C & M Automotive

I am not one to write reviews, however, I do often read them before visiting a new place. Let me preface this by saying when Daddy passed in 2019, I returned to help my elderly Mom in Killeen. I had to start asking around if anyone could recommend a good and “ honest” mechanic. Longer story short, I had met a mechanic I trusted, then he left his former employer and went to work here and spoke highly of them. I decided to take in my 2012 Nissan Murano (can’t remember now the reason), but they did a great job. In 2021, I took Mom’s 2005 Toyota Camry in — AC quit working. The repair job done and very competitive pricing. Last week (March 2023)  I met the owner Richard. I went in with a power steering issue on a 2007 Ford 150 and once again, it’s fixed!! The turn around time I’m sure depends on the particular issue, but our turn around time has been approximately 2 days for our vehicles. I have had many experiences with mechanics and some have had very poor work ethics and customer service interpersonal skills. 
So as along as Richard, the newest owner of 
C & M, and his fellow mechanics, take pride in a gift God has blessed them with by having a skill as important as theirs, then I plan to continue going there and referring others to them.

The only good thing I can say is that the ladies at the front desk were very nice and tried to do what they could.  They were the only ones I ever spoke to.  My husband may have actually spoke to a mechanic when he called, but no one ever took the initiative to call us, except when they claimed the car was fixed.

I live in Fayetteville, Arkansas and my son lives in Killeen.  My car broke down in route to Killeen.  We knew we needed the engine replaced.  My husband and I opted to have the car fixed in Killeen, rather than rent a truck and trailer to haul the car back home.  Hindsight is most definitely 20/20.  

When my husband told me that it would be 5 weeks before the car was done, I thought that was a great deal of time, but I’m pretty naïve about these things, since I rarely have car trouble.  I’ve since been told by my mechanic brother that 3 weeks would have been pushing it.  The car was “done” after 7 weeks and 5 days.  By the time I got to Killeen, it was 8 weeks that I’d gone without my car.

This story is long and there are so many things to mention, that I will number my grievances, so that it’s easier to find where I mentioned something later.  I thought about contacting the Better Business Bureau – I’m serious, if they can’t do customers better than this, they really don’t need to be in business – but decided not to solely on the premise that it would be a legal case and it’s just not worth it.  I don’t want to deal with the back and forth communication to try to get “the problem resolved.”  The only problem that needs resolving is better customer service.  When a customer comes to get their car after spending over $5,700 and waiting 8 weeks, they should be able to drive the thing normally and not have to do further repairs.  I’ve been wondering if I was taken advantage of because of not living there in town.  I would have come and got the car and took it elsewhere, had I lived there.  I didn’t want to trouble my son with it.  We decided to just wait it out.

Anyway, here’s the story in chronological order:

1.	In the beginning, my husband was told that replacing the engine wouldn’t cost more than $5,000.  Then, after agreeing to it and having left the car there, we were told $5,700.  According to Kelley Blue book, that’s a little more than the car is worth, though dealerships are selling cars like mine for $6,000-$7,000.  We figured it’s still worth it if we had the quirks fixed (mentioned in #3) and the fact that I just really love that car – plus the distance from Fayetteville to Killeen.  

2.	My husband was also told that it would take 5 weeks for the car to be repaired, which is really too long.  It is a big job, but my husband’s transmission went out a few weeks back and it was fixed and ready to be picked up on the Friday of the same week.  Looking back, I can’t believe we went with this option instead of renting a truck and trailer and just transporting my car home.  We know people here and we could have been done quicker and it probably would have cost much less.  I just hated the thought of pulling a trailer for 10 hours to get it home.  

3.	I e-mailed C&M about 5 little quirks on my car that I’d wanted fixed, if it cost no more than an additional $100.   I wish I’d been more clear that I’d wanted to get whatever I could fixed for $100.  I never got a response.  More about this listed below in other numbers.

4.	If I wanted to find out anything, I had to call them.  Customers should be given status reports and requests (like my e-mail) should be responded to without the customer having to call about it – especially when the customer is without their car for weeks.  When a customer is told that the mechanic will call back, the mechanic should call back – or at least somebody.  That really made me mad.  However, I didn’t want to gripe at the ladies at the front desk.  I bet they hear from a lot of angry customers and it’s not even their fault, or at least I hope they did give the message to the mechanic??

5.	I didn’t even call at all until 4 weeks into it.  I knew it would be 5 weeks before the car was done.  When I called, I was told that they were short-handed and it will be a little longer than 5 weeks.  It was at this time that I asked about the e-mail I sent.  They lady said she’d try to find it.

6.	After not hearing anything for nearly another week, I re-sent the original e-mail and then called to make sure the e-mail went through.  The lady I spoke with was writing down the things from the e-mail and was going to give it to a mechanic.  

7.	When I called the next day (week 5 now) for a status of my car, one of the ladies at the front desk said that the mechanic said that replacing the motor for the window (one of the quirks) would cost more than $100 and that the quirks required power to be checked, so the other things couldn’t be looked into until the new engine was in and they had power.  The back hatch and the sticking child door lock problems were two quirks that didn’t require power to be looked into.  I felt that they just didn’t want to mess with it, after all of our waiting and expense.  Terrible customer service!  If they simply would have at least reached out to me and explained it all, instead of me having to get it out of them, it would have softened the blow.  But, I had to always call and ask.  After my husband called, the mechanic supposedly talked to him and said they didn’t have anyone to weld the hatch part back on.  This is understandable.  You don’t want someone who is not certified welding anything.  The child lock issue wasn’t even looked at.

8.	When I called to check on the car for week 5, the lady I spoke with didn’t know when the car would be ready.  The mechanic was out delivering a car and she told me that she’d have him call when he returned.  I never got a call.  That really bothered me.  I really despise being told something and it not happening and this seemed to be a common occurrence dealing with C & M Automotive.  I called the next day and told them to just not worry about the quirks – I just wanted my car back.

9.	For week 6’s call for a status I was told by the front desk that it shouldn’t be long until my car was done, because the old engine was out and putting the new one in doesn’t take as long.  It was still well over another week before my husband was texted saying the car had passed it’s test drive and was ready to be picked up.

Let me just say right here that all would have been forgiven and I would not be typing up this extra long review if it wasn’t for numbers 10 & 11:

10.	I called the next day to pay the remaining balance over the phone, so that my son would be able to come get the car and take it for a test drive.  The lady I spoke to said that her husband – one of the mechanics – told her to tell me that the car needs an alignment really bad and suggested a place down the street.  She said they didn’t have the proper equipment to align the car at C&M and these people would take care of me.  I didn’t think much of it.  I figured the car was driveable, since it passed the test drive.  I did feel like C&M should take care of it (not to mention that we should have been notified in the text that my husband received), because it’s just part of fixing the car, but… I.just.wanted.my.car.back.  When my son, who’s a mechanic himself (fixes Army trucks), saw the car, he was amazed that at 30 feet he could see that the tires were facing away from each other.  When he drove it home, he had to go really slow – it was that bad.  He aligned the vehicle himself.  I may go ahead and get it done by a shop with the proper equipment, but the car doesn’t even veer to the left or right when I let go of the steering wheel.  I’m flabbergasted that C&M didn’t even have enough customer service to present my car driveable – at least enough to drive it to the place down the street without the tires fighting each other.  That could cause a wreck.  If I’d been the one picking up my car, I’d have been in tears!  My recommendation for C&M is to just include that cost in the estimate and get the thing aligned before giving it back to the customer.

11.	Another thing my son discovered was a leak in the exhaust.  Amazing!  C&M Automotive answers their phone with “A1 Mufflerz”  and their e-mail is a1mufflerz@gmail.com.  They are supposedly experts in muffler care and didn’t hear the little hiss?  I’m absolutely dumbfounded.  There was nothing wrong with my exhaust before leaving the car with them and they couldn’t even fix their own mess-up?  They expect their customers to fix these things and pay for it themselves (I’m not taking the car back, I’m going home to Arkansas)!  Wow!  This car passed their test drive, y’all!  I hope we don’t discover more hiccups.

I can at least say one other positive thing.  The motor they put in seems to be a good motor.  I drove it all the way home (8 ½ hours – fastest I’d ever gotten home from Killeen) with the only problem being that the plastic flap thing in front of the front passenger tire apparently had not been fastened back in place and it gave me a good scare around Eufaula, Oklahoma when my car suddenly sounded like it was falling apart.  I simply moved the thing in place and it rode the remaining 2 ½ hours home without fail.  I was so relieved to get my car home.

When I’m unhappy with a business, I usually just keep my thoughts to myself.  I simply don’t patronize them again and I might say to friends in person not to go there, but not publicly. This is the worst review I’ve ever given and the only time I’ve ever had the nerve to publicly say this – if you need car repair don’t take your car to C&M Automotive or A1 Mufflerz or whatever other name they may go by.  If all customers are done the way I was, this business needs to shut down.  I really feel people should know about this.  I can’t believe they’ve been in business for years!  The only explanation I can think of is that Killeen is a military town, so they get new clientele often.  How else could they stay in business?