Our Staff

You will always see a familiar, smiling face when you come to visit The Auto Shop. Everyone here takes your vehicle repairs very serious and treat it as if it were our own. The Auto Shop has been “your neighborhood auto repair facility” since 1977!

The Auto Shop staff is the engine that keeps our business running. Here’s a little more about them:

Joe Chibante - Owner

Joe grew up in Hilmar, CA. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from CSU, Stanislaus in 2012 and worked in various roles in the dairy industry from 2012 until taking over The Auto Shop in 2019 from retiring founders Bruce Little and Larry Tate. Having been a lifelong car lover and having always dreamt of owning his own business, The Auto Shop became the perfect opportunity for Joe to run a reputable and established local business. Joe looks forward to building upon the reputation that Bruce and Larry built of treating customers fairly, honestly, and being trusted by the community for over 42 years.

In his free time, you can find Joe off-roading in or working on his Toyota Land Cruiser, doing projects around the house, traveling, or enjoying a movie.

Todd Boudreaux – Service Manager

Todd grew up in Modesto, CA and went to Beyer High School. After graduating, Todd joined the US Army where he spent four years. From there Todd moved to North County San Diego where he spent the last 20+ years working for various custom hot rod and off-road shops where he gained an extensive knowledge of Chevrolet LS engines. In 1995, filling a lifelong dream to race motorcycles, Todd with help from friends built a 1977 Kawasaki KZ1000 Superbike and raced it with the WSMC for 10 years where he won two Vintage Superbike Championships. Todd has one adult child and 2 dogs you can often find lounging around the shop named Sammie and Camo.

Jeff Terra – ASE Certified Master Technician

Jeff grew up in Modesto, CA and has been working for The Auto Shop since 1992. He is our longest tenured employee. Jeff or as we like to call him “Junior” is happily married with 5 children. Jeff enjoys reading educational and sci-fi books, watching movies, and keeping up to date on the latest in automotive technology.

Bruce Little and Larry Tate – Founders (Retired)

Longtime friends Bruce and Larry opened The Auto Shop in 1977 and served the Modesto community by being a trusted, honest, and fair source for automotive repairs for over 42 years. They retired in 2019.

Bruce Little

September 22nd, 1954 – May 30th, 2024

Bruce Little passed away on May 30th, 2024. He made many connections with customers, employees, vendors, and community members over his lifelong career running The Auto Shop and involvement in motorsports, with many of those people becoming close friends. Bruce’s sense of humor, compassion, depth of knowledge, work ethic, dedication, and integrity will be dearly missed by, and continue to inspire, those who were fortunate enough to know him. Our thoughts are with his family during this difficult time.