Carter's Transmissions

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.

Pros: getting your car fixed quick by nice people

Posted 10/13/09

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.

Posted 05/24/09

I took my car in for an estimate and was pleased to find out it was much less than I have been quoted by 2 other shops. Brian was extremely helpful and I was helped within seconds of arriving. The process was so simple and easy. The drop off was quick and on pickup I arrived early - and the car was ready!! The service, price and comfort that I received by not being taken advantage of will make me a lifetime customer of Carters!! Thanks guys for running such a professional business!

Pros: Quick speedy service with a smile

Cons: NONE

Posted 02/12/09

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.

Posted 12/10/08

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.

Posted 06/29/08

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.

Posted 06/22/08

Based on the good review here, I called for an estimate for rebuilding the transmission of my Ford minivan. Doug gave me the options and price range, I was interested in the 3y / 50kmiles warranty. The estimate on the phone was detailed enough that I decided to go with them, the estimate was $1,000 lower than my regular shop at Oak Hill. Doug called me twice to update me on the actual repair and gave me option to go cheaper with less warranty. What I liked: excellent contact from the first call, provided options, price was good with warranty, I didn't have to mention the $100 coupon found on their website neither bring a copy, included towing
I just picked up my minivan, and I'll keep this forum up to date if I have any issue, but so far so good.

Posted 06/05/08

Went there with a motor mount broken, transmission failed and leaking power steering. They fixed it for a reasonable price and now my car is doing perfectly good. Thanks to them. I felt that they were upfront and straight forward.

Posted 05/14/08

Just thought I would let y'all know about the guys at Carter's. Took my chevy truck over there because the transmission was slipping. Instead of taking me to the cleaners, they rebuilt it, good price, good warranty, and had my truck back the next day. Thats hard to beat. From the manager Darrell to the technicians, these guys treated me with respect, and kindness. I will be back for all my automotive services. Thanks guys!

Pros: quality workmanship, quick turnaround

Cons: none that I can see

Posted 04/28/08

My husband and I have used Carters for all of our repairs since we moved here about 10 years ago. They have always been able to fix it and never felt like they were selling us anything we didnt need. We have newer cars now but still see them for our oil changes and regular mainenance. I would recommend them to anyone.

Pros: Trustworthy

Cons: None

Posted 04/08/08

My car's clutch gave out. I looked for a shop and Carter's said "Carter's CLUTCH and Transmission"(south location). Turns out, both of my hydraulic cylinders had failed, and needed replacing. I had them replaced, and my father told them to "Look over the entire rest of the car, for anything that will become a problem in the future. I don't want him driving down the road in three months and have something like this happen again." They said it needed some new belts and whatnot(I didn't like the idea of someone else tuning up my car, but such is city life). The next day, my car started to smell of asphalt and my clutch was half-engaging and wouldn't pass 25mph in any gear, at any rpm. I told them, and they told me to get it to them when it was happening. Needless to say, this serious problem was incidental for about a month, and by the time I got it across town to them, it stopped("doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it"). Eventually, my clutch pedal sunk to the floor on MoPac and stopped working. I got it to them and the problem had increased to loud noise, but finally, it was now a problem all the time. I took it to them, and they said, "Oh yeah, your clutch is burned out. For sure."

CARTER'S BLOODY CLUTCHES AND TRANSMISSIONS. They didn't NOTICE that my clutch was falling apart, "which happens a lot when you replace the cylinders on an older car"?!

After almost a grand, I get had by people who play dumb with me. And yes, it looks to me too like all these reviews except the ones responded to were written by the staff.

Pros: They towed my car to their shop

Cons: took too long, didn't do what we asked, and then played stupid

Posted 04/07/08

Took the time to explain all repairs before they were done -- also helped me prioritize b/c there were a lot of repairs to be done. Customer service was great - gave me a ride to work when i dropped the car off. Was a little taken back by the price initially but came to find its the parts that were expensive. Took a little but longer than originally planned, but work was done well.

Posted 04/06/08

I think all but two of three of the reviews here for Carters transmission are written by the business itself.

Posted 04/01/08

Took my Cavalier into Carters for their free transmission check-out because it was shifting late -- Turns out it was not a transmission problem at all -- I needed a tune-up.........badly. $200 and I was out the door -- much better than the alternative!!! Vehicle is running great!!
- New customer for life

Pros: Honesty, Fair price

Cons: none

Posted 03/31/08

I called several places to see about getting my fuel pump replaced and they were the cheapist out of 5 other places. They did a review of what was going on and found the real problem. It was not the fuel pump at all, the chip in my key was missing. They are freindly and fair people. The online coupons help also.

Posted 02/19/08

I had a timing belt and water pump replaced. About 4 months later, the car started idling poorly and stalling. I had another mechanic look at it and he noticed that a bunch of bolts were missing and the timing belt was put on loose. Pretty shoddy work.

Posted 02/12/08

I got my transmission rebuilt, by the South location, and I paid a little extra to get the 2 year warranty, I think it was about $100.00. The transmission failed after about 8 months, which is bad but they paid to have it towed to the North location and fixed. Not only was my bill zero, but I wasn't told that I needed other work.

Posted 01/11/08

Thanks for the Caravan transmission. Good work and good price and I trust you will be here for the radiator and A/C service when I need it.
Thanks again for a good quick trannie and drive axle.

Bobby B.

Posted 01/10/08

I usually take my BMW to the dealer in town because I have had bad experiences elsewhere with my repairs. After finding out that the BMW dealer is no more trustworthy than anywhere else, and in most cases actually worse, I looked online and was lucky enough to find an honest mechanic QUALIFIED to work on my car. The vehicle would intermittently stall in the morning -- probably three times a week -- and it was just becoming an undependable vehicle and a great annoyance. Carters was able to pinpoint the problem in the matter of a half hour and got me back on the road the next day for much less than the dealer charged. They proved the value of a knowledgable mechanic in the first experience, definitely worth a try.

Posted 12/09/07

I took my Volkswagen to Carters on Monday after having taken it to two "VW specialists" already that couldn't find the problem. The Jetta had a strange noise coming from under the hood and didnt have the same acceleration that it usually had. I was told that it may take a few hours to find but if I could leave it they would call me with the diagnosis that afternoon. Within an hour and a half they had found the problem; it was a vacuum leak and were able to fix it within the day and only cost $165. Its hard to find a mechanic to work on European cars - believe me - I've tried. I am happy I found Carters and will continue to use them in the future.

Posted 11/14/07

DO NOT GO SEE the North Lamar location of Carters. Things started when the South Austin location was called to inquire about a car that wouldnt start. They referred to the North Lamar location, and said that towing (local) would be free and $45.00 if it was out of the local area. That was acceptable, so the car was towed there. The North Lamar Location called and said that they would need to replace the battery, and that they would need the new battery on the car to test the charging system to see if that was the problem.
They installed a $90.00 'warehouse brand' battery on the car. (was told they did not know who the actual manufacturer was by Oscar the guy that was in charge there) The cost of the battery was never mentioned to us. They also tried to charge a $65.00 towing fee, claiming that they had a different policy on tow pricing than the South Austin location. Oscar used the analogy that if you went to gas stations they charged different prices for gas at different stations. I am not sure how that relates but ok. Oscar, also told us that the Alternator was OVERCHARGING at 14.0 volts and that it should be replaced to the cost of 350.00.

First of all.. the alternator's acceptable charge range is 13.5-15.0volts. over 15.0 volts and you have an over charging alternator. I had them put the battery back on the car, and picked up a $59.99 Duralast with a longer and better warranty. The North Lamar location wanted to charge us an additional $25.00 in labor to put the old battery back on. Oscar claimed he told us that he was going to charge that on the phone. And no he had only said we would have to pay the labor he already incurred putting the new one on and testing the system.

He removed the double charge on labor and knocked the tow fee to $50.00.
We the battery in 5 minutes in their parking lot. Then took the car to AutoZone and
they said the Alternator WAS WORKING PERFECTLY.

DO NOT TRUST THE N. LAMAR CARTER's SHADY!!!

Posted 11/06/07

Carters,
Thank you so much! I came down here (to Austin) and didn't know any mechanics, but I'm so glad I found a place that is honest and trustworthy. Even when I had to bring it back, you were determined to find the problem and help me choose the best (affordable) option to fix it.

Posted 10/09/07

Been using these guys for about three years now. Couldnt be happier with them. Always fair and quick. The manager, Doug, is a good guy and will treat you right. I have had them fix everything from electrical problems to my transmission and radiator, and they have always done a good job. I highly recommend them.

Pros: Everything

Posted 10/08/07

I took my 2003 Explorer in for a brake estimate to one of the chain repair shops offering a $100 brake service and as always, they recommended repairs that totalled $540. Carters offered a free brake inspection and was able to fit me into the schedule within an hour. They took the time to explain the problem and show it to me. The vehicle didnt even need half of the brake parts recommended by the first repair shop! They did front and rear brakes for half the cost and it is working great! I am happy I found my new repair facility!

Pros: Staff was very professional and helpful

Cons: Wish I would have found them sooner

Posted 10/07/07

I wanted to thank you for your honesty and professionalism. I could have gone elsewhere and been charged much more. I know where I am taking my business.

Posted 04/08/07

Thank you so much for your honest, dependable work. Transmission is working great now! I will definitely come back with any other problems I have with my car.

Posted 04/08/07

Being a women, I appreciate a mechanic who will take the time to explain the problem my car is having. Thank you for your professionalism, honesty, and the quickness in which you were able to get me back on the road!

Posted 04/08/07