All Things Auto: Best of Coweta’s Best Auto Work
Written and Photographed by NEIL MONROE
BEST IN AUTO for 2025
Auto Repair
1st: Litz Tire & Automotive
2nd: Manning and Sons
3rd: Buck's Tire
Tire Shop
1st: Buck's Tire
2nd: Westside Tire & Alignment
3rd: Binion Tire Pros
Auto Body Repair
1st: Bypass Body Shop
2nd: Newnan Auto Body & Glass
3rd: Newnan Hometown Auto Body
One of the most essential elements of modern life is an automobile. It gets us to work, to the park, to school, to find food. We practically live in our cars.
As a result, we’re all looking for a reliable place to keep those cars running.
Thankfully, Coweta County is blessed with strong local businesses as evidenced by their Best of Coweta recognition in this magazine's annual Readers' Choice Awards. No doubt, their wins are due to a combination of consistent service and keen focus on their customers.
Each winner in the three car-related categories in this year's Best of Coweta contest – auto body repair, tire shop and auto repair – are all locally owned shops that have been previously recognized by Cowetans as tops in their category.
In addition, each of these winners shares an important characteristic: Each shop is an entrepreneurial success, started and grown by knowledgeable owners who made a daring decision to start their own enterprise from scratch. Their longevity and accomplishments reflect hard work, dedication and an unyielding effort to stay ahead of the rapid changes in the auto industry over the past 15 years.
Auto Repair
1st Place, Litz Tire & Automotive
In the early 2000s, Mike Litzenberger began to believe that after more than 20 years working for a Fayetteville tire dealer, it was time for him to take the leap of starting his own business. His wife Sherry gave her full support and together they started a journey that today is Litz Tire and Automotive, voted Coweta’s best auto repair shop and a successful family business for more than 15 years.
“With the help of a friend from church, we were able to get the land for the business, and that enabled us to move forward and build,” says Mike, noting that, over the years, the business added more work bays and parking to their location just off Lower Fayetteville Road.
At the start, Mike and Sherry faced a real problem: The deep recession of the late 2000s was taking hold. There was concern, but the recession turned into a positive for the business.
“For us, it was a blessing,” recalls Sherry. “We’d started an auto repair business, and suddenly, everyone was holding on to their cars longer, expanding the market. We were busy from the outset.”
While a strong initial market helped, Mike cites two key factors that were essential to long-term success: customer satisfaction and a stable, skilled staff.
“We honestly never thought we’d be this successful,” says Mike. “From day one, we’ve set a goal of doing the right thing for our customers. As a result, we’ve achieved consistent year-over-year growth, mostly driven by repeat business and word of mouth.”
Those customers are served by a staff of 14 that the Litzenbergers say are the key element of their ongoing success.
“Ron Given, Dave Erikson and Rob Addis have essentially been with us from the start,” says Mike. “And our three sons – Tristan, Jesse and Cole – all have key roles.”
“We have a lot of family working here,” adds Sherry. “We get along great. We have a lot of fun, and we share a passion for taking care of our customers.”
Tire Shop
1st Place, Buck’s Tire
Buck Floyd faced a personal and professional dilemma in 2009. He had built a successful career with a tire wholesale company in Hapeville, but the company was phasing out his position. Staying with the company would mean taking a new position that required extensive travel. With a young family, sustained business travel didn't appeal to him. And that was the genesis of Buck’s Tire, voted Coweta's best tire shop each year since 2019.
“I started one weekend with a booth at a local flea market,” says Floyd. "I had used tires and sold 38 in one weekend. I knew then that this was the path I had to take.”
He opened a shop on Temple Avenue, initially selling used tires almost exclusively. Business grew, and he moved to his current location two years later. Today, Buck's Tire sells most major tire brands from a large in-store inventory and provides maintenance services as well; in addition to placing tops for Best Tire Shop, they won third place for Best Auto Repair.
Like most successful small business owners, Floyd says the foundation of his business is meeting the needs of his customers.
“Customer service is a lost art in many places,” he says. “People can tell if you’re trying to help them or trying to just make a sale. We’ve always put the needs of the customer first, and we always will. And we'll never sell something a customer doesn’t need.”
Floyd says it’s important to remain competitive on price, noting that even though his costs from manufacturers may be higher than chain store tire shops, who can buy in bulk, he can compete effectively by having lower overhead.
“Lots of layers of people get a share from each tire sold in a chain tire store,” he adds. "We don’t have that kind of overhead.”
Floyd says the tire industry is watching the impact of key economic changes now taking place globally. Tariffs may have an impact, though some manufacturers have taken increases and others haven’t, he says. Lower oil prices, a key input cost for tires, help keep prices in line, according to Floyd.
After 16 years in business, Floyd is optimistically proud of the success the store has achieved and gives credit to a talented, dedicated staff for driving the business forward.
“We have great folks working here, folks who share a belief that what we do is helping people with something that’s very important to them,” he concludes. "We’re going to keep going and keep trying to find ways to serve our customers even better.”
Body Shop
1st Place, Bypass Body Shop
Bypass Body Shop, voted Coweta's best body shop for 2025, demonstrates a key business fact: Customers do business with shops they trust. In business for 19 years, owners Jeff and Laurel Duncan estimate at least 50 percent of their business comes from repeat customers.
“We’ve always strived to meet or exceed customer expectations because we know how important the car we’re working on is to its owner,” says Jeff. “That car is not just an investment; it’s vital to folks’ lives.”
Jeff says at least 25 percent of the work done at Bypass Body is paid for by the customer, not an insurance company: “For some, they want to avoid the hassle of filing a claim. We’re pleased that customers come to us to get value when they spend their own money.”
The path to long-term success for the business began when the couple met as students at Newnan High School. Jeff began working in the body repair industry, while Laurel went into real estate. After deciding they wanted to own their own business, they bought property and built the current facility from scratch.
“Having a dedicated facility helps us operate more effectively and gives us an opportunity to grow,” says Jeff, noting that Bypass started with three staff members and today has 15 full-time employees.
“We are so proud of the team we have,” says Laurel. “Any business is only as successful as the people who work with you, who share their lives with you. Our son Cooper and our daughter Anna Claire are also involved in the business when school permits."
Through the years, the Duncans have seen many changes in the body shop industry; cars have become computers on wheels with advanced electronics and technology, according to Jeff.
“No one 20 years ago had heard of lane assist or had a 15-inch screen in their dashboard," he says. "We train consistently to stay on top of the latest technology.”
Another key change is that, today, more of the competition for local body shops like Bypass comes from corporate-owned body shops.
“We believe being local is an advantage because customers like dealing with a local business," says Jeff. "At the same time, our customers know us, and we have to deliver. Thankfully, we have a great group of experts working here who are fully committed to meeting the needs of our customers.” NCM
