Chelsie’s Automotive

I’ve been here twice now. Granted, I don’t know a ton, but so far what I’ve seen lends me to trusting these people. I also really like that this is a locally-​owned family business so the money is pretty much staying in the area.
They have wifi in the lobby so I bring my laptop and do work while they work on my car.

Chelsie’s has done both major and minor work on my car. They are trustworthy, knowledgeable, and friendly. Thanks to them we’re still running around in my favorite «old» car.

Oil change took over an hour. I did receive a 20 dollar discount for the wait. The staff is friendly and knowledgable. I will return for future service with the understanding that they are not Jiffy Lube.

I got my state inspection there today. The bulbs on my license plate needed replacing. They charged me $ 2.50 for the bulb and $ 9.59 for labor to install it. I pointed it out to the cashier and he didn’t think that was at all steep, so I just marked it up to the cost of doing business. My wife took her car to Sticker Stop Inc. (near Anderson Mill and 620) today to get her vehicle inspection and needed a brake light. They charged her $ 2.50 for the bulb and NO installation fee. Guess where I’ll go next year.

I can’t recall exactly how many times I’ve had my car worked on at Chelsie. I’ve been satisfied every time. Being something of a shade tree mechanic, there are just some jobs that I can’t handle or just don’t want to tackle. This is my go to shop. No muss, no fuss, no hassle or up selling. They do the work professionally and in a timely manner and I’ve never been anything but completely satisfied. Chelsie and his guys know what they’re doing better than many and always take care of their customers. Bryan has saved me untold headaches. I take my family’s work here and recommend this shop without reservation.
Many thanks for the great work they do.

Very friendly staff and I was in and out for a state inspection and emissions test in about 30 minutes. Of course, this was on a Tuesday early afternoon… but still, being new to the area and taking a gamble with trying Chelsie ‘s out, I couldn’t have asked for a better experience!

I started coming to Chelsie’s a few years ago just because I live within walking distance. They have taken excellent care of my car and always try their best to get my car ready by the end of the day. They really do seem to care about my safety and I appreciate all their efforts. Chelsie on multiple occasions has made sure himself that my car was fixed right. Brian, in the front office, is very knowledgeable and kind. Everytime I am given and estimate, I consult all of my guy friends with car knowledge. They consistently tell me their estimates are extremely reasonable. They are pretty busy on Saturdays.

Purchased an Auto care special punch card for 3 free oil changes a while back but when I got here they said they are no longer accepting them. Major bummer since this shop was way out of my way and the only reason why I was getting an oil change was to use up the punch card.
Since I did drive all the way here, I decided might as well get the oil change done. Originally I was quoted around $ 42 which I thought was a little steep. Plus it was going to take about an hour since it was busy. Granted I’m used to going to Lube Pit Stop off South Lamar and its about $ 35 with a 15 – 20 min turnaround. Was ready to give this place… hmmm… maybe 3 stars but I got a pleasant surprise.
The front desk guy decided to give me a $ 10 discount since they felt bad I drove all the way out there (I explained my story to him earlier) and weren’t accepting the punch card any longer. Being able to empathize with the customer goes a long way in my book so at this point I was thinking 5 stars but then reality set in as I write this and I know that their normal prices still are a bit higher than what I’m used to (at least for an oil change.)
Regardless, this is an overall stand up auto shop, that’s honest and cares about their customers’ needs. I’d consider coming here again but I already have my go-​to mechanics that are closer to home base.

We went to this shop because there was something wrong with the cooling system of our car. At the beginning, They said they need do an inspection to identify the problem which is $ 49.95. And after that, they said they need to flush the system (around $ 100)as well as change the thermostat which needs 1 hour ($ 120). Also, the mechanic told us after this flush we need several more flush every two weeks… Then after all of these, the cooling system was still not fixed. Then they said the problem could be the radiator, water pump or something else. Taking the radiator out to check whether it is blocked will take another 1hour and half which means $ 150 labor fee. So if we did let them to take the radiator down to check, then we will spend $ 420 in total before we change the radiator, and still might be not sure what the problem is !
We could not take this anymore and we contacted another mechanic, who identified the problem within 1 hour and did not charge that much of money (btw, he said he would not change us before he identifies the car problem). And the mechanic told us we don’t have to spend the money to get a new thermostat for such an old car, just take out the old one should be fine since it is Austin.
So it turned out that we spend $ 270 more than we should to fix our car in Chelsie’s Automotive. I can’t say they aimed to make extra money from us for sure, but it is clear that either their car repair skills suck or they just want to get more money out of our pocket.

I’ve been going to Chelsie’s for ~8 years — since back when Chelsie was managing Precision Tune. I always get good, honest, reasonably-​priced service from them.
Today I had a 60K mile service. I also had what I suspected was a transmission issue. The mechanic, Brian, test-​drove my car thoroughly to test out my theories. When he returned he sat down and talked with me for probably 15 minutes. He didn’t try to sell me any additional unnecessary services. I appreciate a mechanic who will 1) take the time to talk with me, 2) educate me with respect (single woman w/​little car knowledge but not without intelligence) and 3) giving me sound advice.
This is typical of many of my experiences here. Highly recommend this shop.

This is now our official go-​to car shop!
Chelsie and Bryan did an outstanding job repairing my husbands starter. They also did a complete oil change and inspection for my car on a Saturday in a little over an hour when they had a full house!
Their prices can be a bit steep, but they are trustworthy and provide quality services so it’s definitely worth it.

I found this place a few years back and have been happy with their maintenance on our vehicles. They are upfront, honest. I’ve dealt with Bryan a lot and Chelsie. They always treat me with respect, are patient when I try to describe the weird things my car is doing (including making the funny noises) and don’t mind explaining the details of needed repairs in layman’s terms.
When I was a newer customer, they also didn’t seem irritated or offended when I would step out to check prices (never had a problem with Chelsie’s being overpriced) or talk to a relative that knows a lot about cars to double check and make sure it was a needed repair and everything sounded legit. One of our cars is older. It pretty much has a case of car cholera (everything seems to be leaking from everywhere) and Chelsie’s is really great at helping me figure out which things I should repair soon verses which things can wait. They never pressure me to do more than what I can afford.
Oh ya, so it’s not the Taj Mahal in there. Get over it. It’s an automotive repair place. What do you expect, silly?! I’ve never seen it really dirty or gross. Plus, I’d rather pay reasonable prices than have the cost of some killer location with a fancy lobby passed on to the customers.

I used to go there for my annual inspection, they seemed honest. Went last year to get my sticker and the owner said my steel brake line was burst after they worked on the car for awhile, sure enough it was leaking like a drinking fountain. There is no reason for that to happen, it may have been circumstantial, but I think he punctured the steel line. I had to keep adding brake fluid to get my car home, the cost to repair made me junk out my car. Can’t prove he did it, but they seemed totally indifferent to my plight and I could tell from his body language that he did something to the car.
Won’t bring my new car there, as I suspect another brake line will be reported as leaking.

This is really a good shop for your regular maintenance. I deal with them for several time, always satisfied by the service and kindness. Highly recommended!

Need help changing the disk brakes — mine were warped. I had the parts and attempted the job myself, but the job required an impact wrench. They did the work for a fair price.

honest folks and very helpful. my co-​worker recommended them a few years ago and i’ve been going back ever since. it’s hard to find good, trustworthy mechanics who know what they’re doing… glad i finally did!

You know how a lot of people refer to their cars as females? Well, I refer to mine as a female for a very specific reason. I’d also like to note that even though my Chrysler, «Leigh I-​provoke-​ya», is only four-​years-​old, she has a condition called progeria (look it up). This is a condition that normally only affects humans, but Leigh I-​provoke-​ya has taken on a human form in her inner machinery.
What I’m trying to say is, for three days every 28 days, for the past two months, Leigh I-provoke-ya’s check-​engine light has come on. In essence, she has started her period. My father advised me last month that if Leigh I-​provoke-​ya got her period again, I should put her on constant birth control — no week’s worth of placebo pills — to completely halt her period. For cars, this «birth control» must be done in the form of an «operation», so I took Leigh I-​provoke-​ya to the capable surgeons at Chelsie’s.
I already knew the problem was a leak somewhere in the emissions system. How did I know this? Because I’m such a bad-​ass grease monkey. No, because Ardie S told me a couple of months ago how to go about getting the diagnostic code myself, which came in very handy. And why did I wait two months to do anything about the problem? Because I’ve spent the last three months recovering from a $ 2,000 charge from Lamb’s for a bunch of other work Leigh needed. I knew my only issue with this leak (short-​term) would be passing inspection, but inspection’s coming up soon so I have to get this fixed.
So I dropped Leigh off at 8am yesterday morning, and Errol M kept me occupied for the next three hours. More accurately, he kept me at his mercy, especially when he drove me to a certain bank at a certain store. I didn’t need to go there, or anything, but we got to talking about John R (since he won ROTD yesterday), and Errol proposed going over there and visiting him. I figured I could get some yarn while I was there. Gotta make a scarf for a friend who’s moving to a cold climate soon, so… Anyway, the reason I’m not telling you where John R works is because Errol and I nearly got him in trouble by visiting him. I don’t want to set him up for more trouble by telling other Unilocalers where he puts his name plate.
After a trip to Cupprimo and Big Lots, near Chelsie’s, I walked home. Got a call from Chelsie’s Mike as soon as I walked in the door. He told me Leigh I-​provoke-​ya needs a new NVLA canister, and it’s a dealer-​only part so it’ll cost a pretty penny. $ 489, parts/​labor. FUCK! ME! I said okay, and then I called Lamb’s to see how much they would charge for the diagnostic and repair. $ 602. Yeah, I took Leigh to the right place, it sounds like.
Oh, but then things went drastically wrong. I got a call at 2:30 that seemed to be telling me Leigh was ready to be picked up, but I got the feeling Mike was leading up to some bad news. Yep, I was right. He said when they tried to start Leigh to move her out of the bay, her battery died. You can imagine my first thought… SHENANIGANS! But then I realized the battery was four-​years-​old, so it didn’t surprise me that Leigh crapped out. It pissed me off, but it didn’t surprise me. So I approved the battery replacement and started walking over there.
As I neared Chelsie’s, I saw Leigh parked in a spot. Good! Then I saw the mechanic get back into Leigh and drive her back into the bay. Bad! I was told that as soon as Leigh was parked, she started shitting power-​steering fluid. You can imagine my primary thought… SHENANIGANS! Mike said he knows the timing is suspect, but he swears it’s all on the up-​and-​up. I was suspicious and fuming. The mechanic cleaned Leigh of fluid, replaced the fluid, and watched to see if she experienced more diarrheal voiding of fluid. And I just realized how gross that sounded. I was given a very technical possible reason for what happened that I can’t repeat, mainly because I don’t remember it, but it made sense to me. Seemed to be a freak occurrence that is not completely unseen in Chryslers. Frankly, I’m convinced that if the mechanic punched holes in Leigh’s power-​steering reservoir, he wouldn’t have bothered taking her out of the bay and parking her, so I’m not really prepared to call shenanigans. They didn’t charge me for anything related to power-​steering, and they’re going to check it again next week for free.
Lamb’s, I’m so over you.
Ardie: Thanks for telling me how to get the diagnostic code. The mechanic was really impressed when I gave it to him. The code, that is.
Errol: Thanks for keeping me company. By the way, I want my yarn back. And no, I won’t teach you how to crochet hand-​cuffs.
John: Sorry Errol and I got you in trouble, if we did.
Leigh: You owe me BIG time, bitch! By the way, you’re grounded.

I went to Chelsie’s on the recommendation of a friend. The service manager, Mike was very friendly and helpful. Didn’t try to oversell me on anything. I went in to have my AC charged, my oil changed and my inspection done. That’s what I left with! All is working well and I was in an out in about an hour. I owe my friend a starbucks for the recommendation! :)