Christian Brothers Automotive Arnold

"I can't imagine why anyone who likes their car would bring here. Envision monkeys with razor blades and wrenches having a go at your car. My water pump went out. My brother was visiting from Texas and said he would take it to Christian Brothers to get it fixed. My response was that I had heard only bad things about this place and I would rather have it towed to my trusted mechanic in High Ridge. I am picky about who works on my car because a bad mechanic can really mess up your car. My brother insisted that he and his wife take their cars to Christian Brothers in Texas and never had any problems. So sadly, I relented. They replaced the water pump, $625.00. My brother picked up the car up that afternoon when they called and said it was 'fixed'. He pulled in the driveway and I can hear a loud whining noise. I told him it needs to go back to the shop. I'm thinking, what mechanic cannot hear that noise? What good mechanic would hear the noise and say that it was repaired correctly? It went back the next day, $1250.00 this time. I'm shaking my head thinking I should have at least taken it to the dealership. But of course, Christian Brothers is ensuring me that I have a 36,000 mile warranty. Really? I've already had to bring it back the day after you 'fixed' it. A few months later I'm hearing a rattling noise under my car when turning left. The noise gets louder so I take it to the dealership. The dealership calls and asks if I had any work done recently. Long story short, they were able to remove my water pump by hand, no tools needed, along with the bolts to my timing belt. The rattling noise was from an exhaust pipe bracket that had been broken from the previous repairs. So now my car is at the dealership for repairs. I call Christian Brothers, who tells me to bring it back so they can fix it. Hahahahahahahahahahaha! Isn't that what you were supposed to do the first time? Instead, you left me with a hazardous situation where parts could have literally fell off my car. I had to have the timing belt replaced and the water pump again. Total repairs 3600.00 because the person who previously worked on it jacked up the timing belt. My car only had 55,000 miles on it when CB touched it and now has 60K. I called the headquarters in Texas. I explicitly asked the two men who called me back the following question, 'If a shop did repairs on your car and you later took it to the dealership for something you thought was unrelated to those repairs, and it turns out the noise you are hearing was caused by the people who did the repairs, and the parts they replaced could be removed by hand, regardless of a warranty, would you take it back to that shop?' Both men said 'No'. They called the owner of this franchise who said he offered to have it towed to his shop. Why? To finish off the car? Didn't you do enough damage? Your so called repairs ended up costing me 5800.00 total, for a WATERPUMP! Seriously? You should be ashamed of yourselves. Especially since they were able to remove the parts by hand. The mechanic from the dealership told me I was lucky I didn't lose the waterpump on the highway, and I was lucky my engine was still good. Sadly, these are the bad mechanics people warn you about. At least these 'Christian' brothers won't be getting any more money from me."

"I liked the following about my experience: the communications by text, the pictures of the issues that needed to be fixed with my vehicle and also what I could wait to repair and what to keep an eye on. The atmosphere was peaceful and the lavatory was immaculate. I appreciated the Honest and informative recommendations. Great job!!"

"I would give 0 stars but Google does not allow this. First of all I want to say that they did fix the car and fast. HOWEVER, I have a few issues with the cost of said repairs. My father's car broke while up in Arnold yesterday (we live over an hour south and making it home was not an option) and since this was literally the closest shop, we opted to stop here. My father was a mechanic himself, but it's unable to physically do the job any longer. That being said, he can still diagnose the issue, which in this case, was two broken wheel studs. He told the shop the problem when he dropped the car off. THEY STILL PROCEEDED TO CHARGE HIM A DIAGNOSTIC FEE OF $75. To take off a wheel and agree that the studs were in fact missing. Fine. That's normally something that shops charge to make sure that you actually get repairs done through their shop and you're not just looking for a "free estimate" to figure out what is wrong and then fix it cheaper yourself or elsewhere. Most shops assess this fee, but will drop it off if you use their shop for repairs. These guys do not. We agreed to have the repairs done as we really had no choice in the matter. Wheels won't stay on without studs to attach the lug nuts to. Common sense. They then proceeded to charge him $190 to put two new studs and lug nuts on his car. The parts for this job could not have cost more than $20. That means that for less than one hour of work, they charged him almost $270. For ONE HOUR OF WORK. This is highway robbery. There is no other way to put this. My parents are on a fixed income, and these guys were okay charging such a fee. BEWARE and probably go elsewhere if you have the option."

"Got my oil changed emissions filter. Made sure car was safe to go to Georgia. 12 hr trip. Would highly recommend. Good work. Don't overcharge. Going back for transmission flush and whatever they recommend. Trust these guys!!!! Pam Bogacki"

"Took the car there for emissions and safety. They came back with a quote for over $1000 on brakes. Inspected myself and the rotors are like new. Pads were at half-life. Fluid was like new and didn't need any bleeding. Buyer beware, get a second opinion if you don't know what you're doing. Better Business Bureau definitely should take a look at this scam."