Show Summary:

Jimmy Lea sits down with Scott Repman of Scott Repman’s Auto and Truck Repair to explore his path from fixing an unreliable high school car to running a multimillion-dollar repair and towing business. Scott’s story highlights the power of persistence, mentorship, and a commitment to honesty and customer service. He shares how paying technicians well, keeping the business family-driven, and focusing on integrity have fueled his success. Along the way, Scott reflects on industry challenges like rising parts costs and outlines his vision of building a lasting legacy for his children. His guiding lesson through it all: “Don’t be afraid.”

Host(s):

Jimmy Lea, VP of Business Development

Guest(s):

Scott Repman, Owner of Scott Repman’s Auto and Truck Repair

Episode Highlights:

[00:00:42] - Scott shares how a bad first car led him to discover his love for automotive work in high school.

[00:02:22] - At 20 years old, Scott was given the chance to run an independent shop, taking it from $2,000 a week to $130,000 a month.

[00:04:26] - He later managed a 28-bay shop, becoming the largest AAA contractor in the U.S., handling both repair and towing.

[00:06:24] - Starting from a single bay in 2017, Scott has grown his shop into a $2M+ three-bay operation.

[00:07:06] - Customer service, honesty, and paying technicians well are the cornerstones of his success.

[00:08:17] - Scott highlights parts price gouging as one of the industry’s biggest current challenges.

[00:09:39] - His five-year vision is to expand into a 10-bay shop and build a legacy business for his sons.

[00:10:32] - Keeping the business family-run ensures integrity and a unique customer experience.

[00:13:37] - Offering free towing instead of cheap oil changes is one way he adds value for customers.

[00:14:07] - Scott’s advice to his younger self: “Don’t be afraid."  Taking risks and leading with integrity brings success.

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Episode Transcript Disclaimer

Episode Transcript:

Jimmy Lea: Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, or goodnight, depending on when and where you're joining us from today. My name is Jimmy Lee, and you are joining the Institute with the Leading Edge podcast, and our guest today is Scott from Scott Reitman's Auto and Truck Repair. Scott, how the heck are you brother?

Jimmy Lea: I'm wonderful. It's good to talk to you this morning and be a part of your show. Yes. Well, thank you very much and in fact, I want to talk about your shop and about your business and what you've done. Specifically like how did you get into the automotive industry because your shop's only been around since 2017.

Jimmy Lea: How did you get launched into this?

Scott Repman: Well, honestly my parents buying me a very bad car in high school is what made me become a mechanic when you were always having to fix your own vehicle and they still offered high school automotive. That's what led me to working on cars. I was fortunate to have a father that was in the mechanical business, not automotive, but in air conditioning, so he taught me great work ethic, work ethics.

Scott Repman: When we finally got a chance to start turning a wrench in high school, I really enjoyed it. I found a love for it, so I stayed very in depth to it. That is awesome. What is your first car? My first car was a 1981 Ford Escort. I'm embarrassed to tell you, but 81 Ford Escort. That's why you had to learn to work on cars if you own that.

Jimmy Lea: Oh, yeah. You did. Oh, that's awesome. My first car is a 1952 Chevy Deluxe, Bel Air. It was great Grandma's car and I got to drive it.

Scott Repman: Oh, there's nothing wrong with a classic. Oh, that's a good car. That's a lot better than the 81 escort. I did get to learn to drive three on a tree, so that was pretty cool.

Scott Repman: That was very cool. Today, I don't think we could get 10 young men to be able to drive three on a tree.

Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Yeah. So true. My son could do it. I could tell you that.

Scott Repman: That's 'cause you're a good dad and you taught him. I, same with my boys. I've got five boys and they can all drive a stick. They had to learn.

Jimmy Lea: Oh, it's so true. It's so true. So going back to when you started your shop, you've got a solid foundation, high school, auto shop, what's one of those defining moments that really set up who you are today as a budding business owner?

Scott Repman: When I was 20 years old, I was fortunate to be given a chance by a gentleman named Dan Verdo that owned an independent repair shop in Phoenix, Arizona that butted up next to an kaman transmission.

Scott Repman: So I had the, i, I got the. Just an opportunity that was unreal to be able to be in control of a shop that was growing. We ended up taking it to be one of the largest auto repair independents in the nineties over in North Phoenix. And just grew from there. Took a business that was only doing a couple of thousand dollars a week up to doing about $11,000 a week.

Scott Repman: So that was a major change for that company. And then by the time that I had spent five years with that company, we had 'em up to about 130,000 a month. I always was someone that was dedicated to growing my customer base, making sure they were satisfied and happy. I started as a mechanic, but as people found out and I found out myself, I was very good with people, I was very good with our industry and explaining what needed to take place with people's cars, and that's a success story starting right there.

Jimmy Lea: Oh yeah. It sure is that's awesome. Inspiring that you went from being mechanic to a service advisor. You took a shop from. A few hundred dollars a day to 1.3, 1.4 million a year in a, that is correct time. Oh my gosh. That's amazing. So at 25, did you strike out on your own

Scott Repman: or did you. No, I'd love to share.

Scott Repman: So I, through the industry and time, like you probably know, anytime you've got somebody that's successful at the front counter, you're gonna have plenty of people come look for you. Yeah. So the next person that found me was a gentleman named Scott drag me that owned a Coman transmission and took me to my next level.

Scott Repman: He allowed me to really run his facility with my abilities and my talents. I ended up taking him to the number third rank for kaman transmission between 96 and 99 of for, you know, the whole industry throughout the 50 states. And at that point then the next person that I got to meet was a gentleman named.

Scott Repman: Johnson. There's a lot of good and bad that rolls with that. But at the end of the day, I was able to run a 28 bay shop largest AAA contractor in the United States for both towing and repair. And this is before AAA had their own repair shops. And at $256,000 a month in business and service, and over 2000 calls with towing, it really broadened all my horizons on the business.

Jimmy Lea: Holy mackerel.

Scott Repman: Yes, sir.

Jimmy Lea: Two, you are a $3 million a year business.

Scott Repman: Probably closer to four when it was all said and done. The, being the largest AAA contractor I evolved the towing industry into an amazing product that we still use today at my shop. So having 10 tow trucks at your disposal, I gotta be honest, one of the things that made me successful was giving a little bit away to get a lot.

Scott Repman: We used to average bring in 10 cars a day minimum into that shop. Via a tow truck and anybody in our industry knows a tow truck. Back then they were an average of 900 to $1,100 per car, and today they're closer to two to $3,000 per car because of the cost of auto repair. Wow. So. We wrapped everything I, over time, I took everybody's great ideas and wrapped them into one is what brought me to my own business.

Scott Repman: So I did work for a large multi-company that had sold this last year. And my best friend is actually the vice president ex vice president, and that was Gruels Automotive. They really taught me integrity. I gotta be honest, for a 25, 25 shop company, they had integrity, honesty, the things that really make an auto shop successful.

Scott Repman: And I took that last little tidbit and I opened my own company in 17, actually was on my own me one bay and me running another man's shop to be able to afford to start my own business. 'cause I'm not rich. I had to start from the ground up. So at that point I put enough money together to get a single bay.

Scott Repman: And today I'm proud to say that we're doing a little over $2 million out of a three bay shop. Congratulations. A three bay shop at that three Bays three, so 680,000 a bay. I'll be happy to put my number I, yes sir. And we are hoping that we are fixing to move into a new 10 bay shop that's just a couple of miles down the road and we'll know that answer this week.

Scott Repman: So fingers crossed we're growing to the next location.

Jimmy Lea: Well, congratulations. We'll be praying for you. I hope it all turns out very well for you. 10 bays. If you can do 2 million, 3 million out of a three bay, what are you doing out of a 10 bay, brother? Oh my gosh.

Scott Repman: Customer service. I have to be honest. We don't advertise.

Scott Repman: We definitely have a free Facebook page, but it's word of mouth referrals, honesty, I just can't say that word enough. Honesty, integrity will get you everywhere. People will bring you more work than you could ever handle. I learned in this industry there's so much honest repair. You never have to dig deep to find repair.

Scott Repman: It's all sitting there. You just need to have good mechanics. And I'd like to wrap that in a little bit. You've gotta pay your guys good. I can't lie. My top guy makes 65 an hour and he is worth every penny of it. Every hour that man turns for me. He makes me money. My guys average about 55 hours a week. They're just they're the best the industry offers and they're worth it.

Scott Repman: So getting back to paying your mechanics, the right amount of money has made me successful with less comebacks good customer service, and people that want to deal with my mechanics. I mean, they ask for 'em by name and I it makes me feel special on that.

Jimmy Lea: Oh, that sure does. When they know your mechanic by name.

Jimmy Lea: That's a whole nother level of trust in the industry. That's very cool. So, what's one of the biggest challenges that you're facing today?

Scott Repman: Being point blank the way that the parts companies are taking advantage of the tariffs. We are very big into American parts and are always have been into American parts, buying those specific, but we've noticed the price increase on American parts, which should not be taking place.

Scott Repman: Considering how the tariffs work. So I feel like our industry is like many others, the parts companies are seeing where they can gouge. I will use that word because if you look at repair one year ago, two years ago on the same part number, you're just watching it go up. Quality come down, which I'm sure you're very easily aware of, seeing all the recalls, lack of bolts being tightened at manufacturers.

Scott Repman: But tying that back, the biggest issue is that you're having to raise your prices. I'm all for making money, but you've gotta be cost effective for your customers so they can afford the repairs.

Jimmy Lea: Oh, it's so true. It's so true. Parts is such a intricate part of what we do. It's 50% of every repair order is it's parts and labor.

Jimmy Lea: So labor we can control, but the parts man, yeah, it is a challenge. It is a challenge for sure. So, looking to the future, where would, where do you see yourself in five years? We know this week you're looking at a 10 bay shop, but where does the five year plan look for you, Scott?

Scott Repman: Well, I've been fortunate to have five boys, as I said a little bit earlier ago, and out of those five I grabbed two that really love the industry.

Scott Repman: So my 28-year-old is the manager of our shop. I really deal with the mobile repair and the towing side of our business. And then my oldest, my oldest stepson is one of our mechanics. Where I'm going with that is I wanna build something for them to take over. The next five years is going be to build more foundations so they're more secure and they're better off in a position to continue what is, I believe, our legacy.

Jimmy Lea: Yeah. So that's the impact you're gonna make, is building a very good, solid foundation of an business that the two of them can work together as partners and really take it up to the next level.

Scott Repman: That's correct, along with my wife. I hope to always be here, but you have to think of the future. My wife is the HR and the book bookkeeper.

Scott Repman: She's expanding that to our daughter-in-law. We're keeping it in the family because it gives them a guaranteed future, and it keeps our industry very clean the way we want it. We know when people come into our facility, they're going to get an experience that's unlike anyone they've ever had in the auto industry.

Scott Repman: They're gonna be treated like family better and just more in depth than ever.

Jimmy Lea: Oh, I love it. I love it. Yeah. Your wife Lisa is your wife? Yes, sir.

Scott Repman: Yes

Jimmy Lea: sir. Yeah she's doing a great job there, being in the industry. And then partner with you. So to your experience with Ulix, do you think you'll ever expand the kingdom or you just keep it one multimillion dollar, single location?

Scott Repman: Just a couple of locations. I can't see going the GRU style. And I wanna remove that word unfortunately since they got sold out, but it's. I've seen them multi-locations lose their integrity. I'm sorry guys. Anybody out there that hates me on that one? Apologize. But I get more customers out of those large venues of shops more than ever before.

Scott Repman: When you get that large, it's very hard to make sure your customers, number one, it's very hard to make sure they know that their car is just as important as the other ones that are in that shop. Well, when you get into multi-locations, you don't see the happiness at the front counter 'cause they really don't take care of their people like they should.

Jimmy Lea: Yeah. You know that does happen. It's culture is a very fickle beast and it's hard to wrangle. It's hard to create. It's hard to tame, but once you've got it in there, man, it just really explodes and goes really well. So if you do expand to a couple locations I've heard it said before that. A single location is like a handbag.

Jimmy Lea: Two locations is like luggage, and three locations is like a trunk.

Scott Repman: You, and I've heard everybody say that three you gotta have. So there might be a third down the road, but two that are close together. 'cause we have so much work right now we're sitting on usually having 40. 50 cars on the lot for repair, which I'm just proud as can be.

Scott Repman: Yeah. But we wanna make those cars, we really can turn 'em over fast. Even with the three bays we have four mechanics. We do heavy duty, so we do work on anything from a Peterbilt down to a chevette. I think that's very unique for our company. And in our net neck of the woods, we're in North Phoenix and very few people offer what we do when it comes to the big trucks.

Scott Repman: Oh yeah. So that's that. That's a really big part of our business that people. It's scary to a lot of the automotive shops, but gasoline and diesel, you almost have to take care of both today if you really want to keep all your customers.

Jimmy Lea: Yeah, and it's amazing that you're doing everything from the big semi trucks, the Peter belts, the box trucks, the reefers, all the way down to a Ford Fiesta.

Scott Repman: You got, Hey, I'd love a fiesta. They're easy to work on. But yeah. We do mobile service for the big trucks and little cars. We have the tow truck, which I'll be honest, we give towing away because I'm the driver and it's free of charge almost. Why not? I wanna give my customer a benefit. Instead of giving 'em a cheap oil change, I give 'em a low cost tow whenever they need it, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Scott Repman: That's important to them. They, I've never had somebody ask for a cheap oil change that lacks good service. 'cause they would rather have the good service than a cheap price.

Jimmy Lea: Oh, it's so true. It's so true. So if you were able to send yourself a message back to the days when you started your business. What message would you send yourself in those early days of starting your business or maybe even Scott, going back to when you first started turning a wrench as a 20-year-old in the shop?

Scott Repman: Don't be afraid. Literally one statement. Don't be afraid. 'cause the day that I accepted that, which would've been around my 19 to 20 years of age, I've never turned back. I've always gone forward. Every shop I've worked for has made more money than they made before. Every mechanic that's ever worked for me, even being through somebody else's OA ownership, they always make more money.

Scott Repman: You lead 'em to the promised land when you take your people there. They'll follow you to the end of the world. And that just creates, once again, all this is a domino effect to have great customer service and exceptional customers. It all comes together.

Jimmy Lea: Oh, I love it. I love it. I love your advice. Don't be afraid.

Jimmy Lea: So, going back to the days of this starting and your advice is don't be afraid. What's one of those risks? That were you to go back, you would take it this time where before you may have been a little bit risk adverse.

Scott Repman: I probably would've actually have just rented a shop my first year instead of a single bay and worked for and run another man's company.

Scott Repman: I'm not against it, but I think if I would've put a little more into my first year, I could have got a bigger shop. But at the end, you don't want to second guess, because if it's a success you end up at, then it may not have been the best move to change anything, if that makes sense. But I wanna say, I guess, you know, going through those times when you're.

Scott Repman: You have no credit worthiness, your business is up and starting. You've gotta go give a hundred percent. We, you know, I personally went out and got accounts, got contracts, become part of the government account system, took on the VA hospital, which we're very proud to say that we work on all their large equipment at the Veterans Administration in Phoenix.

Scott Repman: Things like that make me proud. We took our. Great company and showed them what we had to offer, and in return it just turned it right back to us. So don't be afraid. It turns into you. Just open all your doors.

Jimmy Lea: Oh, amen, brother. Amen. Well, Scott, thank you so much for joining me today. Those of you who can't tell Scott is in one of his tow trucks today joining us from the road.

Jimmy Lea: You are an inspiration for sure. Thank you for not being afraid. Thank you for taking the risk and being honest and providing integrity to our industry, not only for yourself, not only for Lisa, but for your boys and for your team, and growing your kingdom. The impact you're gonna leave is just so invaluable.

Jimmy Lea: It is just inspirational. Thank you very much, Scott. Thank you. I really appreciate it.

Scott Repman: I appreciate your time and this morning was wonderful to talk to you. You have a beautiful, amazing day.