After 35 years in the car repair business, Michael Nordeoff is stepping back.

Sort of.

Nordeoff recently closed up his Complete Care Care location off the Highway 301 Bypass and moved to a new shop on Rucker Lane with a 50/50 partner – Mike Morris. The new Complete Care Care location has been open for about two months now.

Morris recently closed his own repair shop – Big Mike Auto Care – and has known Nordeoff for 15 years, including working for him for three years. 

“Me and Mike have known each other for over 15 years now,” Nordeoff said. “He’s a great man, a great father, and he’s got a good reputation in town. 

“I've been doing this for 35 years now. I got to the point where, you know, 60, 70 hours a week will just kick your butt after a while. And I told myself: I've been with my wife (Augusta) for eight years. We've been to South Dakota, we've been to Ohio, we've been to Michigan, we've been to Key West and we've been to Puerto Rico. We travel. I never did that for 28 years. And I'm not able to do that unless I've got somebody I trust to handle the business. That’s Mike.”

Morris came to Statesboro from Tennessee about 18 years ago and was the chief mechanic at Vaden Nissan for several years. He met Nordeoff and went to work at Complete Care Care for three years. Morris opened Big Mike Auto Care in 2018 on Joe Kennedy Blvd., behind Ogeechee Technical College.

Morris said he started looking at the property on Rucker Lane for a possible shop in 2019. After several starts and stops, Morris said he spoke to Nordeoff about the property. In early 2025, Morris said he came to an agreement with Nordeoff to invest in completing the shop and they would become equal partners in the business. 

“I want to be in a situation where I can control what goes on, but with Mike running it,” Nordeoff said. “Meaning, if he has a problem, he calls me before it becomes a bigger problem. I always tell people, I love to put smoke out. I hate to put fires out.” 

Nordeoff, 53, said his plan is for the next four years to still work mostly full time, just not 60-70 hours every week. He also wants to assure all his long-time customers that they can put their trust and loyalty into his new partner.

“Mike will take care of them,” Nordeoff said. “I wouldn’t have gone into this if I didn’t have complete faith in Mike.”

And Morris, 42, feels the same.

“I completely trust Michael,” he said. “I know how hard he works and I know my long-time customers will be taken care of at our new shop, too.”

But even taking a small step back is difficult for Nordeoff after going full bore for 35 years, he said.

“There are so many times you can't call in sick,” he said. “You know for small business owners, it's your life. We take Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, Fourth of July. Those are our holidays. Until 2023, we worked every Saturday, too. Now we work every other Saturday. And it still feels weird to wake up on a Saturday that you ain't got to go to work. That's two years later.”

After graduating from high school in 1990, Nordeoff began working at a NAPA parts store and by the time he was 22, he became the youngest manager of a NAPA store. From there he moved to Statesboro and purchased his first business, Castrol Car Care in 1995.

"Every day I am living the American dream," he said. "I work hard to respect our clients by providing them with affordable, reliable car repair options. In return, they have become loyal clients and the key to my success by sending me their family and friends.”

He said his business philosophy includes paying employees well but keeping labor charges to customers low and dealing in volume. Several of his shop employees have been with the company almost as long as he has.

Nordeoff said he plans to repay the loyalty of those longtime employees four years from now by giving them – not selling them – a percentage of his share of the company. 

“They earned it,” Nordeoff said. “I’ve been very blessed. I’m fortunate enough to be able to do that for them.”

But for now, Nordeoff will be working every day with Morris to serve all their faithful customers at the new location of Complete Car Care and to welcome new ones.

“If you’re looking for an auto repair shop you can trust, come down and give us a try,” Morris said. “I promise Michael and I will take care of you.”