
July 28, 2025
From Carburetors to Concealed Carry: How Kemp Treger Built Two Businesses by Doing Things Right
Jonathan Breeden: [00:00:00] On this week’s episode of The Best of Johnston County Podcast. Our guest is Kemp Treger, owner of Clayton Imports and Kemper Farms. We talked to Kemp a little bit about his car repair business on Guy Road and Clayton, he’s been there for 26 years.
They used to fix. My Honda Accord and kept it going for many, many years. Loved Kemp for all he did for the Honda Accord I had, and it went to over 300,000 miles before I finally got a new one. We also talked to him about how he changed from just doing Hondas and Acura to now doing all types of imports, including BMWs and Mercedes as well as.
Hondas and Acura’s and Toyotas and Lexuses and the different types of cars they service and the different services they provide. We talked to him his about his new venture, Kemper Farms, where he is doing concealed carry training and gun safety training, and that’s at kemperfarms.com. We talked to him about how women are often better shots than men when they come through his concealed carry class.
So listen in if you’re interested in how to make your [00:01:00] car last longer. The secret is maintenance and maybe into some of the concealed carry stuff that he’s offering. He talks about all of that here and ways you can get involved. So listen in. I think you’ll find it interesting.
Welcome to another episode of Best of Johnston County, brought to you by Breeden Law Office. Our host, Jonathan Breeden, an experienced family lawyer with a deep connection to the community, is ready to take you on a journey through the area that he has called home for over 20 years. Whether it’s a deep dive into the love locals have for the county or unraveling the complexities of family law, Best of Johnston County presents an authentic slice of this unique community.
Jonathan Breeden: Hello and welcome to another edition of The Best of Johnston County Podcast. I’m your host, Jonathan Breeden, and on today’s episode we have Kemp Treger, owner of Clayton Imports, which repairs cars in Clayton on Guy Road. He’s been there for 26 years. Fixed lots of my cars over the years. Those are stories for another day Anyway, and he’s [00:02:00] gonna talk to us a little bit about. The services his company provides and some common mistakes that he sees car owners make before they come into his shop and maybe sometimes after they leave his shop.
But before we get to that, I’d like to like ask you to like, follow and subscribe to this podcast wherever you’re seeing it, whether it be on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn, Instagram, or any of the other social media channels of The Best of Johnston County Podcast. The Best of Johnston County Podcast comes out every single Monday and has now for over 20 months.
So go back and listen some of our previous episodes with most of the Johnston County Commissioners. Johnston County Manager, Rick Hester, realtor, Donald O’Mara. Our local dentist, Tim Sims, we’ve had all types of guests from all over Johnston County talking about the services they provide, educating the public about their subject matters.
And they have talked to us about why they love Johnston County and almost everybody says it’s the people. We’ll see what Kemp says in a few minutes is what he loves most about [00:03:00] Johnston County. So, but we do want you to like, follow, and subscribes you be aware, made aware of future episodes. Welcome Kemp.
Kemp Treger: How you doing?
Jonathan Breeden: Good. I appreciate you coming, man. We hadn’t talked in a while. I saw you on Facebook and you were buying a new truck for Brian Shin and I thought, man, I’d love to have him. Look, we used to have the best time when I was in there getting my car fixed. You were a small business. I was a small business.
We’re just getting started and it was an adventure.
Kemp Treger: Oh yeah.
Jonathan Breeden: We had the same problems, you know, labor, trying to get people to pay. You know, my business is no different than your business. We’re now much bigger than both of us Were 20 years ago. So I thought we’ll have you come in and talk about what you’re doing now. So
Kemp Treger: yeah
Jonathan Breeden: anyway, so
Kemp Treger: things have definitely changed.
Jonathan Breeden: They have changed. I know it, right. I mean, I remember it was Clayton Honda. Now it’s Clayton Imports. So anyway, just tell us who you are and what you do.
Kemp Treger: Well, my name is Kemp Treger. I own Clayton Imports and been there 26 years and we worked Clayton Honda and Acura Specialist. That’s all we worked on. And so then we had to change [00:04:00] the name because Honda said we couldn’t have our Honda in their, in my trade name, so we had to change it to Clayton Imports. So then after that then we had to start working on imports Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Volkswagen.
So my guys had to change up and get some different training and of course scan scanners and gosh, diagnostic stuff is crazy right now. Back in the day we didn’t have all this computerized stuff. We had carburetors and vacuum lines, and now we got fuel injection, we got cam sensors, we got modules can buses. We got stuff all over the place that we have to get into and we have to communicate with them.
If we gotta put a window motor in one of these cars, we got to go in and program ’em. People don’t understand that the labor involved in buying the program from Mercedes or from BMW, they download it into my laptop and then [00:05:00] we plug into the car and we have to set all the parameters and it’s, it’s high tech, so you can’t, it’s not like working on a car like it used to.
Now it’s all computerized. You have to be highly trained to work on these cars and a lot of people get, get caught up trying to fix them themselves, or they take ’em somewhere that don’t have the knowledge and then end up bringing it to me and I gotta fix what they started first before I can
Jonathan Breeden: get to what actually is wrong.
Kemp Treger: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Jonathan Breeden: Golly, I, I mean, it really has changed. I mean, I mean, these cars now, I mean, you sort of plug into ’em and they tell you what’s wrong with them.
Kemp Treger: That’s what people think.
Jonathan Breeden: I mean, didn’t do Well, that’s what I think I’m saying. I don’t know.
Kemp Treger: Yeah, it’s a, you know, that’s another mistake. They go to AutoZone and they pull the code on it and they say, Hey, you need an option sensor.
Well, that’s fine and dandy if that’s what code it is, but there’s a million other things that it could be that’s causing it to, for the O2 sensor to come on for that particular thing. [00:06:00] So we have all these diagnostic trees. We start here and we do some checking, and it may not be the O2. Okay. But I always tell ’em, if you want me to put the O2 in it, or no matter what part it is, I’ll do it.
It’s just not gonna be any warranty on it, you know?
Jonathan Breeden: Okay.
Kemp Treger: So we end up doing it and 90% of the time it doesn’t fix it. And we end up, you know, fixing the problem, which costs more money and then they’re not happy about that. And I was like, well, if you would’ve brought it here to begin with and let us diagnosis, then it’s all on us. Not you.
Jonathan Breeden: Right.
Kemp Treger: You know, if you buy an alternator from O’Reilly’s or AutoZone, nine times outta 10, it’s gonna be bad when you put it on.
Jonathan Breeden: Why?
Kemp Treger: Because whatever O’Reilly’s alternators, they’re and starters and stuff like that on the electrical side, they’re just the remanufactured program nowadays. They just, people just.
Jonathan Breeden: [00:07:00] They don’t know how to install ’em.
Kemp Treger: It’s just they don’t know, you know, how to overhaul these cars.
Jonathan Breeden: Okay.
Kemp Treger: I mean the, the alternators and stuff like that. Now AutoZone in their durast golds, you know, they’re higher end are pretty good. But most of the time on any of the BMW’s Mercedes, we have to use factory parts.
So we have a company called Worldpac that we ordered parts in California and they have a local warehouse in Raleigh and they deliver to me three times a day. And it’s genuine Mercedes, genuine BMW. You can’t throw aftermarket brake pads on one of these cars ’cause they sound, then they’ll sound like a trash truck.
Jonathan Breeden: Oh man. Okay.
Kemp Treger: They hit the brakes and
Jonathan Breeden: Right.
Kemp Treger: You know, so
Jonathan Breeden: Well that’s, that’s different than
Kemp Treger: you got. Yeah. You gotta know what, what you can use aftermarket parts on and what you can’t, certain cars you can, certain cars you can’t. American cars, they don’t care. You can put whatever you want on them.
Jonathan Breeden: So, so I mean, I guess, how many employees do you have now?
Kemp Treger: We got [00:08:00] three techs plus myself, and I’ve got three front end people, so
Jonathan Breeden: Okay.
Kemp Treger: I try and keep it down. I’ve run five or six before, but
Jonathan Breeden: Right.
Kemp Treger: I, I’d like to keep it, I keep it down and then I, I quality control the cars. I drive ’em after they get done, make sure everything’s.
Jonathan Breeden: Okay,
Kemp Treger: good. So.
Jonathan Breeden: How many bays do you have back there?
Kemp Treger: I have seven.
Jonathan Breeden: Seven, okay. But you’re not running all seven at one time?
Kemp Treger: Oh yeah, they’re running.
Jonathan Breeden: Oh, they’re running okay.
Kemp Treger: That way. That way if one’s, one guy’s got a transmission out of the car and he’s broke a boat or he’s missing a part, he doesn’t have to try and get the car outta the shop. He’s got an extra bay.
Jonathan Breeden: Oh, okay.
Kemp Treger: So both of my tech master technicians have two bays a piece.
Jonathan Breeden: Okay.
Kemp Treger: My GS tech, he has his bay and he can use another bay. Plus we have the alignment machine.
Jonathan Breeden: All right.
Kemp Treger: It’s also, you could use it as a lift.
Jonathan Breeden: So is there anything, I mean, I know you fix all types of, you fix all types of imports now. Used to fix my [00:09:00] 1992 Honda Accord over and over and over when it had a couple hundred thousand miles on it. Back, Back in the early two thousands. I mean, is there anything you specialize in it, or you prefer to do, or will you fix anything that’s wrong with any import?
Kemp Treger: Yeah, we’re working on just about anything. My guys don’t, they hate Mercedes and BMWs. It’s just, you know, it’s just a beast that electrical problems, oil leaks, you know, you get a Honda, Toyota, Acura, Lexus. They’re good to go. It’s just maintenance. So you got regular maintenance on those. They’ll go three, 400,000 miles without any problems.
But a Mercedes and A BMW make it a weekend car because you don’t wanna drive it every day. If you drive it every day, you’ll be in the shop. And the bills are very expensive.
Jonathan Breeden: Okay. Well, I mean I know that Toyota and Lexus are always, I guess, deemed the most reliable by consumer reports.
Kemp Treger: They [00:10:00] still are and stuff like that.
Jonathan Breeden: Hondas are also extremely reliable as well, which I guess Acura is owned by Honda.
Kemp Treger: Yep.
Jonathan Breeden: And and Toyota. Toyota owns Lexus. Those are the higher end brands of those of people that don’t, don’t realize that what are the some of the common mistakes you see, in choosing a, a shop, like, I mean, probably not the best idea to choose a shop on just price alone, right?
Kemp Treger: Well, a lot of people do. That’s, that’s probably the, the problem is they’ll go to a Pep Boys or a you know, a quick lube or something like that. And then we get ’em to the shop and we have to fix what, you know, right. What happens there, you know, when you go buy like BJ’s or a Jiffy Lube and it says Help wanted and it says no experience needed, just think that’s what’s working on your car.
Jonathan Breeden: Okay.
Kemp Treger: Alright. I mean, my guys are. Are are highly trained and my, my master technicians, they hate to change [00:11:00] oil. So I have a general service guy that, that he masters in inspections, oil changes, tire rotations, brakes, just to keep them so they can diagnose the problem cars.
Jonathan Breeden: Okay.
Kemp Treger: And fixing old leaks and stuff like that.
Jonathan Breeden: Well, that’s cool. Yeah. And you know, I think one thing people should look at when they go to a shop is. Is it clean? Is it, is it need and orderly? Because I think that’s important. I think that, I think that shows the detail people have. I mean, I know your shop was always, basically could almost eat off the floor.
Kemp Treger: Yeah. Yeah. And you gotta have, you gotta have the good upfront people. And you have to have someone usually a, a girl or a woman that can answer the phone with a smile, you know, when they, when you’re greeted. And not that they have to necessarily know everything about a car. ’cause then you got the service manager that actually can.
Do the estimates and you know, and she can help do whatever. So you have both [00:12:00] upfront, you know?
Jonathan Breeden: Right.
Kemp Treger: You need one person that’s good with the customers and, you know.
Jonathan Breeden: Right. So what are some of the most, I mean, we’re just talking about some of the things that I think people make mistakes on. Do you give written estimates?
Kemp Treger: Yes, we do.
Jonathan Breeden: Okay. Is that important you think, for customers?
Kemp Treger: Well, yeah. You have to give them a, quote. Because that way, you know, they know what they’re, if you don’t give ’em a quote and they come in and they don’t tell you, well, don’t spend over $500 and they come in, they got a $2,000 bill.
That’s just, I mean, we’ve never done that. We’ve always given people a quote. And usually the quote is higher, you know, in case, ’cause we put in like 50 or a hundred bucks in there if we’re doing a big job in case. We break some the bolt or just something a hose breaks when we’re taking it apart or.
Jonathan Breeden: Right.
Kemp Treger: Something like that. We incorporate that in there. So then when they come to pick it up, the bill’s actually cheaper
Jonathan Breeden: right
Kemp Treger: than what the quote was, then they’re even happier, [00:13:00] so.
Jonathan Breeden: Right. And you do, y’all go to your gotta mean. I know your service manager, y’all go to great lengths to try to explain what needs to be done and why it needs to be done.
Kemp Treger: Yep.
Jonathan Breeden: And answer all their questions before you do the work.
Kemp Treger: Oh yeah. Yep. And, and if they’re waiting customer, we can actually bring ’em out into the shop. ’cause my shop’s clean.
Jonathan Breeden: Right.
Kemp Treger: You ain’t gotta worry about ’em falling and busting their butt, you know, because
Jonathan Breeden: Right.
Kemp Treger: Nobody’s allowed back there for insurance
Jonathan Breeden: Right
Kemp Treger: purposes. But I will take ’em back and show ’em and explain to ’em what’s, what’s going on there. So
Jonathan Breeden: I gotcha. I gotcha. And. It probably you should look at people’s reviews and and, and stuff like that before you choose a shop as well, right?
Kemp Treger: Well, yeah, and you got to, you do have to realize that you’re gonna have, you’re not gonna make everybody happy.
Jonathan Breeden: That’s true. That’s true. So that’s true.
Kemp Treger: You’re not gonna have five stars, and if there are five stars, they’re, they’re from everybody that works for you and your family and everything else that’s trying to get you to where you need to be. So I would, you know, I mean, [00:14:00] obviously if you got a a three star and you’ve, and you’ve only got a hundred people in there, then there’s a problem.
Jonathan Breeden: Well, no, you’re you average well over four stars, even though you’re in in the car repair business. But yeah, I think that’s important for people to do.
Have family law questions? Need guidance to navigate legal challenges? The compassionate team at Breeden Law Office is here to help. Visit us at www. breedenfirm. com for practical advice, resources, or to book a consultation. Remember, when life gets messy, you don’t have to face it alone.
Jonathan Breeden: I mean, what are some things you you would say it’s one or two things that you would advise the public to help their cars just last longer be healthier cars?
Kemp Treger: Well, it’s just general maintenance. Basically change the oil and keep the transmission serviced. You know, oil changed every 5,000. You know, most of these cars are running fully synthetic oil now, [00:15:00] so, 5,000 is good. A lot of people like to go seven. It’s up to ’em, but a lot of these cars are turbo charged and the turbos get extremely hot and it breaks down the oil.
So the lubrication is not there and that’s where the biggest concern is on cars that break down with turbochargers and oil leaks and stuff like that, is they don’t change the oil enough and transmission’s going out. Unless it’s a Nissan, you might as well just plan on putting the transmission in it at about 70,000 miles. So, oh,
Jonathan Breeden: okay. I gotcha.
Kemp Treger: I got, I got any of the, any of the CVT transmissions? Yeah, we do. We probably do one a week.
Jonathan Breeden: Okay, I got you.
Kemp Treger: Uh,
Jonathan Breeden: Well one of the things you had to do for me at least once, if not twice, was the timing belt.
Kemp Treger: Oh yeah.
Jonathan Breeden: But I think those are gone now.
Kemp Treger: No, they’re still there. Or like,
Jonathan Breeden: Or they’re chains I guess, or whatever.
Kemp Treger: Yeah, the four cylinders are chains. The V6 are still timing belts.
Jonathan Breeden: Okay. They, you still, You still chains?
Kemp Treger: Toyota still does timing belts.
Jonathan Breeden: Okay.
Kemp Treger: Uh, Honda still does on their [00:16:00] V6.
Jonathan Breeden: Okay.
Yeah, yeah,
Kemp Treger: yeah.
Jonathan Breeden: I remember that.
Kemp Treger: So we still, But yeah we were, we. I can’t tell you how many time belts we did back, back in the days.
Jonathan Breeden: Right.
Kemp Treger: I mean, it was crazy.
Jonathan Breeden: But I guess now these chains don’t really get changed.
Kemp Treger: No.
Jonathan Breeden: You, no. But the belts, I guess on the V6 is still do.
Kemp Treger: Yeah. Yeah. It’s every 105,000.
Jonathan Breeden: Okay.
It
Kemp Treger: Used to be 90 back.
Jonathan Breeden: Right?
Kemp Treger: Every 90,000 back when you had yours.
Jonathan Breeden: Yep. I remember that.
Kemp Treger: Now it’s 105 and the spark plugs are 105.
Jonathan Breeden: Okay.
Kemp Treger: ‘Cause they got platinum spark plugs. Most of the time on a chain motor, they’ll start making some noise first. And it’s usually not the chain, it’s usually the tensioner that keeps the tension on the chain
Jonathan Breeden: okay
Kemp Treger: or lack of lubrication. Like before they let the engine get low and the guides that hold the chain and there are plastic and they don’t have enough lubrication, they start eating into the guides.
Jonathan Breeden: Okay.
Kemp Treger: And then the plastic guides break.
Jonathan Breeden: Okay, I got you.
Kemp Treger: So it’s maintenance, maintenance, [00:17:00] maintenance.
Jonathan Breeden: Well, and that’s it. And, and I’ve always been a big maintenance person to get my old life, because I drive cars. I’ve had multiple cars to 300,000 miles. The current car, I think is at 208,000 miles. Like I just, you know, my, my wife’s car that we just traded in about a year ago was at 250, 260. I mainly drive Toyotas and Lexuses and Hondas and I just drive ’em till, till they, they can’t be driven anymore or something happens. I mean, but I mean, and the thing is, it’s an appreciating asset, right? And so eventually it’s gonna be worth zero. And so, you know, I’d, I’d rather have my money and it’s something that appreciates like the stock market or bonds or stuff like that. So, but anyway, the other thing you have is you used to have a gun store. You don’t have that anymore, but you still do concealed carry classes.
Kemp Treger: I do.
Jonathan Breeden: Let’s talk about that.
I do.
Kemp Treger: Yeah. It, Kemper Farms. I have a farm out by Percy Flowers out there, and we do concealed carry, we do basic gun training, and you know, of course we have eggs and stuff like [00:18:00] that too. And hogs pigs that we, we do. Haven’t got any produce this year ’cause I had a, I had a issue with a ankle surgery. It put me down for a little bit. So we gotta get back that on that ’cause I’m just now getting back strong again. So,
Jonathan Breeden: So what is the, does how would you get signed up for your concealed carry class?
Kemp Treger: You goes to KemperFarms.com.
Jonathan Breeden: How do you spell that?
Kemp Treger: K-E-M-P-E-R farms.
Jonathan Breeden: Okay .com , Mm-hmm. all right.
Kemp Treger: And just go there and you’ll see the different classes you can sign up for. It’s got all the dates in there and then your basic training and stuff like that. All the prices are in there and stuff. We do it all at the farm. I have a shop at the farm where we have a big classroom, and my trainer is very good that teaches the class. He’s very knowledgeable.
Jonathan Breeden: Okay.
Kemp Treger: If you don’t have a gun. We rent guns you have to buy your own ammo. So, but pretty lenient with that. But one main concern [00:19:00] is if you’re doing the class, you should know how to shoot because that’s part of the concealed carry is to shoot and test.
Jonathan Breeden: Right?
Kemp Treger: You do have to shoot at three, five, and seven yards.
Jonathan Breeden: Okay?
Kemp Treger: Yeah. So. A lot of people come in and they’ve never shot a gun before, so obviously they fail and they have to come back and do a reshoot and, you know.
Jonathan Breeden: Right. So it’s more than just the learning. You have to get good enough.
Kemp Treger: Oh, yeah.
Jonathan Breeden: And to be able to, to qualify.
Kemp Treger: Yeah. And a lot of people come in and, and sit in on a class. It it like, if I have mine and my wife or girlfriend doesn’t have hers, they like to come in and we’ll let ’em sit in for free with them. Make them feel better. And then we have an all girls class too, that we do.
Jonathan Breeden: Okay.
Kemp Treger: Also. But I’m gonna tell you it’s that’s very exciting to watch, watch these people that are very well trained and they’re in Johnston County.
They know how to shoot, so,
Jonathan Breeden: oh, that’s good. That’s good. That’s good.
Kemp Treger: And, and [00:20:00] not to be funny or anything, but a female shooter. Is 10 times better than a male shooter,
Jonathan Breeden: okay?
Kemp Treger: They concentrate better. They listen, a man will just get up there and, oh yeah, I got it all going on. You know?
Jonathan Breeden: Right, right, right, right.
Kemp Treger: And he won’t hit the target, but a female gets up there and it might not be, she might not have ever shot it twice and, and she’ll put ’em in a group like this.
Jonathan Breeden: Oh, that’s awesome. That’s awesome. That’s awesome. So how can people reach out? So we got Kemper Farms for the, for the fire, the firearm safety training and the cast concealed carry classes. How could they reach out to Clayton Imports?
Kemp Treger: Just claytonimports.com.
Jonathan Breeden: All right, and what’s the phone number?
Kemp Treger: Phone number is (919) 553-1163.
Jonathan Breeden: Right. You’re still right there on Guy Road.
Kemp Treger: Still on Guy Road two 11 Guy Road, right down from the middle school. Clayton. Clayton Middle School.
Jonathan Breeden: Golly. A lot more when you went there, you were one of the only buildings on that road.
Kemp Treger: Yeah. Yeah, we’ve been around.
Jonathan Breeden: I mean, now there’s a there’s a diagnostic center they’re doing, they’re doing, oh, they’re [00:21:00] colons and all kinds of stuff on that road. I mean, it’s, it’s crazy. I mean, it’s absolutely crazy.
Kemp Treger: The building is absolutely ridiculous.
Jonathan Breeden: Yeah. I mean, Clayton Clayton’s growing. There’s no doubt about that. So the last question we ask everybody on this podcast is what you love most about Johnston County?
Kemp Treger: We love the country. We love the quiet, you know, we love gun shooting.
Jonathan Breeden: There’s nothing wrong with that.
Kemp Treger: No. We love eating.
Jonathan Breeden: There’s a lot of good restaurants. What’s one of your favorite restaurants?
Kemp Treger: Well, actually the one that I, I like, I like sushi and I like Thai food.
Jonathan Breeden: Okay.
Kemp Treger: So you’re not gonna get that around here
Jonathan Breeden: okay
Kemp Treger: in Johnston County. So I gotta go to ShabaShabu.
Jonathan Breeden: Oh,
Kemp Treger: and Raleigh.
Jonathan Breeden: Oh yeah.
Kemp Treger: We do that once a month, but everything else is local.
Jonathan Breeden: I gotcha.
Kemp Treger: We support all local.
Jonathan Breeden: Well, what are some of your favorite local restaurants?
Kemp Treger: Mannings is probably good.
Jonathan Breeden: Mannings is good. Yeah.
Kemp Treger: Clayton Steakhouse is good. There’s a new Mexican restaurant just went in behind the cookout where the Shawnee Diner used to be.
Jonathan Breeden: Okay.
Kemp Treger: It starts with a Q but I finally went because social media was just right, blasting ’em up, saying it [00:22:00] was the best and all that. And they’re actually.
Jonathan Breeden: Really good.
Kemp Treger: Pretty decent. Yeah.
Jonathan Breeden: Behind the shiny, where was where, where was the shiny downer? I’ll have to go.
Kemp Treger: Yeah. Yeah.
Jonathan Breeden: I love Mexican food.
Kemp Treger: Oh yeah. Yeah.
Jonathan Breeden: I was at Fiesta Mexicana the other night up here at 40, at 36 I, forty, forty two, whatever you wanna call it. I love Fiesta Mexicana.
Kemp Treger: Yeah.
Jonathan Breeden: The chips are probably not good for my diet, but I, I just, I love that. So I’ll have to go to that place. I’ve seen how people have talk about that place in Clayton.
Kemp Treger: Oh yeah.
Jonathan Breeden: No doubt. No doubt.
Kemp Treger: Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Jonathan Breeden: Well, that’s cool. Well, look, we’d like to thank Kemp Treger, owner of Clayton Imports and Kemper Farms are coming onto this episode of The Best of Johnston County Podcast where we talk a little bit about the car repair services provides and some of the things you can do. And if you don’t get anything else outta this podcast, regular maintenance, regular maintenance, regular maintenance of your car will help your car last a lot longer.
We do wanna remind you to like, follow, and subscribe to this podcast wherever you see it. Give us a five star view down the road below. Tell us what you like, dislike about the podcast. You got any questions for Kemp, and then we’ll be glad to get it to him. And you can also chatting to him at claytonimports.com, where you can [00:23:00] now also schedule your own service right there on the website.
You don’t even have to call. He’s coming into the 21st century on his new website. He’s excited about that.
Kemp Treger: New software.
Jonathan Breeden: So yeah, all that new software. So anyway, until next time, I’m your host, Jonathan Breeden.
That’s the end of today’s episode of Best of Johnston County, a show brought to you by the trusted team at Breeden Law Office. We thank you for joining us today and we look forward to sharing more interesting facets of this community next week. Every story, every viewpoint adds another thread to the rich tapestry of Johnston County.
If the legal aspects highlighted raised some questions, help is just around the corner at www. breedenfirm. com.
I’ve known Kemp Treger for a long time. Back when I was just getting my law firm off the ground, he was keeping my old Honda Accord alive well past the 300,000-mile mark. We were both small business owners then—fighting the same fights, chasing the same dreams. So it was a real pleasure to have him on the show to catch up, talk shop (literally), and learn how much things have changed since those early days.
Kemp owns Clayton Imports and runs a second business out at Kemper Farms, where he offers concealed carry classes and firearm safety training. If you like stories about building something with your own two hands—and maybe a little shooting on the weekends—this one’s for you.
From Honda-Only to High-Tech Imports
When Kemp first started out, his shop was called Clayton Honda and Acura Specialist. That’s all he worked on. But after Honda asked him to drop their name from his business, he rebranded as Clayton Imports—and started working on just about every kind of foreign car out there.
“Back in the day, we had carburetors and vacuum lines. Now we’ve got fuel injection, cam sensors, modules, can buses—it’s high tech.”
Kemp’s shop has grown right along with the complexity of modern cars. He’s now running seven bays, with three techs plus himself in the back and three more folks at the front desk. Each master tech gets two bays to avoid bottlenecks when something gets complicated. He even test-drives every car himself after repairs to make sure it’s right.
“AutoZone Told Me I Needed an O2 Sensor…”
One thing Kemp hears a lot from customers? They already “know” what’s wrong because they had a code pulled at AutoZone.
“That’s what people think. But there’s a million other things that could be causing that code. You’ve got to diagnose the system, not just throw a part at it.”
Sometimes customers bring him parts and ask him to install them. He’ll do it—but no warranty. And most of the time, it doesn’t fix the problem. That’s when people end up frustrated and paying more than if they’d just had it diagnosed properly the first time.
Clean Shop, Good People, Factory Parts
One thing I’ve always respected about Kemp’s shop is how clean and professional it is. You can tell when someone takes pride in their work just by looking around their space.
He also knows when to use aftermarket parts—and when not to. You don’t want cheap brake pads on a Mercedes or BMW unless you want your car to sound like a garbage truck when you hit the brakes. For the high-end imports, he orders genuine parts from Worldpac, delivered three times a day out of Raleigh.
Up front, he’s just as intentional. One person answers the phones with a smile, another handles estimates, and they all take time to explain what needs to be done—and why. They’ll even bring you out into the shop if you’re waiting on a repair. (And trust me, it’s clean enough to do that safely.)
They also give written quotes with built-in buffers, so the final bill often ends up cheaper than expected. It’s just a solid operation all around.
How to Keep Your Car Alive (Like I Did)
If you take nothing else from my conversation with Kemp, take this:
Maintenance. Maintenance. Maintenance.
Oil changes every 5,000 miles. Transmission service. Timely timing belt replacements (especially on V6 engines). These are the things that kept my cars on the road for 250,000 to 300,000+ miles—and they’ll do the same for yours.
Kemp also gave me a good reminder that not all transmissions are created equal. If you’ve got a Nissan with a CVT, go ahead and start budgeting for a replacement around 70,000 miles. His shop does one a week, easy.
From Oil Changes to Target Practice
If running a high-level auto repair shop wasn’t enough, Kemp also owns Kemper Farms, where he teaches concealed carry and basic firearm training. Classes are hosted in a fully equipped building out on his farm near Percy Flowers, and they’re taught by a highly experienced instructor.
You do have to shoot to pass the class—at 3, 5, and 7 yards—and you need to come in already knowing how to shoot, or at least having practiced a bit. They even offer gun rentals if you don’t have your own.
“A lot of people come in and have never shot before… and they fail.”
One thing that stood out? According to Kemp, female shooters are almost always better than the guys.
“They concentrate. They listen. A guy will act like he’s got it all going on… and then miss the target completely.”
You can sign up for classes at KemperFarms.com, where you’ll also find schedules, pricing, and info on women-only courses and free sit-ins for partners or spouses.
What Kemp Loves Most About Johnston County
When I asked Kemp the signature question—what do you love most about Johnston County?—his answer was simple and honest:
“We love the country. We love the quiet. We love gun shooting. And we love eating.”
He’s a big fan of Manning’s, Clayton Steakhouse, and a new Mexican place behind the Cookout where Shawnee Diner used to be. (I’ll definitely be checking that out.) For sushi and Thai food, he heads into Raleigh once a month—but around here, he keeps it local.
If you’ve got a car that needs some love—or you’re ready to get serious about firearm safety—Kemp’s your guy. He’s honest, straightforward, and genuinely great at what he does. I trust him with my vehicles, and after this episode, you’ll understand why.
And as always, be sure to like, follow, and subscribe to The Best of Johnston County Podcast. We drop a new episode every Monday, featuring the people, businesses, and stories that make this community what it is.
AND MORE TOPICS COVERED IN THE FULL INTERVIEW!!! You can check that out and subscribe to YouTube.
Connect with Kemp Treger:
- Website: https://www.claytonimports.com/
- Website: KemperFarms.com
- Phone: (919) 553-1163
Connect with Jonathan Breeden:
- Website: https://www.breedenfirm.com/
- Phone Number: Call (919) 726-0578
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BestofJoCoPodcast