I had a non-cooling A/C. Thought I might have some huge compressor problem, but turns out I just needed a dose of freon. Brian helped me on the spot (on a hot day) and explained dual a/c versus non-dual a/c and why the passenger side was cooler than the driver's. Maybe not the most exciting info, but good to know before you or an untrustworthy mechanic works you up about something that was just as simple as a little freon recharge and a little common sense regarding A/C's.

I work as a handyman and depend on my 1986 Toyota Van Wagon to keep my business going. This particular van is very weird in terms of the engine/trans layout, and can be challenging to work on. I have had some mechanics flatly refuse to work on it. When I had sudden transmission problems, I first went to my closest shop, Drake Automotive. Bad experience there. Upon recommendations, I drove the Van into Carter's, and Brian and his mechanics did me right. The problem turned out to be multi-fold, and I had to do without the van. It was inconvenient and frustrating to have to scramble for another work vehicle, but Brian was excellent about keeping me updated about everything that was going on. I haven't found another shop in Austin that displays the level of honesty, responsiveness, and fairness in price that Carter's does. I will certainly be going back if any more problems arise, and I would highly recommend this shop to anyone.

I took my '99 Camry to their South Lamar shop for a transmission rebuild. I was a first time customer who decided to try Carters based on online reviews. Very happy with the result. First of all, Brian is a very nice person, who does his best to help out. I went there as a foreign student (with an accent!) who knows little about cars. Instead of taking advantage of the situation to rip me off, they were very nice and honest from the very beginning. They gave me a student discount and let me use a coupon at the same time. They finished the job in 2 days although it was thanksgiving week. The new transmission works perfectly by the way. Don't hesitate to go to Carters.

Took a 2000 AWD explorer in after periodically feeling like I was driving over rumble strips. I wasn't able to describe the problem or how to reproduce it very well, though, and I didn't insist on going on the initial drive with the mechanic. In the process of trying to find what I was talking about, he found that my front differential was chewing up the end of the axle and needed to be rebuilt. Upon getting the car back, I was able to trigger the "shudder" again and when I got back to Carter's the mechanic jumped right in with me to see what I was talking about. Fortunately I was able to get the shudder to happen again and he knew immediately that it was coming from in the transmission. When we got back, Doug gave me a very reasonable estimate for rebuilding the transmission and discounted down to that $ amount when the actual work came to a little more. So, yes, I did pay for both repairs when I was expecting one, but the prices were very reasonable, the repairs needed to be performed, and they were great folks to work with. The only thing I would do differently would be to insist on going on the initial test drive since the main shudder issue was hard to reproduce and I knew I wasn't describing it very well to them.

I have been using Carters for more than 14 years. My truck needed a new transmission, Carters rebuilt it with all new internal parts and gave me a warranty. That was 5 years ago and 100,000 and it is still working just fine. They didn't want to replace the clutch at the time because it didn't need it. My husband agreed it didn't need to be replaced at that time but had it replaced anyway because the trans was already out. I have taken my truck back for other repairs (my truck now has 221,000 miles) and if it is a simple repairs they usually tell me if it is something that my husband can do. I trust Carters and have sent many co-workers and friends to the North Lamar Shop as well as my son. His trans was rebuilt by Carters 4 years ago and it is still working great in his 4-wheel drive. That truck has taken a beating.