Forst Auto drives to new heights with expansion

Judith Munson

Contributor

March 2, 2026

MARSHFIELD – Forst Auto is celebrating a recent expansion at its West Veterans Parkway location in Marshfield.

Owners Tim and Katie Forst said the addition of six auto repair bays complements a relatively new – but rapidly growing – sales operation, creating a more streamlined setup designed to boost efficiency and better meet increasing customer demand.

Revving the engine

The business got its start in 2008, when Tim – a former repair technician at a local dealership – said he decided to strike out on his own by renting a single repair bay at another shop in town.

In the beginning, Tim said it was “just a one-man show.”

The Forsts said the customer base grew steadily over the years, leading them to purchase their first property in Marshfield in 2014.

When he first started the business, Tim said “if it had a motor in it, I would work on it.”

“If it had moving parts, I would work on it,” he said. “I worked on boats, trailers and motorcycles.”

As the company expanded, Tim said that type of work became less practical, and the focus shifted to autos and light trucks.

“We’ll do anything from an oil change to pulling a motor or transmission,” he said. “We’ll do full teardowns and have even done some classic car work. But we’ve had to pull back from classic cars due to the fact we are fully booked, two to three weeks out.”

In 2018, Tim said rising demand led him to add three more work bays and start offering alignments.

Several years later, in 2023, Tim said they expanded into the auto sales business with the acquisition of a second property about 15 minutes away. 

“It was the right opportunity when I found this property,” he said. “I heard it was going up for sale and made an offer.”

Tim said he soon recognized that consolidating the two businesses was necessary, as managing operations at separate locations had become exhausting.

“It was definitely more difficult to keep your hand on the pulse of everything happening at each one,” he said.

Planning to merge the repair and sales operations, Tim said, began in February of last year, and by the end of 2025, the move was complete.

The combined facility, he said, now encompasses more than 5,450 square feet.

Tim said the decision to launch the car sales side of the business was driven in part by the shop’s increasing efficiency and adoption of the latest technology.

“When I decided to do this in 2023, I felt like we had the shops streamlined to where I was working myself out of a job – which was great,” he said.

Sitting on a lot of roughly two acres, Tim said the new location not only allows Forst Auto to consolidate its repair and sales operations but also provides ample room for future sales growth.

By sourcing many of the cars from auctions, he said he can “test-drive them, crawl underneath them, scan them – give them a thorough inspection” before making a purchase. 

“I think we’ve been able to grow sales so fast, because we have service with the sale,” he said. “And again, because of the trust we’ve built locally, people know they can trust what we have to offer. Plus, we put a 1,000-mile warranty on everything we sell.” 

Though he initially expected to have only five to 10 cars for sale when launching the sales side of the business, Tim said the lot has already grown to around 50 vehicles – reflecting a solid business that is now ready to expand its team.

The shop currently employs three full-time technicians and a sales manager, but Tim said they plan to expand the team by adding two more mechanics and a service manager by the end of 2026.

Driven by passion 

Since childhood, Tim said he has been fascinated by “anything nuts and bolts.”

“I would tear apart little lawnmower engines or ATVs and restore them at a pretty young age,” he said. “Once I was in high school, I worked at a local Fleet Farm in the auto shop as a youth apprentice through a school-to-work program. I think these programs are great. It’s literally what has gotten me to where I am today.”

After graduation, Tim said he worked as a mechanic at a local dealership, which is where he met Katie, who was employed as a receptionist and worked in the warranty department.

Together, they now juggle the shop and parenting three children.

“We have three kids,” he said. “The oldest boy is 14, our middle boy is 11 and then we have an eight-year-old daughter.”

Under the hood

Tim said Katie – who has an accounting background – started working full-time at the business in 2019.

Today, Katie said she manages the books and oversees back-office operations, while also assisting with service writing.

The couple said they credit the business’s success to their focus on building trust with customers, acknowledging that auto sales and repair often carry a less-than-stellar reputation. 

Earning that trust, Katie said, depends not only on delivering thorough, high-quality work but on maintaining transparency with every client.

“We have invested significantly in the latest diagnostic tools, and about seven years ago, we started doing digital inspections,” she said. “We were the first shop in our area to do them.”

Involving customers in the process, Katie said, helps them grasp why a repair is necessary.

“We show customers exactly what needs to be done,” she said. “Like most shops, we have a checklist, but ours is done digitally. So, if you need a new air filter, the technician will show you a picture of your existing air filter. If you have a leak or a part that is broken or loose, they’re going to take a picture or video of it and show you.”

Katie said that when customers can see all of that firsthand, it helps them understand the repair process more clearly.

“We can explain what looks great, what may need some attention in the future and what requires immediate attention,” she said.

Feedback on this approach, Katie said, has been extremely positive.

“They get to see a lot of things they wouldn’t otherwise get to see, and they appreciate that – especially if they are not really familiar with how cars work,” she said.

Tim said the digital transition has also improved efficiency, with the shop going completely paperless and all technicians now using tablets for their checklists.

He said Forst Auto also places a strong emphasis on continuous training for its mechanics to help them keep up with changes related to auto tech, with courses provided through NAPA Auto.

Head to Forst Auto’s Facebook page for further details.