Business
CS Automotive The coolest shop in Tennessee
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rentwood, Tenn., is a suburb of Nashville, located due south of Music City, and is known for its rolling hills as well as being one of the wealthiest cities in the U.S. relative to the average cost of living. Population is roughly 41,000. It’s no secret that Nashville is worldrenowned as a hub for music — initially for country music, but currently a hot spot of studio recording for all music genres. Even bands such as Aerosmith, Cheap Trick and ZZ Top record there. The sounds emanating from CS Automotive (short for Cool Springs Automotive) may not involve the resonance of guitar strings, but are rather the sweet tunes of well-serviced Asian import vehicles and the praises of the shop’s loyal customer base. While CS Automotive cares for a variety of makes and models, they specialize in Asian imports. Founded in 2006, owners Rob and Kim Auernheimer have established CS Automotive as the “go-to” service shop for makes including Toyota, Lexus, Infiniti, Nissan, Subaru and Honda. CS Automotive is well-established as a “high end” shop that specializes in imports. Considering the busy workload of CS Automotive, we considered ourselves fortunate that co-owner Kim was able to find the time to chat with us so we could gain an insight into the shop’s highly successful operations. Following are her comments.
Does your shop offer general automotive repair or do you specialize in specific makes or types of repairs? We are a full-service automotive repair shop. However, we specialize in Asian import vehicles including Lexus, Toyota, Infiniti,
Cool Springs Automotive (CS Automotive) Brentwood, Tennessee Owners: Rob and Kim Auernheimer Business founded: 2006 Number of bays: 10 (8 lifts) Number of certified technicians: 4 Shop size: 6,397 square feet Number of vehicles serviced per month: 215 Labor rate: $112.48/hr. Average job ticket price: $568 Gross profit: approximately 57% Average amount spent on tools and equipment annually: $10,000 – $15,000 Vehicle makes serviced: Asian import specialist
Nissan, Subaru, etc. Rob holds certification as a Lexus Master Diagnostic Technician, Toyota Master Diagnostic Technician and an ASE Certified Master Technician. In addition, Tanner Jenkins, the shop’s lead technician, also holds Toyota Master Diagnostic Technician and ASE Certified Master Technician certifications, and was Ratchet & Wrench’s Technician of the Year in 2016.
What is your business philosophy? We believe that we are in a relationship business. We have to build relationships, which in turn builds trust and loyal customers. Our shop motto is “Every Time We Do It, We Do It The Best We Can!” We put forth our optimum effort in every case, whether the job involves repairing the vehicles, answering the phone or sweeping the floor. Every employee plays a crucial part of the CS Automotive team. If one team player is not doing their best, we lose. But most
36 | ASP October 2017
