Our People

Forty-one technicians. Twelve Master Certified. Five location managers. One founder.

Average tenure at Apex is 7.4 years. The industry average is 2.8. The difference is intentional.

The combined ASE certifications across the Apex group total 312 individual specialty-area credentials. The 12 ASE Master Certified techs each hold all 8 core specialty areas. James Caldwell's hiring philosophy is character first, certification after — every entry-level hire enters the Apex Technician Development Program and is paired with a Master mentor for an eighteen-to-twenty-four month progression. Seventeen of the current group's certifications were earned in-house through the Development Program rather than through outside hires.

Below are the six leadership bios — James and the five location managers. The twelve Master technicians are below the leadership block.

Founder & CEO

James Caldwell

ASE Master · MBA Thunderbird '02 · 23 years at Apex

James founded Apex Auto in Tempe in October 2003 after twelve years at the Camelback Automotive dealer group, where he was service-department director from 1998 through 2003. He holds ASE Master certification and an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management. James is on the floor at one of the five Apex locations every week.

He drives a 2019 Porsche 911 4S Cabriolet — his sole indulgence after twenty-three years of running the group on a $130K-$165K founder salary while the techs got the 75th-percentile compensation. His daughter Sarah is finishing the MBA program at ASU and works summers in the Apex operations office.

James turned down a $14.8M cash offer for the group in 2024. The 2024 decision to stay independent is now in the operating documents — a no-sale provision through 2030 unless James personally elects to revisit it.

Tempe Location Manager

Carlos Mendez

ASE Master · 11 years at Apex

Carlos came to Apex in 2008 as a service technician — one of three Camelback Automotive techs who followed James out of the dealer group during the recession. He earned ASE Master certification in 2012, was promoted to Tempe foreman in 2015, and took the Tempe location manager role in 2019.

Carlos's bay specialty is European chassis work — air-suspension diagnostics, adaptive damping systems, and the Range Rover/Mercedes hydraulic complexity that the dealer service drives charge $400/hr for. Customers who bring a Land Rover or G-Wagon to Apex Tempe often request Carlos by name. He still spends Wednesday afternoons in the bays.

Carlos drives a 2022 Toyota 4Runner TRD Pro. He coaches Little League in Tempe and was a high-school catcher at Mountain Pointe before his auto-tech apprenticeship.

Mesa Location Manager

Sandra Okafor

ASE Master · BS Automotive Management, Northwood '14 · 8 years at Apex

Sandra joined Apex in 2017 as a service writer at Tempe after four years at the Larry H. Miller dealer-group service drive in Tucson. She was promoted to Mesa foreman in 2020 and took the Mesa location manager role in 2022.

Sandra holds ASE Master certification (earned 2019 through the Apex Technician Development Program — she was the first service-writer-to-Master in the program's history) plus a Bachelor of Science in Automotive Management from Northwood University.

Mesa runs the largest Apex Fleet Solutions bay block in the group, and Sandra is the group's strongest operator on heavy-duty commercial fleet logistics. She drives a 2021 Toyota Tacoma double-cab and is restoring a 1969 Datsun 510 in her off-hours.

Scottsdale Location Manager

David Chen

ASE Master · BMW STEP Master · 7 years at Apex

David has been the Scottsdale location manager since 2019. He came to Apex from BMW of North Scottsdale where he was a Master technician for nine years on the BMW M and Mini Cooper Works platforms.

David holds ASE Master + the BMW STEP Master credential (one of about 1,200 worldwide). He's the group's lead diagnostician on the most complex BMW and Mini electrical-systems work and the only Apex manager who has personally coded a Rolls-Royce Wraith. Scottsdale's Saturday-morning luxury-vehicle block routes through David's desk.

He drives a 2017 BMW M4 manual that he's owned since new and a 2022 Honda Odyssey he uses for everything else. He has three kids under twelve and runs a youth-soccer team in North Scottsdale.

Chandler Location Manager

Maria Vasquez

ASE Master · Audi Academy Master · Porsche Bronze · 5 years at Apex

Maria came to Apex in 2020 from the Audi Chandler dealer service drive, where she spent seven years as a Master technician on the Audi A4/A6/Q5/Q7 platforms and the VW/Audi shared electrical architecture. She holds ASE Master + Audi Academy Master + Porsche Bronze certification.

Chandler under Maria's management has built the strongest VW/Audi/Porsche specialty depth in the group outside of Scottsdale. She's the group's go-to for VAG-COM VCDS coding and the Porsche PIWIS-level work that requires both the equipment and the depth of factory training that most independents don't have.

Maria drives a 2023 Audi RS3 that she bought used through a customer trade. She holds a private pilot license and flies a Cessna 172 out of Stellar Air Park.

Gilbert Location Manager

Robert Whitfield

ASE Master · Bosch EV/Hybrid Certified · 3 years at Apex (ex-Tesla)

Robert opened the Gilbert location in October 2023 as its founding location manager. He came to Apex in 2022 from Tesla Service Center Mesa, where he spent six years as a senior service technician on the Model S, Model 3, and Model X platforms — including legacy pre-2023 SOC service training on the original Tesla traction-battery generations.

Robert holds ASE Master + Bosch certified hybrid/EV + Tesla service certification (legacy). He's the group's lead diagnostician on high-voltage traction-battery work and the only Apex manager who has personally serviced a Lucid Air.

Gilbert under Robert's management is the group's strongest hybrid and EV service location. He drives a 2023 Rivian R1T (the only Rivian owned by an Apex employee) and a 1972 Datsun 240Z that he's owned since college.

Twelve Master Certified

The Master technicians.

Diego Saldana

ASE Master · BMW STEP · Tempe · 16 yrs

The longest-tenured technician at Apex. Daily-driver: 2018 BMW M2.

Antonio Reyes

ASE Master · Hybrid/EV · Tempe · 7 yrs

Group lead on Toyota/Lexus hybrid traction-battery work. 2024 Lexus RX 350h.

Marcus Johnson

ASE Master · Bosch FSA · Tempe · 16 yrs

Original Camelback transplant. 2020 Ford F-150 PowerBoost hybrid.

Hector Ramos

ASE Master · Tempe Fleet · 9 yrs

Tempe Fleet Solutions foreman. 2023 Ram 2500 Cummins.

Cameron Yoo

ASE Master · Porsche PIWIS · Tempe · 5 yrs

Porsche specialty depth at Tempe. 2016 Porsche Cayman GT4.

Lawrence Pike

ASE Master · Mercedes XENTRY · Mesa · 12 yrs

Group lead on Mercedes Sprinter and AMG platforms. 2019 Mercedes E63 S.

Jocelyn Tate

ASE Master · Heavy-Duty Diesel · Mesa · 6 yrs

Heavy-duty diesel specialty: Powerstroke, Cummins, Duramax. 2022 Ram 3500 dually.

Andrew Sandoval

ASE Master · BMW STEP · Scottsdale · 9 yrs

Scottsdale's BMW-M and Mini Cooper Works specialist. 2021 BMW M3 Comp.

Priya Anand

ASE Master · Mercedes XENTRY · Scottsdale · 6 yrs

Scottsdale's Mercedes and AMG specialist. 2024 Mercedes EQE 350.

Trevor Mclain

ASE Master · VAG-COM · Chandler · 4 yrs

VW/Audi/Porsche shared-platform diagnostic specialist. 2019 VW GTI manual.

Olivia Park

ASE Master · EV Certified · Gilbert · 3 yrs (ex-Tesla)

Gilbert's Tesla and Rivian specialty depth. 2023 Tesla Model 3 Performance.

Brandon Aigaki

ASE Master · Hybrid Drive · Gilbert · 2 yrs

Gilbert's hybrid traction-battery specialist. 2024 Toyota Crown Signia.

"You can have all the OE equipment in the world. It doesn't matter if the people running it don't care. Apex's pay-and-training structure exists so that the people running our equipment do care."

— James Caldwell, founder

Meet the team at any of our 5 locations.

Schedule service or stop in. We're not a face-behind-the-counter operation — we'll introduce you to the tech working on your vehicle.

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