Georgetown & Round Rock Auto Repair

RIPOFF!! Bottom line: These guys misdiagnosed my issue, still charged me $65 for diagnosis, and according to the Nissan dealer, ordered the wrong parts for the job, and way over charged me for the parts and labor. Be warned!! The good: - John is a very down to earth, friendly, easy to talk to guy. - They will pick u up and drop u off if needed. The ugly story: I told them what was wrong with the car and what needed to be done. They disagreed with me. They then spent an hour mis-diagnosing it. Finally the tech came back into the showroom and said "I think you're right". I said "take the ECU out and look at it. I bet it's fried". 5 min later he had it out. He walked in the back room to show John first, then walked up to counter. Sure enough, a part on the ECU went bad. I was right. John said they'd credit me back the $65 diagnostic. But Mike never did credit it back to me. They ordered 2 sensors needed to have replaced. John said "we get these OEM parts super cheap! Guy we buy them from just puts the actual OEM bagged part into his own bag and sells it at great discount. I trusted that. I got screwed. They charged me $546 for parts. Dealer said I could have purchased them from Nissan for $340. Auto-Spec also charged me high labor cost. They charged me $261.00 labor to replace 2 sensors and the ECU. My local shop said that is a very easy job that they would have charged $100. I wish I had purchased the OEM parts from the dealer and had my local mechanic install them. The other area that I trusted these guys on was the actual knowledge of the parts. The dealer said it was silly to buy those sensors individually, since u can purchase the whole throttle body for $350 less and it includes both sensors and is even easier to replace, and u get $40 rebate back from the old throttle body core. Dealer said "most any basic mechanic knows that". Well, these guys didn't. Mike was the guy that charged me such high prices. I don't know if he makes a commission off the sale, but I wouldn't be surprised if he did. I called them and explained that I could have saved $350 by purchasing the throttle body at the dealer and having my local shop installing the ECU and throttle body. Mike's response: "U didn't complain when I quoted u the initial price. It's too late now. I can't go back and change it after the fact." Well, that's pretty crappy. I trusted that y'all knew what u were doing, that u wouldn't charge me more than dealer prices, and assumed u understood the basic parts diagram enough to purchase a throttle body if needed as the dealer said "most any mechanic knows to do that". I was charged at least $250 more than what the dealer would have charged, and that was assuming I had changed both sensors individually! If I had the throttle body changed, which the dealer said "most any mechanic knows changing the throttle body is cheaper and easier", then I would have saved $350 by purchasing it from the Nissan dealer!!! Yes, dealer price was $350 cheaper! And that's just the parts. They also charged me "on the very high-end" for labor, according to the dealer. I never got ripped off that bad. I've never paid more than dealer price at a non-dealer shop. These guys seem professional on the front-end, and were pleasant to deal with on the front-end, but they charge very high prices, and not willing to make it right. I called back again today, talked with Mike, and asked if he can simply match the dealer price. He said no. Best he'll do is give me a $100 gift certificate to his shop for future business. That's insulting. So be careful with these guys. Check the prices for labor and parts BEFORE u give your credit card over to Mike!!!! I would not trust them again. It pains me to give them one star, but their driver was very pleasant, and Ray, who also works the front desk seems like a good guy. So one star is well deserved for that! If u must deal with them, maybe ask for Ray and not Mike. U might have a better experience.

I have not run into a more humble yet knowledge group thus far in Austin. I'm new to the area. I own a pretty rare vehicle that another shop declined to work on. They recommended JC Automotive. These guys were very quick to note my issue, down to the part causing it. Its something I can fix on my own but am happy to know there a place in the area where I can take my car for future issues. Thanks guys, I'll be back.

I've never used a shop before, so I was very hesitant to trust my daughters '07 accord to anyone. The counter man, Ray was awesome, had the parts ordered and ready to go when I brought it in. They changed the timing belt and water pump in half a day. All is well the car is running like new!!!! I will be using you as my go to shop. Thanks for a job well done.

I have had problems with my '05 Dodge Dakota pickup overheating. I took it to one shop about a year ago -- they looked it over, flushed the radiator and did a few other minor things, and that seemed to take care of the problem. This summer it started overheating again. I'm talking about the temperature gauge going ALL the way to the hot side and having to turn off the AC to try to keep the temp down (this is NOT fun with the typical central Texas heat in August!). I took my pickup to JC Automotive Specialist since they had a lot of good reviews and they're just a few blocks from my house. Ray waited on me when I arrived and asked pertinent questions. My 87-year-old dad (a former mechanic) had tried several things he hoped would fix it, including cleaning out the radiator and replacing the thermostat. I told Ray about all of that and left my pickup in his hands. Ray called me the next morning and told me the problem was the water pump and how much it would cost to replace it -- a price that was pretty reasonable -- and I told him to go ahead with the repair. He called me that afternoon and told me the technician had accidentally dropped the water pump on the radiator while working on my pickup, and the radiator cracked. He said they would replace the radiator free of charge since it was their fault. I'm sure there are other shops that would probably have charged me and just said the radiator needed to be replaced. My husband was a Dodge/Chrysler mechanic who was one of those honest guys who told customers the truth about what was wrong with their vehicle and what needed to be done, so I really appreciate finding a place with that same type of ethics and care for their customers. It's been a real relief to have the overheating problem fixed and to be able to use my AC again!! I will definitely be taking my vehicles to this shop again. On a side note: I showed the invoice to my dad, and he said he thought it was the most detailed and professional-looking invoice he had ever seen from a repair shop! I agree -- lots of detail and has recommendations for additional work that I might want to have done in the future (although Ray never mentioned these things, much less pressured me to have additional work done).

I found JC Automotive Specialist from their excellent Yelp reviews, and after a round of phone calls to other well-reviewed mechanics. On my call with this shop, I learned that they were familiar with some of the problems specific to these cars, and that they could take me _same day_. Diagnostics begin with the first full hour's labor, at $125, and I quizzed about whether they would fix simple problems in the first hour. Yes, they do. I dropped my car off, and after walking Ernie through the work I'd done myself, where I figured the next problem might be, then said, "actually, if it takes only a little more than the first hour to fix, can I pre-authorize two hours to get it done in one shot?" He said certainly I could, so I signed for two hours. I got a call two hours later that they were done with diagnosis, had fixed the first issue, and wanted authorization for just $30 more for parts to replace the vacuum hoses that were at the root of the second issue. I had my car back in full working order, five hours after dropping it off, with detailed documentation of the work performed, for a very favorable price. I have found my San Francisco mechanic, hands down.

Very happy with the resolution of a transmission problem on my Mazda RX-8. Will continue to use them, and recommend them, as my go-to shop whenever my car won't go!

I was recommended Auto Spec by a coworker who had a friend who took his Mazda there. So, a suggestion from a friend OF A friend must be pretty trustworthy since it was word of mouth, and not a firsthand account. Anyway, I had regularly taken my car to the dealership to have oil changes and repairs, and when my check engine light came on, they told me I needed a new engine ($4k-$6k) and I would be better off just buying a new car. Hmmm... I wanted a second opinion, as the car had no other symptoms of a problem. I went to Auto Spec and they looked into the problem a lot further, and as it turns out, the dealership was wrong. Mike was super friendly, and was very up front with me. He is definitely the personality in the shop. A few other reviews on here say that Ray is more laid back and sounds uninterested on the phone. You know what? He knows his stuff, and all I care about is that he is knowledgable, trustworthy, and dependable, which is not only him but everyone else in the shop. The shuttle service is a REALLY nice perk. I took advantage of it once and they picked me up from work, brought me back to the shop, and we had a nice chat the whole way back. Since it is a FREE service that they are nice enough to offer, you need to be flexible with your time, just like if one of your friends was giving you a ride. If you have time restrictions, call a taxi. Come on people, its common sense! Some lady commented that she was annoyed the shuttle wasn't available one day. Are you joking? The prices are more than fair. Now that I'm going to them, I feel like I have been getting ripped off at the dealership this whole time. They care about their customers, they remember you, they remember your car. You're not just a dollar sign to them, you are a person, which makes such a huge difference.

I brought my car in minutes after the shop had officially closed (yes I know I'd have to be a jerk to do that sort of thing). I had picked up my car from a certain tire shop that had managed to strip one of the studs on my wheels. I was nervous because the next day I was supposed to make a trip to Dallas, and doing that with 3 lugs on a drive wheel worried me. Anyways, JCAS could have easily said "We're closed", but they didn't. They opened the garage door grabbed a tool box, and cleaned up the threads while I was outside. The guys at Automotive Specialists will bend over backwards for their customers. It's rare to meet a group as appreciative and honest as this bunch. I've been bringing my 91 Miata to them for regular maintenance since I bought it. I would recommend them to anyone, and especially those with Mazda Miatas.

Picked this place strictly off YELP reviews. I called and spoke to Ray, he seemed like a nice guy on the phone. Ray was awesome in person, he was straight forward and seemed to know exactly what was going on. I brought in my vehicle and since I am from out of town I waited around for it till the work was done. Very pleased now that my AC blows cold, and that it was less expensive than I thought. I think the reason some people rated their experience with Ray less than 5 stars is because he doesn't BS around... He gets a 5 from me, as does the rest of the staff I dealt with.

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.