Dave's Ultimate Automotive

Nov 20, 2024

Professionally managed with a knowledgeable crew. Fair price with no additional charges and finished on time! Excellent experience

Nov 20, 2024

11/09/23: Dave's Ultimate Automotive on North Lamar in Austin. Complete replacement rear brakes: calipers, rotors, brake pads and replace engine mounts. $4,332.39. 3 year/36,000 mile repair warranty. 9 months later: Brake pedal to the floor, brake fluid spurting . Ruptured left rear caliper seal. 3 months later: Same thing, other side- brake pedal to the floor, right rear caliper "puking" brake fluid from ruptured seal. Either of these fails could have proved fatal. Draw your own conclusions.

Nov 13, 2024

Very straightforward explanation of fees and repairs. Timely work. Very polite customer service.

Oct 27, 2024

Always polite, thorough, and informative without being pushy -- they really check all those things the other places say they check and accept that you may want to delay a fix or deal with it yourself if the problem isn't severe.

Oct 27, 2024

As always, these folks are super professional, helpful in every way.

Sep 27, 2024

Bryan and his crew did a fantastic job for me and my wife I recommend anyone who wants good quality work go to Ultimate Auto Motive

Sep 27, 2024

I live right by the central location and have been going to them for a few years and have always had a great experience. Everyone is friendly, efficient, and communicative and I never feel like I’m being taken advantage of. Pricing seems fair and have had a great experience with them. I’ll be leaving Austin so I won’t be able to use them anymore but highly recommend.

Sep 27, 2024

So I want this not only as a review but a lesson to others on how you need to learn some things before taking your car to an automotive store. This practice of price gouging is not specific to Dave’s but it is getting out of hand and with the $2200 repair order for a a cracked plastic coolant pipe that they quoted my friend, this is an excellent place to start. I am only writing this review after I fixed the coolant hose. I bought some UV dye and ran it with distilled water through the reservoir and let it drip and found that it was a crack in only the plastic pipe going to the heater. I used JB Water Weld to repair it. I have been working on engines for over 5 years including a Yanmar diesel on my sailboats and my VW CC. JB Water Weld is your best friend when in the middle of the ocean and need to plug a leak and so far going strong 3 years later. So this $2200 bid to fix my friends car was a bit drastic, If you repaired the plastic pipe, there is need to remove certain tings and I calculate a 2 hour job with costing no more than $600. When my friend asked them if they could repair just the minimum they said no. When I showed up, and yes a bit spunky because I was not happy they would do this to my friend- I wanted a print out of the diagnostic, which I did not get. A diagnostic, which my friend paid $162.50 for those who do not know is under your steering wheel on the side panel, you will see a plug with 16 pins and that is where you plug in the diagnostic tool. You can have this done for free at AutoZone. It shows you the codes that tell you what systems are working. This will have nothing to do with a leak. Never got that print out and assume they just did a visual inspection, and by the way someone dropped their gum on my freind’s engine near the leak. Perhaps they were marking it? Let’s count down the quote here: Replace coolant pipe= $566 Plastic pipe ( the one that actually was leaking) $56 Replace thermostat (Why?) $213.50 Replace coolant hose (which one?) $365.58 Coolant hose ( another one?) $77.25 Bleeder hose ( really?) $53.39 Coolant flush ( only if you replace the radiator) $146.23 And for the bonus $78 in green coolant you can get for $18 at AutoZone.. Now, I see the novels the owner writes to comments and looking forward to the conversation because we are not done here. Are we? If you need your car fixed, do some homework - it goes a long way in stopping these people from taking advantage of you. I will follow this up on my YouTube channel that helps people fix their own cars and give advice on how not be taken advantage of. Peace y’all. And Dave - check your people!

Sep 27, 2024

Update: The regional manager contacted me after the review was posted and was very helpful. He addressed the problem at that location and sent me a check the next day for the replacement parts I bought and installed myself. Good guy. I’d try one of their other locations again. Unfortunately, the mechanic forgot to tighten the locking screws for the radiator support splash shield when he put it back on and it fell off on the way home. Two cars ran over it. I called after the 4th and let them know and could they help. They did offer to put the broken one back on. I was under time constraints, so I was okay with that. Also, i expecting them to buy a replacement part ($100). While I watched the mechanic reinstall the broken one, he again forgot to tighten the locking screws. I pointed it out, as I was under the car to watch. He didn’t seem to understand, I snapped one into place myself and said that’s why this fell off in the first place. He also installed one clip wrong and had to fix that. I ended up asking for the replacement part since this one was cracked in several places now. They said no. I said ‘you aren’t going to take responsibility?’ They said no. I suggested I don’t go around trying to scam auto shops out of $100 plastic car parts and that I’d worked on cars for over 30 years. It was my favorite newly found shop for me and my wife. We will never return after seeing the lack of skill and quality control, and lack of responsibility for the problem they caused. I ordered the part myself and will install the new one myself on my dime and time. Seemed odd they would lose two happy customers over their lack of ownership of their own work and mistake.

Aug 27, 2024

Fit me in when I did not have a appointment. Everything was great as normal

Aug 27, 2024

I appreciate how courteous and helpful everyone was at Dave’s Ultimate Automotive. They were timely with the ignition coil repair and provided a lot of feedback about repairs.

Aug 27, 2024

My daughters live in Austin and I’m not able to work on their cars if they have an urgent need. Bret helped us with a small repair and took good care of her. I read other reviews and found them very customer friendly and that’s exactly what we got. They are our Austin shop.

Jul 27, 2024

Dave’s Automotive is so great! Excellent customer service, they were communicative and so kind. Seriously some of the best customer service I’ve ever experienced. Would recommend to anyone!

Jul 27, 2024

Dropped my car off early on a Thursday and got it back within 3 hours. The team were friendly and professional. I had inquired about additional tire services and was told that it could be done cheaper elsewhere, which is the most honest thing I’ve ever been told by a repair guy. For sure will be coming back in the future car service needs.

Jul 27, 2024

Josh and Jeremy were very helpful in making sure our vehicle was taken care of. Excellent customer service.

Jul 27, 2024

Sloppy work and took no accountability for it. I brought my car in for a standard service to change oil, brake fluid and radiator fluid. Everything seemed fine when I left. They did all the work in a reasonable time. Afterwards I drove to the grocery on a normal smooth street and all of a sudden I hear a crazy loud scraping sound for a second and then I see in my rear view mirror that a chunk of my car is laying in the middle of the street and other cars are driving right over it. It took me a few minutes to pull off the road to park and go see what it was. It was some undershield of my car. What the heck! I picked up the parts that I could find in the street. The main shield was torn by other cars driving over it. I didn’t know what to do. Of course it was just before a holiday and we couldn’t deal with it before so there was no fixing it till the day after. My husband said it was the shield that they have to take off to empty out the radiator fluid. The day after my husband took my car and all the parts I found on the street back to Dave’s. He was very nice and told them what happened. He has worked on many cars so he knows exactly what he’s talking about. He asked them to replace the part which only costs about $100 and to install it properly. Obviously they had not put it back properly after they drained the radiator fluid. Dave’s would not admit to any wrong doing and said because we waited 3 days they refused to replace the part. Yesterday was a holiday and Dave’s was closed so how were we supposed to get it fixed then. They take no accountability for their wrong doing. Even though the shield was torn my husband wanted it put back on at least till he could order a new one and install it himself. He watched the guy put it back on and saw that the guy was not installing it correctly and told him that’s why it fell off in the first place. Ugh, So frustrating when the simplest thing isn’t done properly. I had been to Dave’s once before and had decent work done but after them not owning up to their incompetency and refusal to replace the part that they did not install properly, I will never go back!!!! Putting on that shield properly is mechanics 101. Maybe other guys there are ok but this mechanic is incompetent.

Jul 27, 2024

The BEST ! Always friendly and straight to the point with recommendations and prices. It’s great to have a trusting auto mechanic. From our old vehicles to new ones we still get nothing but excellent service!!

Jul 27, 2024

Very convenient, professional, kind and quick in get my vehicle back into my possession:) Also offered competitive prices.

Jul 27, 2024

Were able to look at my car quickly. Found the problem almost immediately, but admitted the issue was not one they could quickly solve. I admire their honesty and ability to explain things.

Jun 27, 2024

5 star service, dependability, and trustworthiness every visit.

Jun 27, 2024

Dave’s Ultimate Automotive performed a standard oil change and state inspection. They were very transparent about additional repairs. Great customer service, honest, hardworking mechanics. Highly recommend this shop.

Jun 27, 2024

Great experience with everyone there.

Jun 27, 2024

Great service

Jun 27, 2024

Great service with very friendly staff!

Jun 27, 2024

I highly recommend Dave’s Ultimate Automotive. Great service and fair price.

Jun 27, 2024

One of the best auto care experiences, they not only tell you what you need done but show you with pictures. 10/10

Jun 27, 2024

Recommended from AAA. Great experience and am happy to have found a new place to get my car fixed by a reputable shop who I trust.

Jun 27, 2024

These guys are the best! No frills and honest. Love this place.

Jun 27, 2024

These guys used to be really good when it was under the previous management. Now, I think they're good mechanics, but I don't quite trust them as much as I did. They recently did a filter change on my fairly new car and found a "major" oil leak. Before having it fixed with them (for $300+), I got two second opinions. Both of the other places (one of whom I've done business with for 12 years) said that wasn't the case - there was some very minor seepage, but not worth working on. As said, I think they're good mechanics, but I just don't 100% trust them on diagnostics.

Jun 27, 2024

Thorough, dependable, and trustworthy shop. Love how they break everything down and document for you

May 27, 2024

Ahead of time (despite scheduling errors on my own part), with everything taken care of. All costs & services were transparent and well-explained, with no upselling. The closest thing to a problem was that I had to turn the “maintenance required” light off myself.

May 27, 2024

Dave’s (N Lamar) provides friendly, professional, consistent and honest service at a reasonable price.

May 27, 2024

Great people who are personable and aren’t trying to squeeze in a few extra dollars. With inflation and Austin being so expensive this is a blessing

May 27, 2024

Great service!

May 27, 2024

I use some great service businesses in our city but none compare to the honesty, fairness and professionalism of Dave's Ultimate Automotive. You can have confidence in what they say and what they do.That's everything!

May 27, 2024

Quality work at a reasonable price. Very high integrity

May 27, 2024

These guys do excellent work and conduct thorough investigations, while also being clear about what’s necessary vs ideal to inform what you prioritize if your budget is limited.