WHITAKERS Auto Body & Paint

I had an appointment the other day with Whitakers and Mark came out and looked at the damage. Our white Mercedes SUV had been vandalized with red spray paint. Most of the rear of the vehicle was covered with paint spots, with a large concentration of heavy paint in the bottom right corner.
Mark looked at it closely and said he didn’t know if he would be able to get the paint off as it was pretty thick in the lower right corner. They went to work on it and 45 minutes later he came out and told me to take a look at it. I was shocked that he got it all off, but the big shocker came next. Instead of asking me to come in and pay the deductible, he looked at me with a smile and said «You are good to go.»
I said what about the payment? He said since they were able to take care of it without having to do a major paint job, he was not going to charge anything.
I was amazed. When it comes to body shops, we have multiple choices in the greater Austin area… and knowing that you can trust them to do good, honest work is important when making your choice of which business to go with.
As far as I am concerned Whitakers on Lamar is as honest as they come. They had an insurance claim in their lap… they could have recommended to get much more comprehensive with this job… which would have benefited them, but left my insurance company, and myself with a bill.
This isn’t my first experience with Whitakers. A few years back we brought our car to the Whitakers across town in Lakeway. They did a fabulous job, the car was finished on time and it was beautiful.
This time, as I stated above, we received the same professional service, but this service came with a nice surprise at the end… Damage fixed… but No Bill!!!
I recommend Whitakers as a first choice for paint or body work in the greater Austin area. You will get the best service and work, and they are honest as they come.

I have had 5 auto body repairs over the last 2 years on 3 different vehicles and Whitakers is the only body shop I would trust in Austin. This is a local family owned company that provides exceptional service and a lifetime guarantee on the work. The front office staff is always friendly and responsive. Kyle is professional, knowledgeable and is very attentive at giving me status updates. In addition, after each repair was complete Mr. Whitaker personally called me to follow up and ensure I was satisfied with the service and body work. Don’t bother going anywhere else people… Whitakers is top notch!

Great job by a great local business. Whitaker did two jobs for me in a span of a month, both with super craftsmanship and reasonable rates, and on time! Highly recommended.

Found and went to Whitakers based on reviews and it is coincentally down the street from where I lived. From the moment I went for estimate, they are honest, professional and friendly. I had some body work done and everything looked fine when I picked up my car. Not only did they call me with status update, the owner called me personally to follow up to ensure not only the work was to my satisfaction, but the employees were friendly! Great Service and the cherry on top…? Lifetime warrnaty is not bad! I also advised there were some minor scratches I wanted to bring in vehicle and called them to state I will bring in after holidays and they were fine with that. I recommend — 2 thumbs up!

Terrible service by the service department. The front desk people were terrific, too bad the repair shop doesn’t operate by their play book. Kyle took my car giving me an estimated time of 6 days for two repairs. I had scheduled the appointment after having the car looked at and estimates given. Had a rent car and was assured the repairs wouldn’t take longer than six days. After hearing nothing from them for five days and having my calls not returned, I dropped in on the shop to find out they hadn’t begun the work on the car and was told it would be ten days, not 6. I live out of town and couldn’t wait around for ten days so asked to get my car which they gave me later in the day, and I took it to Caliber where I had no problem with service. The attitude at Whitakers was aggressive and unpleasant. Somehow they’d managed to knock the grommet off of the seat belt harness while it was in their care. When pointed out, they assured me they would look in to getting a replacement part for it. Of course I never hear from them and had the dealership put one on when I next had it serviced. Really sucky experience, was a total waste of time and a lot of attitude. A friend had a similar experience with them holding onto her truck and letting her drive a rental car around before getting around to fixing her truck. Also, limited communication with her.
Would not recommend this business especially when you can drive across the street and have a much better experience.

Damage appraisal was done by Kyle and he forwarded his review to my insurance company, stating he would provide me a copy by email as well. I didn’t receive a copy and left a message asking for it. Meanwhile, I called my insurance company and they had received the appraisal from Kyle and provided a copy. I saw where the huge crack in the windshield was not included, so I called Whitakers back and left a message for Kyle asking about it. I received no response, so I asked my insurance company. They responded that there was a small nick in the windshield at the crack location and Kyle therefore determined a «pre-​existing condition». I did find a very tiny pinhole that is so small I had not even noticed it before. I question how it is an appraiser determines from a photo that such a ding is pre-​existing to begin with.
My point is that the appraiser seemed to be more concerned about working with the insurance company than working with me, the vehicle owner. I came away with the impression this company is more concerned about repeat appraisal business from my insurance company. Because of this, I will be taking the vehicle elsewhere for repair. I do not bring work to a company that seems to work entirely with the insurance company and ignores any further contact with the vehicle owner. Besides, other Unilocal reviews show me that it takes a very long time for Whitakers to repair a vehicle.

Very helpful and trustworthy. I arrived without an appointment, which I hadn’t realized is required for an estimate, and the owner himself made time for me with very little wait. I had a small scrape on my car and he managed to fix the damage in a matter of minutes and with no cost at all. I would recommend Whitakers to everyone.

Expensive by double! Got better estimates from a lot of other places around. Kyle did not even get my vehicle model right even though I filled out 2 papers stating the exact model and showed him the vehicle. Save your money, the labor costs are way too high

I had a great experience at Whitakers. Everyone was very courteous and couldn’t be nicer to work with. Job was done in a timely manner and they did a beautiful job on my car. I’ll definitely use them in the future for any auto body/​paint services and will be sure to recommend them. Very happy customer!

I was referred to Whitaker’s by Jaguar/​Land Rover of Austin after I drove my car into the back of a Suburban. Whitaker’s was able to give me a competitive quote that was $ 500 cheaper than Berli’s quote.
Additionally, they ordered the parts and allowed me to pay a deposit so I could drive my car while they were waiting on the parts to come in; this saved me about $ 300 in rental car costs.
I picked up my car today and Mr. Whitaker himself met me to ensure that I was satisfied. My car was detailed and looking good as new when I arrived to pick it up, excellent job.
All in all, I had a great experience I would reccomend Whitaker’s to anyone who needs to get their car fixed. Only minor complaint is they are very busy and sometimes can take a little long call you back. Small price to pay given the high level of service they provide.
Thanks!

They’re normally closed on weekends, but my plane got in too late on Friday, yet they graciously (and I mean *graciously*) opened on Saturday morning to accommodate me. And besides that, they did a fantastic job and returned my car detailed and all. It doesn’t get better than that.

Good people. Honest. Not trying to screw you over. Impressive people and timely.

Personal service in a family-​owned business with quality as its’ goal.
Kyle was the pleasant, attentive young man who helped me today.
I arrived not only with an auto in need of damage repair, but with a load of other troubles that had me in quite an ill-​tempered mood.
He was so kind as well as knowledgeable about auto damage and repair.
The process was efficient and clear.
I will definitely be a loyal customer!
Once I trust a business, I need not shop around.
I trust this place!

Taking your car in to the shop is typically something I look forward to as much as having to go to the dentist, but Whitaker’s has changed my perspective. They did a phenomenal job on getting my bumper repaired, they were timely, and courteous. What impressed me the most is that the owner, Larry, called me personally and asked how everything went, if they could improve on anything, and if I would refer them business. Because of how thoughtful that was, my answer to him, was ABSOLUTELY!

These guys are the best. Affordable and great customer service.

Back in February, I decided to snap my right side mirror off on someone’s recycling bin on a small residential road. That was frustrating enough, and I knew that getting it fixed could be pretty troubling too (or overly expensive). With Whitakers, it was neither.
Staff was helpful, thorough, and professional. They even ordered me a used part to save some $$ on the repair.
Would recommend to anyone needing repairs or some extra work done on their vehicle.

Update…
I posted this review yesterday and I guess the stars aligned because I got a call a little while after from Kyle at the shop. He left me a voicemail that the part was in and to call him back to make arrangements to go in. I called him back and he had to double check that the part was in and I made an appointment for 2:30 p.m. I arrived early, handed over my keys and not 20 minutes later my vehicle was fixed. It looks great and I’m very happy with it.
This morning I got a voicemail from the owner Larry to follow up on my review. This is great customer service.

Insurance company has sent me here twice. Always quick and friendly.

A place with integrity!
This morning started out rough. While backing out of the driveway, I got a little too close to my sister’s car and when I tried to correct it by pulling forward, I ripped the plastic bumper away from the fasteners and screw holding it in place. I had a very busy day ahead of me and could not BELIEVE I’d just done that. I carefully drove the rest of the way to work, with my left back bumper catching wind causing it to flap in the breeze and tried to figure out where I was going to take it for repairs… I wondered if duct tape would be easier than finding an honest mechanic…
Sigh. I couldn’t deal with duct tape, so I went through a few reviews on Unilocal to find a place in Austin I could trust. I have a place in Houston that I would trust with my children (if I had any), but hadn’t found something here, yet.
My ideal relationship with an auto shop is a place that I could say has my best interests at heart and would be honest with me without trying to gouge me on prices. Is that too much to ask?
Apparently, it’s not too much to ask. Manny at Whitaker’s took my panicked call about my flappy bumper and told me to go ahead and bring it in so they could give me an estimate. I thought it might take a while to get things taken care of, so I packed up my work to do at the shop in case I was waiting long.
I got to the shop and went into the waiting room. One of the front desk ladies gave me a clip board to fill out for the estimate, but I’d barely written an «R» for my name when Kyle came out and said to wait on the paperwork… that he’d go ahead and take a quick look at it for me right then. So, I followed him out, hoping for the best, but trying to prepare for the worst.
He took a look at it and decided it looked like something he could fix right there in the parking lot. AWESOME! He went back in to grab a couple of tools and then had the bumper reattached in less than 10 minutes. (Note: I realize I got lucky here in it being an easy fix and that not all bumpers are so lucky, but what I appreciate is that he didn’t try to tell me it was more serious than it was just to make a buck.)
After making the repair, I still expected to pay a little something and asked if I should go in and pay for it then… But, Kyle shrugged it off and said it wasn’t a big deal and I didn’t need to pay anything.
If you’ve read my other reviews on auto shops in Houston, you probably realize that I take it a little seriously. As seriously as finding a regular doctor. Going to the repair shop is not something I’d want to do again anytime soon, BUT, it’s really nice to know that there’s a place with high integrity and skill that I can go to if I need it. I realize not everyone’s experience is going to be as great as mine, but what I learned from the bad reviews on here and what I respect is that these guys are honest. Even if they make a mistake as I saw in some of the reviews, they work hard to make it right.
Not many people have that level of integrity these days. This visit could not have gone better. And today, getting me back on the highway in about 15 minutes or less… Whitaker’s seriously was my hero.

Getting rear-​ended by an unlicensed, uninsured driver while stuck in Houston traffic was, as you might expect, not fun. So the last thing I wanted/​needed was a crappy auto body shop experience on top of that. And luckily, with Whitakers, everything went smoothly and my car looks like new again!
I felt very taken care of by Manny. Everything was done when they said it was going to be done, they called when they said they would call, my rental car pick up was there when they said it would be, and my repairs were done quickly and flawlessly. And I swear they washed and vacuumed my car before I picked it up.
I hope I never have to go back to a body shop, but if I do, I’m most definitely heading back to Whitakers.