Road Runner Mobile Mechanic

Fast but overpriced. Would call again if I was in a real pickle. And if you are in a pickle, he will certainly overcharge you!

This man is incompetent for anything more than an oil change or a jump start. Over 2&½ months, $ 600 in labor, and over $ 800 in parts, he still tells me he needs more parts. (This after telling me he watched a you tube video to install a timing belt.) THEN, he tells me I owe him another $ 45 part and for 5 gallons of oil! ??The original quote didn’t include oil??? Two texts with «I promise tomorrow», still not fixed.
Unprofessional and unacceptable.

Firstly, I am grateful Jody came to my aid with gas after I ran out on MoPac this morning (lesson learned, horrible traffic and ¼ tank don’t mix well with rain and accidents). But, when you pay for a service it isn’t a friendly pat-​on-​the-​back thank you, it’s a business transaction. When a business can professionally combine the two that is golden. However, my experience this morning was less than satisfactory.
I contacted Jody at 8:21 from MoPac and the south entrance ramp (just past the 290 on-​ramp). Jody told me he was at William Cannon and Manchaca (7 minutes away according to GPS). He told me the charge would be $ 57.50.
Jody called me at 8:52am and said he was at Brodie and William Cannon, had just purchased my gas and was en route.
Jody arrived with a 5 gallon gas can and we had a nice friendly chat. After topping off the gas he said it would be $ 60 for the call, another $ 12 for the gas and if I wanted to tip him he would appreciate it.
I responded saying when we talked at 8:21 we agreed on a price he quoted me, which was $ 57.50, and I explained to him I had planned on paying him an even $ 60.00. We agreed and he followed me to a bank nearby,
When I came to pay him he said the total would be $ 70 and asked if I wanted a receipt. I politely declined. He retorted saying, you have my card if you want to recommend me to anyone.
Jody, I don’t think I will be doing that anytime soon, but thanks for the roller-​coaster ride of pricing for your services.

I was in Austin visiting my daughter, and got ready to come home on a Sunday afternoon late. My old truck wouldn’t start! Found Jody through google. He came straight to me even on a Sunday. It only took him a few minutes to (correctly) diagnose that my fuel pump had failed. My truck was in a condo so working at night would not have been good, but he took me to O’Reilly’s to buy a new pump and filter. He returned the next morning at the agreed time and got the job done. It runs like a top again. Jody has some health problems which are financially difficult for him to bear, so he is not flush with cash but he is upbeat and has a sense of humor. He said he has a square credit card processor but it isn’t working, and asked me to pay cash which I was happy to do. He is experienced, his mobile shop is well organized, and he knows auto mechanics very well (I used to work on cars in my teens and can tell the difference between novices and seasoned.) I have since recommended him to my daughter and will not hesitate to recommend him to friends. I have (subsequently) read the reviews and am surprised to see the negative ones. Jody has a hard life, and lives on a shoestring, so maybe it isn’t like going to the car dealership. But my experience was good.

I received Jodie’s business card from another business in town and am quite disappointed. I called him this morning and it was difficult for him to hear me (and me him), probably because the television or something was blaring, I couldn’t tell what it was, but I suppose it was too important to turn off. He said he was leaving right away and would be at my apartment within the hour. I gave him almost insultingly specific directions to my home, including where to park, landmarks, numbers, buildings, etc. but be still managed to be unsuccessful. All I needed was my spare tire to be put on. An hour and a half later he shows up, looks at my tire, has trouble removing the spare, and says he need to take it to get aired up. In the amount of time it takes me to cook a full meal from scratch, he returns with the spare and charges me $ 60 for that one singular service and the time/​gas it took to drive there (to be fair, he does live a whopping 3.5 miles away). I thought it was kind of high considering I probably could’ve gotten a maintenance person to do it for free, but didn’t want to impose. He asked me to call around and ask for prices from others and to call him back with the results. So I did and he screamed at me, said very unprofessional things, and hung up on me without letting me get a full sentence in. When I called him back hoping he had calmed down, it was much much worse with the same end result. I seriously think he may be mentally unstable. Additionally, his business card says that he accepts credit cards but he actually doesn’t because he «just got out of the hospital,» whatever that connection might be. I think the whole morning could’ve been forgiven if he hadn’t yelled at me, called me names, etc. when I later did exactly what he told me to do.
So to sum up, I wanted to give this guy my business, was extremely sorry I did, won’t in the future, and discourage others from doing so as well.

Jodie has helped me out of a couple of jams and he is always straightforward and polite. Even when he was unable to help me he had a great recommendation on how to fix my situation. On top of that Road Runner is one of Austin’s locally owned businesses that I am proud to support.

What a life saver. I was able to diagnose the offending car part but couldn’t remove it from the car. Searching the interwebs was offering suggestions like «solder it off» and «nut smasher» and, um, yeah…
I called Jody around 8:30, he answered his phone on the first ring. Professional and polite on the phone. Was able to schedule me the next day in the afternoon. Then called me in the morning to see if it was okay if he came by a couple hours earlier. Um, yes, yes it is okay if you fix my car early.
Would absolutely recommend Jody to anyone, he’s forgotten more about cars than most of us will ever know.

I really lucked out with Jody. He was able to come and see me within three hours of me calling him (it wasn’t an emergency) and helped me replace my radiator.
I didn’t have any problems with him like other people have. I rather enjoyed him as a mechanic. He was very nice, knowledgeable and a lot better than last mobile mechanic that I called. I will use him again.

I hate to do this but my last encounter with Jody was not what I experienced when I wrote my first review. I was having problems with my car losing power and stalling for just a split second. I originally met Jody through my uncle who had used him to do some brake work. I’m not sure if his rates were different because a MAN worked out my prior deal or what. I called him and explained the problem and he said, «Well it could be a lot of things.» Since my engine light wasn’t on it would be harder to diagnose. Ok, I get that. I thought I trusted him so I took his word for it and made an appointment. He wanted $ 70 just to come LOOK at my car.
So he gets to my house and starts looking at the engine. Then he asks me to get on my laptop and look up any parts recalled for my make and model of vehicle. I did that and it led us to the problem; the ignition switch. Thus far, he hadn’t really done anything to the car. He was making phone calls and smoking and just looking around, nothing taxing or helpful really. He says he’s going to take apart the plastic part around the ignition to figure out exactly what part we needed.
Meanwhile, just to double check, I called my dad. My dad then informs me that if I call a Honda dealership they might to do the work for free (including labor and part, the part was $ 200 itself.) I call the dealership and indeed, they will do it for free. Surely a MECHANIC knew this. He thought because I was a WOMAN that I was a dumbass and could rip me off. I go out and told him that I was taking it to the dealership because they would do it for free. He sort of sulked and tried to make me feel guilty about it. DUDE. You almost ripped me off for hundreds of dollars. YOU should feel guilty. Then he has the nerve to say, «Well because I took the part off around the ignition can you give me 20 more dollars??»
Wow. He had only even been there for about 45 minutes and did almost nothing. Even if he was doing work, I wouldn’t have paid him $ 70/​hr. Needless to say I don’t trust him anymore and won’t be calling for his services again. If I had let him do the job it would have cost at least $ 400 on top of the $ 70. BEWARE.

He’s a good man with good service. My car was stuck in a hospital parking lot after the battery died from me leaving the lights on (a friend had just been rushed there by ambulance, I was understandably distracted) and when I called him a few days later he worked me into his schedule right away. Within 2 hours I met him there and he was quick, friendly, and cheap — only $ 40 for a basic jump start. He stayed while the car ran and then had me turn it off & back on again to make sure I was good to go.
The picture needs to be updated, now he has a Suburban, not a van.

Jody is the best. He has come to my rescue many times. My car was broken down on the side of the highway I gave him a call and he was there within 20 minutes. That’s the first time i met him. The next time he worked on my car right in my drive way plus he gave me a ride to work. He kept in touch with me letting me know what was wrong with the vehicle and how much it would cost each step of the way. He fixed my car and it ran perfectly I would not trust any other mechanic. Call him first!

Talk about a comedy of errors.
The first time I called him, it was for something simple (can’t remember what) stranded on the side of the road. He did that with no problems.
The second time was a different story. Water pump on my 2005 Sprinter. He got it on (with a lot of cussin & frustration because he had a hard time getting a couple of the bolts for the fanclutch started). I drove off, the next day looked behind me to see a big puddle & trail of water. Luckily, I was able to whip right into a mechanic I was passin & they got me fixed up. Turns out he had forgotten the clamp on the lower hose. The hose just popped out. I called him, he said «sorry, I owe ya one».
The time after that, again a simple one, front brakes on the Sprinter. He said, since he screwed up the last one, he would ONLY charge me $ 50 to do a basic «pad slap» (just replace the pads).
Again, this time the alternator. Seemed to get it off ok, had trouble getting it back on properly & the van was makin a weird «jet airplane» sound. He couldn’t figure it out so I ended up having to go to Dodge to find out I was missing a bracket that came off with the alternator, he’d failed to reinstall… left it in his van. So in addition to the cost of replacing the Alternator (which I paid him), I ended up with a $ 300 bill to take the alternator back off, wait for my part (had to get him to bring it to me), and install it. Again, I got «I owe ya one, I’ll take it off the next job».
That brings us to yesterday. Fuel pump nightmare. Had, in the past, had an aftermarket pump installed, bypassing the original pump. Said the job would normally be $ 340, but would ONLY charge me $ 200. That leaves him owing me $ 160 if my math’s right. He pulled the dead pump off, said «that’s dead» (wires where they go into the housing were melted). & said he’d reattach the original pump. Got it reattached, could hear it running, but no fuel coming out. He sent me to Dodge for a brand new pump $ 400. Got back, installed it, same thing. I asked him «should we test it before we put the tank back up on the vehicle?» he said «no, it’ll work». Of course, it didn’t. So now he’s gotta go sign some paperwork across town & leaves me sweatin in the 100f heat while he goes to do something at the dentists office. He comes back, I say «did you perhaps reverse the hoses (supply & return) or the wiring (hot & ground)?» He drops the tank AGAIN… we look. The hoses look fine, although there’s a big loop of hose that seems to go nowhere. He says «the wires are the only thing left». cuts the wires & reverses em. Says «Turn the key»…and fuel shoots 5 feet across the parking lot (since the hoses aren’t hooked up, we’re just seeing if we get flow). He «finishes» reassembling the tank/​pump/​etc & I give him the $ 200. I can see him grumbling, but I’ve just spent the entire day in 100f heat & I’m not very happy myself.
Go to gas up today and… you guessed it, he forgot something. Apparently he failed to clamp down where the fill-​neck attaches to the body of the vehicle, so it makes getting the gas-​cap on&off difficult. I call him today about it, his response was «I worked all day on your vehicle for $ 200 yesterday, I don’t want to see you again» before I could even begin to tell him he’d left something unconnected. When I got that far, he said «I don’t see how I could have forgotten that, still not going to fix it» and hung up.
UPDATE: Tested the original factory pump, the one we could hear running but got no flow. Put it in a bucket with 6″ of fuel, attached power. As he originally had it, got noise but no flow. Flipped the leads the other way (the way that finally worked on the new pump) and fuel shot across my yard. The pump works perfectly. So… all told, in addition to the money I’ve paid him, this guy has cost me at least $ 700 in unnecessary repair cost.

Jody has worked on my 91 Toyota twice now. The first time for a battery, and the second for the distributor. He is a private owner/​operator, and cares a great deal about customer service. Road Runner Mobile Mechanic is exactly what the name says. He does the work at your home, at work, or on the road. If your in a bind, like I’ve been a couple times now, give him a call. He is very dependable, and guarantees his work.