Luke Wester Automotive

My best friend took her car here to get it worked on and not only did they over charge her, but they messed it up even more — they also damaged the dashboard and didn’t even tell her! They are blaming these new problems that she is experiencing on her high mileage…110K miles on a ’09 is not the problem. Not once did she ever speak to any mechanic and all communication had to go through the receptionist who was about as helpful as a as a grave robber in a crematorium — DO NOT GO HERE!!!

Been doing business here for 5 years and I have spent a lot of money. Recently, I had the worst customer service I have ever had at a mechanic shop. The new store manager there is the most incompetent manager I’ve seen. Don’t do any business here unless you want a head ache and I pain in the ass

I was in my first car crash at the beginning of fall semester and had no idea what to do. I had my car towed to Luke’s and talked to them on the phone for about a week as they kept me updated on prices and work that needed to be done. It’s family owned and I personally felt like they genuinely cared about my situation and where I was coming from. When I came to pick it up, Luke himself went with me to tell me all my repairs. He’s great. I’m definitely coming to him for everything.

I’ve been a fan of Luke Wester Automotive for a number of years now. Just 3 – 4 months ago, I was at a local quick lube getting an oil change, and gave a girl their card I happened to have in my wallet. If a local asked me for an auto repair recommendation, LWA was always the first out of my mouth… until Friday.
I brought my Jeep Wrangler in first thing in the morning because I had the notorious «death wobble». Ordinarily, a simple balance and rotation of the tires would fix it, but for only 6 or so months until it came back. I was researching a more permanent fix online and came across multiple, as in– well over 15 – 20, Jeep forums online that stated a manufacturers error of putting bolts in the trackbar that were slightly too small for the fittings, and to simply replace them with a slightly larger bolt. Seemed simple enough and shouldn’t take a bunch of time/​money. So I figured, lets start there. I also read a lot of recommendations for a steering stabilizer, which I had spoken with Luke about on my last visit and agreed to, I just hadn’t gotten back into the shop yet. All that being said, I requested the shop to give me 2 very specific quotes: the bolt change and the stabilizer. Because I had dropped my Jeep off before they opened, I had a young woman call me around 9am. I informed her of what I wanted done and told her I was teaching and I would not be able to answer a phone call until after 3pm. She asked if I could reply to texting and I said yes. Around 1:30, I received a text from her with an estimate detailing many line items that I had not requested, of which exceeded a little over $ 1400. Things detailing an oil leak (which I’ve known about for some time but putting high mileage oil in mostly remedies), and complete ball joint replacement (which they decided to self diagnose my wobble issue themselves and recommended, that alone would cost about $ 800), all the way down to a $ 45 air filter. I texted her back in shock, and told her I wasn’t in the position to pay that kind of money at this point and asked her to send me back a quote with what I had requested. She then sent me back another quote of the ball joints, the stabilizer, and the bolts. I was getting pretty irritated. Finally, I texted her back and requested them to just do a simple balance and rotate of my tires, because that has ALWAYS fixed my problem (and for the record, it did). She texted me back they could do that and it would cost me $ 48+ tax… it’s $ 40 at Discount tire, btw. I agreed to the price and told her to call me when they were done. She called me around 4pm to tell me they were just finishing and putting the tires back on and I could get my Jeep. I asked her if Robert was working. Robert was always the person I had spoken to before, and was always the first smiling face you saw when you entered the shop. I was surprised when this girl had called me first thing in the morning because it was always Robert that I had spoken with in the past. He had a wonderful demeanor and was a joy to talk to, as well as informative about mechanical stuff. She informed me that Robert was no longer with the company. I went to go pick the Jeep up around 5pm and it seemed they were closed but stayed until I got there, which I appreciated. I went in and a young girl named Alex was standing at the desk and Luke was at his desk. I was still a little furious about the back and forth correspondence from earlier in the day and I felt it was my place to say something. I let her know that I would have appreciated it had I received an estimate on the job I had requested and not a $ 1400 estimate on a laundry list of items. Instead of replying with something simple like, «I apologize for any confusion, but we added those on as future recommendations», she raised her voice at me and said, «well those things are whats wrong with your car!» Luke was almost defending her attitude, «if I want to fix the wobble, then I NEED to replace the ball joints.» I then informed them that I had requested two very specific things, and by adding a list of other things, the dollar amount not only scares the customer, but the list makes the shop look greedy and dishonest. From about the time I walked in and began to speak, Alex did nothing but roll her eyes at me. I then requested for my bill so I could leave because «I was over looking at her rolling her eyes at me.» In addition, when I got out to my car, the things that had been in the glove box, including my owners manual were sitting in the seat and not back in the glove box where they were found, and my gas light was on– it was on ¼ when I brought it in. Sloppy and unprofessional.
I’m sad to see a professional like Robert leave this company. I think his addition to their staff is necessary. They may have knowledgeable mechanics, but if they can’t effectively communicate, their mechanics won’t be doing much work.
In the meantime, I’ve found Robert’s new shop and I’ll be taking my Jeep there.

the light in my explorer is on for low tire pressure. I put air in the tires at a local gas station but the light is still on. I came to this business in hopes of having a professional take a look at my tires. Nope, the 3 guys at the counter told me I needed to drive around longer for the system to reset and then proceeded to help the guy who walked in behind me. I feel like the professional thing to do would’ve been to at least check the tire pressure on the vehicle of a potential paying customer!

The staff at Luke Wester automotive, and Luke himself, were very professional and personable during my repair. I was on vacation from Fort Worth when I has an alternator that needed replacing.
They helped recover my vacation time with a speedy repair, and a courtesy drop-​off to join the rest of my family.
They called me to let me know my repair was complete and that they would be ready for me when I came to pick it up.
This was a great experience. If I’m ever in need of a mechanic in San Marcos again, I’ll go back.

Luke Wester and his team do a great job. I’ve been taking my vehicles to Luke since I was in college in ’98. He is fair, honest, trustworthy, and dependable. They can do warranty work and other service work as well. I highly recommend trying them out. I’ve referred several family members and friends over the years. I haven’t had a bad experience and neither have those I’ve sent their direction.

Good alternative to getting your car fixed at a dealership. Very professional and courteous staff. Seem to always get the problems fixed right and on time. Of the four or five times I have used them for various cars only had a few minor problems (car not ready when they called and said it was) nothing major. One thing to keep in mind is that the prices are better than a dealer, but definitely not cheap. They are doing good work and charging reasonable prices.

My car was broke; they fixed it. But that is not why I liked the place so much.
It’s because of the customer service. They quoted me a price and that was the price I paid. They gave me a time frame, and it was accurate. They talked to me like I was a human being that had a fully functioning brain. I appreciate these from a mechanic.
I felt leery about giving 5 stars to a place I only went to once, but then I realized that I only went there once because, unlike other mechanics I went to, they actually fixed the problem.