Carz R’ Us is a full-service, family owned automotive shop in Machesney Park, IL. Our aim is to provide premium quality automotive services and 100% customer satisfaction.

Mission Statement

The mission of Carz R’ Us is to provide our customers with the best automotive repair experience possible. We create this experience through our friendly staff, honest approach and education our ASE certified technicians provide to our customers. We will maintain a competitive price, operate our business with integrity and treat our customers with respect.

Who We Are

Carz R’ Us is a general automotive repair shop owned by Ray and Matt Aukes. The two brothers decided to pair up to create the best automotive shop in the area. They feel this is possible because of the diverse and experienced backgrounds the two of them bring to the table.

Matt Aukes has a bachelor degree in Music Education from Northern Illinois University and a master’s degree in Music Education from Vandercook College of Music. After teaching high school band for 6 years Matt decided to go in another direction for his career and pursue his own business. Matt decided to attend Nouveau Riche College, where he studied Real Estate Investing and Business Ownership. After receiving this education Matt decided to open his own real estate investing company; investing full time hours into this business. Matt has limited his time needed to part time, which has given him the time needed to open the auto repair shop with his brother Ray. Matt’s roll in the business is as bookkeeper, all aspects of marketing, customer service and community relations.

Ray Aukes, like Matt, attended Northern Illinois University for Music Education. After college Ray lived with his uncle Ron where he learned the automotive repair industry. Ron has over 40 years experience and is extremely knowledgeable. After working with his uncle Ray worked at several different auto shops. His most recent and longest lasting job was at F & F Tire where he did all the heavy duty mechanic work for the 6 F & F Tire stores. He was there for about 2 ½ years and really progressed as a mechanic. It was at this time that Ray felt ready to start his own shop. Ray’s roll in the shop is to order all parts/shop supplies, oversee all shop activities and perform heavy duty jobs such as engine rebuilds, timing chains, etc.

Renae Aukes, mom of Ray & Matt, is our delivery/pick-up person, secretary and customer relations person. Renae has devoted her time to help her two sons succeed in this family business. She is the one that is always smiling and she truly enjoys having conversations/getting to know the customers. Renae pretty much does anything needed that the other employees/owners don’t have time to do. This business is able to run much more fluid because of the devotion Renae has to Carz R’ Us and her two sons.

Our Staff

Jared Thompson is our Shop Foreman. Jared has been working on cars since he was eight years old; he developed a deep passion for automotive repairs and has been doing so ever since. After Jared graduated high school he attended Lincoln Technical Institute for Automotive Technology. Since graduating with a two year degree he has been with many different automotive shops; the bulk of the time was 7 years spent at Import Motors in Schaumburg. Jared has extensive knowledge on both foreign and domestic vehicles. He also has a license for welding and fabrication. Jared is what is called a “jack of all trades” in that he can weld, work on engines, transmissions, all types of vehicles and is very knowledgeable about pretty much every aspect of cars. He is an extremely valuable asset at Carz R’ Us and truly makes the business run smoothly at all times.

Kyle Nesler has been with Carz R’ Us since January, 2011. Prior to working with Carz R’ Us he was a semi driver and did side jobs working on vehicles. He is a self-taught mechanic that has a real niche for hands-on work. Since Kyle started working at Carz R’ Us he has grown tremendously as a mechanic. Kyle keeps the shop in order; organizes tools, tires, etc. helps our head techs with large jobs, installs tires, performs oil changes and most brake/suspension work, inspects vehicles and has a great ear for diagnosing noises on vehicles. One of the best attributes that Kyle brings to the business is a new and fresh prospective on how to run a business. During our staff meetings Kyle always has great ideas on how to improve productivity and help allow the shop to run more smoothly. We look forward to helping Kyle develop into a great tech and feel he will be an attribute to Carz R’ Us for years to come.

Joey Wright is our office manager here at Carz R’ Us, and has ten years of experience in the office management field. She started with us in April of 2011 and has greatly assisted in the operations of our business. Her dedication to perfectionism and work ethic truly shows in the way she handles daily tasks. Joey allows everyone else to do their jobs more timely and with less interruption because she is able to manage the front end so effectively. The management at Carz R’ Us firmly believes in maintaining employees for the long term. We feel Joey will be a person we can count on to assist in making Carz R’ Us one of the leading automotive shops in the area.

Community Involvement

Since opening on January 22nd, 2009 Carz R’ Us has quickly became involved in the community. Carz R’ Us is part of two Business Networking International (BNI) groups, members of the Parks Chamber (Loves Park & Machesney Park) and members of the Roscoe Chamber. We have also had a ribbon cutting ceremony in which the Mayor of Machesney Park participated. We plan on continuing our involvement and support of the local community.