bean is a guy, that he’s a real life character, probably by Brad Pitt that, you know, discovers a new way of drafting people or recruiting people and trading for people. And it’s, it was a formula they came up with. He hired this guru and they look for guys that manufactured runs, knew how to get on base and knew how to score. And they may not be a big name, so they were undervalued and he could go in and buy them at a better value. Trade for him. And people never knew.
22:20
You know, in the beginning they thought he was nuts, but he ended up taking the least. He ended up taking the least value team. The A’s at the time competing deep into the playoffs that year. And everybody learned something by his mechanism there. But now the Natural, that’s. Yeah, you have to. But anybody listening hadn’t watched the Natural. They’ve got to watch that. That’s just a great story. It’s a good Robert Bradford story. Glenn Close is in that too. She’s the she’s his girlfriend or. Yeah. And then you’ll recognize there’s. For everybody that’s listening, there’s just other. There’s other notable faces. I just can’t think of their names right now.
22:59
Yeah, gosh. Guy that played in the Days of Thunder.
23:06
Oh, Robert Redford.
23:08
No, that Robert Redford.
23:09
No, Robert. Robert Duvall. I’m sorry. Yes. Yes, he’s in there. I forgot about him. The other one that’s in there is, you know, this will crack people up, but. Did you ever see the movie the Christmas Story?
23:22
Oh, yeah.
23:23
All right. You know, the dad. The dad. The dad plays the bad guy kind of in the natural, you know, and he’s the one that didn’t know that.
23:31
Till just now, but yeah, you’re absolutely.
23:35
Two completely different characters, you know. Yes, yes. That’s it. That’s awesome. Anything that you live by a little motto or quote that you kind of have maybe as a mission statement in the building or.
23:53
Well, again, one that I just heard recently, and I think I might have just seen it on Facebook, you know, it said, if you can get up at 7:00am to make someone else’s dream come true, you could also get up at 5am to make your dream come true. And that hit me pretty good. I was like, yeah, you know what? It, you know, that’s true. Get up a couple hours earlier and hit it hard and try to make your dream come true instead of just, you know, hanging out until it’s time to go to work to make somebody else’s dream come true. I think that’s a pretty good.
24:25
I like that. That’s impressive.
24:27
Yeah.
24:28
Well, I, I gotta tell you, I’m. I’m glad you came on the Gain Traction podcast. I’m glad Stephen introduced us and I’m ever in the Chattanooga area. I’ll look you up.
24:37
All right, man. Do it.
24:38
All right. Well, Nathan, thank you very much.
24:41
Yes, sir. Thank you, Mike.
24:42
To our listeners out there, thank you for being part of our podcast. We are grateful for you. If you’d like to find more podcasts like this, you can find them@gaintraction podcast.com till next week, have a great day. Thanks for listening to the Gain Traction Podcast. We’ll see you again next time. And be sure to click subscribe to get future episodes.
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