09/30/09

new to the lou

by mike matthews

I recently moved to the downtown St. Louis area and was forced to make that awful transition from my hometown mechanic to a new and unknown mechanic...but luckily after a few poor choices I found St. Louis Auto & Truck Repair! Although my first repair was a small one (battery) and my second was just an oil change and a detail but I now swear by this place! Drop your car off before work, they give you a ride to work, they come and pick you up when you get off work, and pick up your newly repaired/maintained/detailed vehicle! It's amazingly convienent! Silly people getting all upset because this repair shop wants you to be safe and have your repairs done correctly...I understand that vehicles require maintanence and repairs and both of those as I know require money (as does everything else!). Thank you St. Louis Auto & Truck Repair. You have a new customer for life (or I should say my life in St. Louis!!!)

• Pros: friendly, quick, affordable, honest
• Cons: not open on weekends

04/05/09

DO NOT USE - Will OVERCHARGE THEIR ESTIMATE

by Notredamedude1980

I have thought about putting this review up for a few days. I'm typically the type of person who thinks about things prior to doing them; especially when it comes to slamming a small business owner's reputation. My Vehicle needed a brake job. The rear drivers side was making a grinding noise. I called around town, looked at some online reviews and decided, even though there was one or two bad reviews of St. Louis Auto, the employees responded, and I would take my chances with them....

I was informed that a brake inspection was $34. Assuming that a brake INSPECTION means that someone inspects the brakes, rotors, calipers, etc... I decided, do the brake inspection, give me an estimate and we should go from there. Being familiar with what the prices were around town, I budgeted $250-350 for the brake job. I was also told that If I dropped the car off at 8am in the morning that it would be done WITHIN a couple of hours. I dropped my car off at 8am. It was nice of them to give me a ride back to my apartment - that was the ONLY good thing they did. At 11:45am, I got a phone call telling me it was going to cost me $304 to fix my brakes. When I called them at 3pm to come pick me up (my car wasn't finished yet), they informed me that I also needed my calipers replaced on one side. And the new estimate is now an additional $206. At that point, I asked what the point of doing a brake inspection was, what good is an estimate, etc.... I told them that I would have to come down there because now we had a much bigger problem on our hands (the fact that it was $200 more - 40% more than the original estimate)... When I got there, I talked to the owner, Lisa Renaud. She informed me that there was "nothing she could do about it." I explained to her that I picked her store over Midas, Minieke, Dobbs, etc.... because they were a small business owner and I generally prefer to do business with a local small business owner than a chain store because if I had a problem I would be able to talk directly with the owner (for the past 4 years I've been taking our vehicles to Floyds on St. Charles Rock Rd, and am now convinced THEY ARE THE BEST, AND I Won't TAKE MY CAR ANYWHERE ELSE AFTER THIS EXPERIENCE - I went here because it is 2 miles from my house). Lisa told me she would "check to see if she could do any better on the price" - at this point she wasn't acting like the owner, she was acting like an office manager - it wasn't till later I found out she was the owner. When everything was said and done, it was 4:45pm my car was fixed, she showed me the bill, it was $499. I informed Lisa that on her own paperwork there was a difference of $8 in the labor charge and what was on my paperwork, when she informed me that she had to pay her technician overtime to finish my vehicle - again, not my problem-my car was suppose to be done at 12 at the latest, not 5pm!!!! She then told me she would refuse to change the labor charge. I simply wish that doing business with a small business owner would of been better than doing business with a chain store; however, I now understand that with a chain store you can complain to the regional manager, district manager, and the VP or operations, etc.... where with a small business owner, when they have your car hostage, they can pretty much do whatever they want to. I'm glad that this post is going on Facebook - I HOPE AND PRAY that no one ever uses St. Louis Auto on Delmar to get anything fixed.

I am currently in the process of taking Lisa Renaud (the owner) to small claims court for $200 + court costs, etc... I don't mind paying the $300 (the original estimate), but I do have a BIG problem with paying the $500, especially after I got a BRAKE INSPECTION

If you have any questions concerning this post, feel free to e-mail me at notredamedude@charter

• Pros: NONE
• Cons: Won't work with you on their price, even after an estimate

10/15/08

FINALLY AN HONSEST MECHANIC

by mickeyd2381

I recently took my 96 chevrolet lumina into St. Louis Auto & Truck Repair, Inc. I was having trouble keeping the vehicle running while at an idle. I figured it was something HUGE and I was going to have to start looking for a new car (bummer!). They called me about one hour after I dropped it off with the news...

I needed a new IAC valve, fuel pressure regulator, pcv, and hose. Total cost about $300 bucks! It was great news! The women in the front office were great! They reassured me of everything and then got me a ride to work! The mechanic that called was so knowledgable about the repairs he described it to me and helped me understand what it was. I'm going to bring my car back for everything, even my routine maintenance! The place is wonderful and I finally found my HONEST MECHANIC!

• Pros: DOWNTOWN! free shuttle to and from work, courteous office people, great price!