Welcome to another edition of the Car Dealership Guy Podcast Recap—a rundown of key lessons from top operators, founders, and execs shaping the future of auto retail.
Today’s guest is Nathan Shaver, Managing Partner at Shaver Auto Group.
We dig into why fixed operations have become the most reliable growth engine for dealerships, what it actually took to triple service gross in 18 months, and where dealers are still leaving money on the table.
Reallocating resources to fixed ops drove unprecedented growth in a challenging market.
Operating a single CDJR point after splitting from the family's Nouri Shaver Group, Nathan made the strategic decision to stop juggling every department and go all-in on service.
"We needed to do something different. The leadership team that I have in fixed ops is a very large part of our success for sure, but just deciding to go all in on fixed ops, not trying to juggle every department, actually reallocating resources away from sales into fixed ops, hitting the gas and really focusing on it as the northstar for the business for 18 months is what it took."
By concentrating talent, capital, and attention on service operations instead of spreading efforts thin, the store tripled fixed ops gross from $385,000 to over $1 million in just 18 months.
Raising labor rates with minimal customer pushback unlocked immediate margin expansion.
When asked what single change moved the needle most in fixed ops, Nathan pointed directly to price rather than volume.
"Increasing our labor rate."
The market absorbed the increase with surprisingly low friction because competing CDJR dealerships had 2-3 week wait times, creating a premium for immediate service availability that customers were willing to pay.
Getting more cars into the shop starts with fixing basic intake problems.
Service advisors were answering phones poorly and refusing additional appointments, leaving capacity on the table every single day.
"More service drive appointments, more flag hours, more CP, more warranty, more internals."
Simple improvements to phone handling and appointment acceptance increased daily service appointments from 20 to 30-35, establishing the foundation for all subsequent growth initiatives.
Traditional used car levers are delivering diminishing returns in today's market.
The pricing, merchandising, and advertising tactics that previously drove strong used car performance are no longer producing the same incremental improvements.
"If I would walk into a new dealership and I wanted to go to the sales department, the three things that I would look at first is inventory levels, advertising, and headcount. You know, focusing on the quality of the photos, the the V rank or you know the price comp comparison to similar vehicles for sale in the area and how much we're spending in advertising. They're not driving the same incremental improvements that I've been able to pull off in the past."
Nathan stopped buying at auction entirely for two months in an attempt to improve turn, but the experiment failed to deliver expected results, highlighting that inventory sourcing wasn't the root issue.
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Solving problems inside dealerships drives long-term entrepreneurial passion.
Nathan's background includes inventing a device to measure toxic smoke residue in used cars, which led to California legislation requiring disclosure in home sales.
"What started off as an appraisal to tool as a car guy I just realized that there was a global health issue here."
The pattern of identifying operational problems, building solutions, and incubating them internally before potentially scaling externally represents his career-long approach to dealership innovation.
CSI and throughput improvements are the next chapter after initial growth.
While celebrating the service growth, Nathan is candid that customer experience metrics need significant attention moving forward.
"We can do better with throughput and we can do better with CSI."
Starting in Q3 2026, the priority shifts toward redeploying some of the financial success from growth into customer amenities, better follow-up, and making retention a primary KPI.
Fifth-generation dealers can successfully split from family operations and thrive independently.
After growing up in the business and becoming GSM at Huntington Beach CDJR, Nathan received an offer to buy his own store and resigned from Nouri Shaver the same day.
"When the opportunity presented itself, I think flexibility to adjust to the opportunity at the time was what manifested where where I find myself today."
The relationship with his father and the Nouri Shaver executive team remains strong, with daily communication and ongoing collaboration despite operating independently.
Time allocation shifts every 45-60 days based on where the business needs attention most.
Rather than maintaining a fixed schedule, Nathan redirects his focus to whatever department is experiencing the biggest challenges or opportunities.
"Depending on the biggest problems at the company, I shift gears. The last 2 months, I've spent an unproportional amount of time in my finance department."
Each day ends with a review of key metrics (cars sold, hours flagged, gross by department), ensuring he knows exactly where the business stands before leaving the store.
Street purchases still offer more equity than auction cars despite consensus around the strategy.
Although acquiring vehicles directly from consumers is no longer a competitive secret, the margins remain superior to wholesale sourcing.
"There's still more equity in street purchases than there are cars from other sources."
Nathan's team acquires 25-30 vehicles monthly from consumers, but he acknowledges the real constraint isn't inventory acquisition—it's improving turn on the cars they already have.
Adapting to what works beats blaming market conditions when headwinds hit.
Despite Stellantis challenges and variable department struggles, Nathan believes flexibility and reading market signals are what separate successful dealers from those who stagnate.
"Let's focus on what we can control. You know it's easy to blame the marketplace. Uh but uh under every rock there's there's some opportunities and um you know the markets are uh dealers are still performing better than we did pre-COVID."
The willingness to make hard calls and reallocate resources across departments, even away from traditionally prioritized areas like sales, remains his core competitive advantage in a rapidly changing retail environment.
