Brake Specialists Plus

I walked in to this store asking about a $99.00 brake service and what I got was an education. The manager explained to me differences in pads that they could use and the brake services offered. I chose the top of the line pads and I was not dissapointed at all. It has been 2 weeks with no issues. more

I recently bought a used car, took it over there because it was closest to my location off 183 (new to Austin) and it was having a couple of issues. What I didn't realize is what I was in for, great customer service! I loved the honesty, integrity, and respect I got from Billy and his service technicians. This is the reason I went back for serious repairs, and we all know this cost serious dollars. I had a good feeling from them from the start, and it proved to be true. He was not underhanded, and this is important when you are female in this type of field these days. I will continue to go there, as it is rare to find a ""good"" mechanic....and happy I found a good shop to rely on that believes in their work. I would be happy to refer them along to my family and closest friends.....and trust they will be taken care of right by my referral! Thanks Billy, you have found yourself a loyal customer for the long run! more

My 2007 BMW 550 had just passed the end of its 4-year free maintenance coverage when the front brakes started making noise. Having only dealt with the BMW dealer for all service so far, I asked around and was referred to Billy at Brake Specialists Plus (next to Taco Cabana on 183N). Billy had the car inspected by his crew and told me that he could put new pads on the car, but it didn't need them (and probably wouldn't stop the occasional squealing sound we were hearing). Billy explained that brake squealing was not uncommon in European automobiles and was not necessarily a sign of trouble. He told me we had 30 - 50% of the life left on the brakes, but eventually, when the dash maintenance indicator light told us the brakes needed service (probably another year and a half, he said), our car would need both rotors and pads and gave me a rough estimate of what that would cost.\r \r I appreciated his honesty in not trying to sell me anything I didn't need, CHARGING ME NOTHING for the test drive and mechanic's inspection, carefully explaining what they found with the car, and giving me the straight scoop on how much a brake job on our car ought to run (using OE parts). \r \r I know cars and have been doing my own routine maintenance (including servicing and replacing disc brakes) for many years, but when cars like mine don't even come with oil dip sticks and you can't see your engine for all the plastic cowling under the hood, you have to trust someone for advice on maintenance for your car. I trust Billy, and will come back when I do need service for our BMW. more

Our brakes were making scraping noises. We brought the car to billy who fixed up our front brakes by installing new pads, resurfacing the rotors and rebuild the calipers. He told us we bought the car in promptly when we heard noises and saved ourselves much money. the cost was 365 and is guaranteed . Thanks brake specialists. more

I was getting some weird issues with my ABS engaging at random times while driving and braking. I brought my Chevy over the Brake Specialists across from Charled Maund Toyota. They got the vehicle in the air and noticed that the front wheels had a lot of beairng play and explained that my front wheel bearings are part of a hub assemblies that have integrated ABS sensors. They replaced both of the front hubs and I haven't had any issues with the ABS engaging in over 2 weeks. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. more

I totally agree with the previous reviewer ""max669"". I am also a Drivetime customer who needed to get the warranty work done on my Trailblazer. I was very happy with the service I received at this facility and I will definitely be back for service on this vehicle after the warranty period. more

The manager and the techs that work at this location are class acts. They are very friendly and willing to go the extra mile to get your car serviced. They replaced my valve cover gaskets and cleaned off the top of my engine very thoroughly. They even let me look it over after they finished. This is a great place to get your car worked on. more

My vehicle sounded like it had performance exhaust in a bad way. I brought the vehicle over to the Brake Specialists next to Taco Cabana and had them look at it. The catalytic converter has developed a crack. They ordered me a new catalytic converter and had it installed in about 3 hours. The vehicle was very quiet when I got it back and ran good as well. I am very happy with the work that was done. more

I bought my vehicle from Drive Time and I had several issues with it. Drive Time referred me to this shop to get the issues looked at. They got me in quick. They diagnosed my issues and called Drivetime to get approval for the repairs. They repaired my vehicle and got me back on the road in about 3 hours. I know it took longer than an average trip to a shop, since they had to take the time to deal with a third party like Drivetime. They were really friendly the whole time. After my warranty is up with Drive Time, I will continue to bring my vehicle back to them. more

I had recently bought a Chrysler Crossfire and noticed that I started to hear a lot of noise coming from the muffler. I brought my vehicle over to the Brake Specialists next to Taco Cabana. They got my vehicle up in the air and we ran the vehicle. We felt exhaust escaping from the top of the muffler. They pulled the muffler off and I noticed that the last owner cut out a square flap on the muffler and had put exhaust tape to hold it down. Billy, the manager, looked me up a new muffler from Chrysler, but the dealership wanted almost $1,000 for this speciality muffler. Billy suggested that we could weld the muffler back together which would be more cost effective. They did the work and the muffler sounds great now. Thanks for working with me on this. I will send some referrals soon. more

I am the guy that never changes the fluid in my rear differential and pays for it big time. I had ignored all the scheduled differential fluid changes and it cost me big time. I heard a nasty sound coming from my rear drive axle earlier this week and brought my Jeep over to Billy at the Brake Specialists by Taco Cabana on Research Blvd. They took off my differential cover and then the fun began. We watched as the remaining quart drained out and there should have been more fluid than that in this thing. We also noticed several large metal shards in the fluid which means one lovely phrase ""we can rebuild your rear differential and replace your rear axle seals that were leaking"". Yikes. I was in panic mode. Billy then brought the estimate over and explained how they were going to work with me. They even got me approved for 6 months same as cash through their Car Care One card. It took them about a day to do the work, which I though was quite fast seeing all they had to do. I just picked the vehicle up yesterday and it is driving great. I appreciated all your help Billy. Please tell your techs that they are awesome. more

I brought my Hyundai in for a brake pedal that kept going to the floor on me. The guys at Brake Specialists got me in quick and figured out that my brake master cylinder was bypassing. They did a line test on it to confirm their diagnosis which I really appreciated. They ordered and installed a new master cylinder for me same day. My brake pedal now feels like it did when I bought the car. Thanks Billy and Karry for the help. more

I was in the area and was tired of listening to the noise coming from my brakes after another company had worked on them previously, so I visited the Brake Specialists at 8405 Research Blvd. I met Billy the manager at this location and he was very friendly and helpful. They did a free brake inspection on my vehicle and determined that the previous shop had installed Autozone Duralast pads on my vehicle and they didn't do a good job on machining my rotors. They recommended a Napa brake pad called Adaptive One which supposedly has a noise free guarantee on it. I was willing to give them a try. I will start off by saying that a brake job with Brake Specialists is a little more expensive than getting your brakes done by a national chain like Midas, Meineke or Just Brakes, but they use better parts than their competition by far. They also had better equipment available to do the brake repairs and the tech they had doing my brakes has over 20 years experience which was very comforting (I think his name is Karry). They machined my rotors with an on-car brake lathe that actually attaches to the vehicle to machine the rotors (it was pretty cool and they let me watch it in action). The rotor surface looked great after the lathe was done. I happily paid the extra money for the good pads and I have had virtually no noise from my brakes in over a month now. I am a very satisfied customer and I will be back to have them do some scheduled maintenance for me. Thanks Billy! more

Karry Bell was the technician that worked on my Nissan Murano's brakes a couple months back. My brakes are so much better than when I got this vehicle from the dealer. I kept getting brake squeal all the time and especially backing up. Brake Specialists put some Adaptive One pads on my vehicle and the noises have gone away. Thanks a bunch for fixing my brakes and I will make sure to keep referring my friends and family to your shop. more

I have never had any difficulty with Brake Specailists though I cannot say the same with some other well known automotive repairs shops in the general area. I came from a Brake Specialist location that closed down when the economy started to turn and that's how I ended up at this shop.\r The first manager I dealt with in 2008 was not 'user friendly', misunderstood what I wanted and acted indifferent, and quoted lousy time estimates.\r For the past year and a half, a new manager has been assigned at this location. He is honest, knowledgeable, and understands the importance of good customer service. I trust these guys. Yeah - it took a couple of times to get to know them but when I was recently in a pinch for time and had an unexpected steerring pressure hose go out, they did everything they could to get me in and out within a reasonable time. I recommend you give them a try! more

took my car to get an oil change 2 times before and never had an issue. on the third trip all that went out the window. The manager tells me that my car has a stripped oil drain plug and that it needs a part to fix it. well i have only taken my car to them for oil changes and this issue was never brought up before. but somehow that doesnt warrant them replacing it at no cost to me. I pay the extra $60 for the part and drive off unhappy. Then a month or so later I start my car after work and its making a weird clicking sound so I shut it off and check the oil and magically I am 2 quarts low. Never had an oil leak before. So now I have to replace the oil pan ($300) because someone at Brake Specialists doesn't know what they're doing. I would not recommend this shop to anyone. Pros: free wi fi Cons: everything more

The World-wide banking system collapse and now the automobile services system collapse. \r \r This location (Store #19) is possibly the worst knowledge and customer oriented brake repair I have been too. I have been driving since 1979. They immediately began to pressure me with no warranty this and exclusion that. Telling me of ""bound"" calipers, shop policy, and safety risk. They also quoted 2 hours and it took closer to 4 hours. The 100 dollar pad replacement turned into a $518.00 nightmare! They also committed to a brake flush which they never did AND used an AIR WRENCH to tighten my lug nuts!! They summarily ""ripped"" one of them (the stud) off and no-doubt over-torqued all of them!!! They are not safe and PLEASE do not take you car here!!\r \r You have been fairly warned from an innocent victim of BRAKES PLUS STORE #19 on Research) Hwy 183) in Austin!!!\r \r PS - You would think that in these economic times that people would focus on the customer. People talk but it is the actions of individuals that dictate customer service.\r Pros: Thumbs down! Cons: You can go somewhere else!! more

I've used various Brake Specialist locations for the last 7 or 8 years and always had a good experience. Recently I had my daughter's 94 Sentra worked on at the 8405 Research location. They took care of the brakes, a clutch throw out bearing and a valve seal gasket. When I noticed blue clouds of smoke billowing out the next day I took it back. The quickly fixed something else and got her back on the road with no charge and no more smoke! Pros: Quick, friendly, and trustworthy more

I did not have any issue with my transmission until I made a mistake and left it for service at Brake Specialist. After a normal transmission service (fluid change, fluid flush, and filter change) as soon as I left the lot I notice my truck was horrible and stuck in 2 or 3 gear. Once I complained about my issues, the VP of the company he just stated he did not put the miles on the vehicle and was not willing to assist. While posing as a potential customer, 4 different companies refused to do any work on my car fearing it can cause problems. This seems to be common knowledge in the industry with the exception of Brake Specialist. I received the same comment from 2 total car care service centers and 2 different transmission repair companies, good to know we do have some honest companies. I had to have my transmission worked on by a transmission specialist. So if you are interested in keeping your money go anywhere but here. Additional Cost to fix more

Rip me off once, shame on you. Rip me off twice, shame on me. Rip me off a third time, I'll write a review. Yeah, I don't know why I kept going back. I suppose it was because they were so close. My car was making a noise. They replaced the left CV axle. Didn't fix it. They replaced the right CV axle. Didn't fix it. They replaced the right one again. Didn't fix it. The replaced all of the engine mounts. Finally, they said, ""Must be a transmission problem."" I went to IKE's transmission (which rocks by the way.) Ike wanted to rule out the CV axles before he opened the tranny. So, he brought some in from the junk yard and, bam! $50.00 later, I was good to go. I had already spent $1,000 with Brake Specialists and their junk parts. Last up a $192.71 *hose* replacement. Thanks a lot for the gold laden intake hose? Yeah, these things normally cost around $50.00. Seriously, these guys are the biggest joke. If you want to get ripped off, I'd like to sell you the 360 bridge. Pros: Next to Taco Cabana. Cons: Repairs for incorrect stuff, shoddy parts, over-priced. Lies lies and lies. more