Georgetown & Round Rock Auto Repair

My experience with this shop has been a very mixed bag, VERY mixed bag. My husband went there a few years ago to have our cr-v serviced and thought they did an amazing job. He's not a car guy but he loves good customer service so I kept them bookmarked. When my dad had a fender bender during a visit here we went by there to get a referral to a body shop, which also turned out to have some good and bad employees but they worked out in the end. My real-life yelp friends Katie and Nathan seemed very happy with their experience too so whenever someone asked about a good mechanic up north I would send them here. I think I even sent Susie there, who also had a good experience. Flash forward to this week. I called on Tuesday to see if I could get an appointment to finally get the ac in our subaru fixed. Mr. Man had survived a year without cool air but he'd finally had it. We also needed the brakes looked at. When I called I was told to just bring it in early Wednesday morning. So bright and early Wednesday morning I drove the subaru over there. The guy at the desk told me they were backed up. I said I'd been told to bring it in, that we didn't even necessarily need work done on it right away, we just wanted to know how much it would be to fix. This guy didn't give a shit - just stared blankly at me and said they don't have time they're all backed up. No attempt to help, no suggestions. In fact he discouraged me when I asked about making an appointment. Great. Then another guy who was dealing with another customer turned around and said that he'd spoken to me and told me to bring the car in, that he'd make it happen. YAY! A nice person! So I left the car there and got a ride home from the very nice man who drives the shuttle. I knew there was a shuttle since it's on their website, in reviews, and my husband had used it to get back and forth to work before. About an hour before closing I called to check in on the car and spoke to an incredibly nice person named Mike. My car was being looked into right that very minute. So he called me back and told me the details of what was wrong - the brakes needed to be fixed immediately and the ac needed more freon and they were going to put dye in it to see if there was a more serious problem with the compressor. Money's been very tight with us since we're still working on crawling out of the big vet bills. So we decided to just get the brakes fixed and get the ac fixed with the next paycheck. Mike said ok and that the car would be ready by noon Thursday. I said that was great because I had a doctor's appointment at 3:30. A few minutes later Mike called back to tell me there had been a misunderstanding with the mechanic who had already put the freon in the ac. But he would work it out and give me a generous discount to cover both jobs on the car. I was incredibly surprised and happy with this. Mr. Man and I were both surprised, to the point that we decided I'd take a look at the bill and see how much of a discount it had been and offer to pay a bit extra so the discount wouldn't be too much. Because that's how Mr. Man is and that's how much he thought of their work. Since Mike had assured me several times the car would be ready by noon and I assumed there was a shuttle every day I planned to get ready for my doctor's appointment, take the shuttle, get the car, then drive over to Seton Northwest. Ray called at noon on the dot to tell me the car was ready and I could come pick it up. I asked how much notice I would need to give the shuttle to come get me. "The shuttle isn't running today. The guy who drives it isn't here." And not in an empathetic, "Oooh sorry it's not running today," kind of way, more like he was solving a math problem: no emotion, it was my problem. "Oh," I said, "I thought it ran every day I have an appointment to get to." No apology, no empathy came from Ray. He didn't give a crap. Wow. So I said, "Ok, thanks I'll find another way over there." To which he said "Ok, bye." So a day I knew was going to be unpleasant, a big bill, and a visit to the lady doctor has been made into a big annoying cluster***. So now, instead of being able to go get my car I have to make my husband leave work to come take me to my appointment then we'll get the car. He's in training today so he won't be able to come get me for a few hours. Giving me plenty of time to sit and reflect on my experience thus far with JC Automotive on Yelp. Which is good, I'm way behind of my reviews. So we'll see how it goes when we go pick up the car later this afternoon. I have a feeling the bill will be very different if Ray is the one who hands it to me. So we're going to ask for Mike.

I found a better price for the same work at another highly-rated auto shop.

I stopped in to check the place out close to closing time 5:15 pm Thursday. Frankly, I don't see why ppl say they're friendly. When someone finally acknowledged me, I was told to drop it off tomorrow & I would HAVE to leave it there. What? I was told I could get a ride home via shuttle, but I didn't like that that was my ONLY option. Last thing I want is for my van to sit all day for nothing. I like to stay and see what they are doing. The fans stopped working, that cool the radiator, and so I hate to drive it. I asked if I could leave it now, and get a ride, two miles away. It was 5:15, so he said no. I asked how much to diagnose, and he said $65. Wow. Too high just to diagnose, and I couldn't allow myself to be treated so...carelessly. Guess they got all the business they need...I am unsure what to rate them, so 50/50 seems fairer than how I was treated.

They have been my mechanic shop for about 5 years. Ray and Matt and John have been so great to work with. They communicate well and their information is honest and accurate so I have no surprises when the work starts. Recently I purchased a used truck and asked the owner to take the truck to this shop for a pre purchase inspection. A couple of items were found and the owners paid to have the repairs completed. After the truck came out the owner told that she liked the people so much that they were now her new auto mechanic shop. She even planned to take her Infinity to them as she preferred them to the dealership. Nuff said. These guys are great and I recommend them without reservation.

While out at Harris Hill Raceway, I ended up punching a hole in the side of my 350Z's block from oil starvation. I was fortunate enough to meet John out at the track with his son when it happened and decided to give his shop the job of replacing my engine. I spoke with John for several weeks about places to find a "new" engine and what to look for. After some research I found a new motor and had it shipped to his shop directly. I am big on doing things myself when it comes to my car, but I felt confident that his technicians had the expertise to perform the heart transplant job at hand. As they worked on my car, I got a call from Mike letting me know they discovered a cracked radiator and a worn out lower control arm bushing. It's not the kind of news that you want to hear when you're already shelling out a ton to replace the engine alone, but Mike was great about giving the news to me straight and working with me when I wanted to have the replacement radiator come from the vendor of my choosing. I was extremely impressed at how fast they got the job done. In a matter of a couple days they lifted my old engine out, put a new clutch assembly on the "new" engine, replaced the LCA bushing, installed the new radiator (which required custom work to fit in the support frame), and had it ready to roll out the door. Upon test driving, there were a couple hiccups found with vacuum lines and steering wheel adjustments that they corrected immediately at no extra charge. The technician who replaced the motor also pointed out that it looked like the motor blew from a crankshaft bolt that came loose on the lower end of the piston's crank arm caused the motor to self destruct. Turns out it wasn't oil deprivation after all (not my fault entirely)! Overall, I found them to be honest, hard working people that could have racked up so more more than they did (I'm certain there were a few hours of labor not charged considering how much work they did). The car runs and feels better than before. Cannot wait to get back out to the track!

These guys are honest and fast. They diagnosed our issue within minutes and saved us a ton. We'll be back anytime we need anything, including an oil change. Great local business!

Scam Artists They tried to charge me $65 for a inspection to find out what the problem was. Go across the highway to AAMCO, they do it for free.

Let me start off by saying I have know John and the service writer for many years. I have worked cars for a long time as a hobby but I can do just about anything. I had a alternator go out in a van I had and didnt have the time to do it myself. I got it up to his shop and was told yes its the alternator and it would be $850 to replace it. I really didn't have time to do it so I said just do it. The next day just for amusement I called the ford dealer and they said it would be $650 to replace it. They were charging more than the dealer. They also fixed a vacuum line for $100 ( I drove it twice before that stopped working again). I picked up the van paid the bill and then drove it to a event I was doing. On the way back from the the event it made a strange noise and then a short time later it started to overheat I pulled over let it cool and then just limped it home. I had the van towed back to Johns shop ($100). They had it a day or two and gave me a list of BS things that are "wrong" with it. One of the things wrong with it was that there is a small wiring harness broken by the fan. I then decided I didn't want them to work on it anymore I will do it my self. I then had it towed back to my house($100). I ripped into to the front end to get to this harness found it the brake in the wires. I then found a 11mm deep socket in the bottom of the fan shroud. a 11mm is used to remove the turbo hoses to get to the alternator. So the diesel mec that they have dropped his socked in the fan and didn't remove it and then the fan picked it up and ripped the harness. I repaired the wiring and put it all back together and it was driving horrible. There was another problem. I then had it towed to the ford dealer($100) They had it a few days and then told me that the PCM is bad and that if the harness that got ripped will short them out. I had them replace it for $1300. I called John and told him the story he told me that he will check into it. I called back in a few days and he said he not missing any sockets and he cant help me. My best thought for anyone needing a repair just take it to the dealer. If the dealer messes anything up they will cover it a lot better than John.

I've been using these guys for a very long time. They are willing to explain things to me. They do the work quickly. And, the few times they have messed up they fixed it, apologized, and got it right at no cost (just a little lost time) to me. (The times they messed up it was clearly a case of a mechanic who did not care much about doing a good job. Never saw those guys in their shop again.) I have taken my new cars there and I have taken my ancient pick up there. They understand that a vehicle can ge kept running for 20+ years and they know how to do it without breaking the bank. About as good as an autoshop gets.