Mercury Charlies Garage 9914 U.S. 290, Austin, TX 78736

"Mercury Charlie’s is one hell of a garage. Charlie is one of the countries custom hotrod legends. If you stop by to talk with him and see the shop you will understand why. All of the folks that work there are Extremely talented and skilled at what they do and continually do excellent work no matter how challenging the project is. They have worked on three of my cars extensively over the years and it is always such a great experience. It is a really cool place"

"On our way out of town we had tire trouble and pulled into the parking lot where Charlie’s shop is located. After seeing our situation Charlie helped us without hesitation and changed our RV tire. He also gave us loads of helpful information about our tires that will help us down the road and genuinely wanted to share his knowledge! I guarantee you’ll receive the same kindness, honesty and professionalism if you go to Charlie for custom work or restoration!"

"This was an excessively expensive 3-month long disappointment. I am leaving this review to help classic car owners avoid this place as an option based on the following factors: Specifically, the invoices are convoluted and nearly impossible to interpret, so I didn't really know what I was paying for because I couldn't make sense of them. As far as I can tell, they repetitively charged me for the same hours for the same line items on several occasions. The labor hours accrued were excessive. This is due to one of two factors; they are either lacking the skills to be reasonably proficient or they are price gauging by falsely inflating labor hours. For example, they installed a hydroboost system in my '60 Thunderbird, which seems to work ok so far, but for an installation (when performed by "professionals")that averages 4-6 hours, I was charged $3200 @ $110/hr standard shop rate. They charged the ac (does not blow cold), bled the brakes, tightened up some oil pan hardware, installed some new brake lines, and "fixed" a rear quarter window. Parts were roughly 1K. The total bill was $8500. After 3 months in their shop they broke my driver's door window glass and an aftermarket radio that I paid about $700 for. They, didn't bother to tell me that they damaged my car and simply delivered it back to me that way. I find that sort of business ethic to be incredibly indecent. They also ran the battery down and didn't bother to charge it. After spending $100's in "diagnostics" I checked the rear quarter window that they had allegedly repaired, and it immediately jumped off the track when I triggered the button. They did a good job of re-repairing it, but they would have delivered it to me that way if I hadn't caught it and asked them to correct it. They were actually planning on charging me extra for fixing it again but must have experienced a moment of clarity and decided not to. After 3 months, a relatively short punch list, and dropping $8500, I expected a lot better, and frankly much more, for my patronage and I certainly didn't expect my car to have sustained any damage in the process, or be regarded as an afterthought. I have no problem paying premium prices for good work when labor is assessed fairly. When you drop your car off at a place like this it becomes a hostage and you either pay the unreasonable ransom to get it back or you never see it again. Unfortunately, this ordeal was ridiculous and I am simply thankful that my car is finally out of there...never to return."

"The acceptable final results of the engine transplant project performed by the Mercury Charlie's crew was marred by their consistent inability to return phone calls or communicate during the process. Most recently I had a time-critical question for Chris regarding his choice of some engine components. I called early in the week and spoke with owner's daughter Roxie, who assured me Chris would call just as soon as he finished a phone call he was on. 4 days and one additional phone message followup later, I finally got a call at end of day on Friday. By then I had long since given up and just had to make my own decisions without input from Chris. Looking back during the estimated "two week" project which stretched into over 2 months (and final cost some 60% greater than the initially discussed high range), I was reminded that on numerous incidents I NEVER received a return call for messages left either on voice mail or with the receptionist. On the other hand, the finished project was generally completed in a professional and knowledgeable manner. There aren't many shops left that do this kind of work, and I recognize and appreciate that. On the positive side, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Chris made a personal end-of-day trip to my house with some replacement ignition parts, several weeks after I took possession of the completed project and he even offered to re-install my spark plugs (I declined.. I'm not yet completely helpless). They are clearly trying hard. I'm confident that remaining issues will soon be resolved. Phil A. Dripping Springs"

"Moved from California to Texas recently, brought my '70 cobra jet Mustang which was approximately 60% completed. Talked to several shops in the area and was most impressed with Charlie and Will, and decided to go with them to finish my car. Good rates! Extremely friendly and knowledgeable and even allowed me to watch and participate in the process. Their level of communication and responding to any inquiry I had was beyond my level of satisfaction. Very Very pleased with the outcome. I would absolutely recommend them to anyone who is searching for a shop to help complete their project. -Mark Weeden and Benjamin Jones"