Hill Country Tire & Automotive

Hill Country Automotive has gone down hill. They have some terrible people working there now. I seriously wouldn’t trust them to VACUUM my car, much less do anything internal. The owner does not value customers and apparently they have more business than they can handle.
The mechanics did not know how to do the promised repair, admitted this over the phone, then denied it later. Then in the process of figuring out how to do the repair, they broke something else and told me it would cost at LEAST another hour of labor to figure out and repair the thing THEY broke! When I brought this up to the owner, I was told it was a coincidence. I was also told not to come back. This makes me think there are MORE things that they broke on my car, and he wants me out of there before they become apparent.
Any question I asked was met with a condescending non-​answer, and they seemed annoyed that I would even ask anything.
And just like Dave G. below, Hill Country Automotive charged me a very high price for a part that I could find brand new for less money elsewhere.

I moved here from Austin last year where the same mechanic worked on my cars for 20 years. Finding a good local shop for my vehicles in Wimberley is very important to me. I’ve had my VW and Tahoe serviced several times now by HCT. I have always found the experience to be honest, prompt and friendly. David, who runs the shop, is friendly, helpful and experienced. I’d recommend this shop as a great resource in Wimberley for automotive services.

After Wimberley Body and Frame took a look at my Damaged car and discovered that there was only a bent lower control arm wrong with it, they towed it to Hill Country Tire for Repair.
First — It took them three days plus a weekend to even look at the car and confirm what they had already been told, it needed a new lower control arm. Then David (apparently the Owner or manager) calls me and tells me that the part will cost over $ 600 plus tax from a dealer — and «that’s just to start» (his words). I asked if he could instead order a part through a salvage network or other source, and he told me that they never do that. They only use dealer parts, and it would be three days before he could get the part in and start working on the car.
Being an automotive journalist and tech writer since 1996, my BS detector started screaming.
It took me a whopping 30 seconds online to find the identical brand new part, PLUS a new ball joint AND free three day shipping for $ 168 (partsgeek dot com). When I called and told David at Hill Country Tire this he expressed disbelief, saying that it was less than «his cost from Subaru» (apparently though, marking up parts 3X is std practice there). When I told him I COULD get it at that price and told him where he could to and ask him if he would…
He just told me to come and pick up my car (which will of course have to be towed away at my expense).
I will end up fixing this myself now that I know it’s only the control arm and NOT subframe damage — saving me probably over a grand ($ 1000.00) in unnecessary overcharges from David and Hill Country Tire & Automotive.
I am sure, that for folks who are not aware when they are being ripped off, and who might have unlimited amounts of money to spend — this shop might do decent work for the work that they do.
But, if you do know your stuff and can tell when somebody is bending you over and not using lube — this IS one of those shops.
RUN, don’t walk far, far away from this place unless you do have the money and time to burn and you just don’t care.

DO NOT TAKE YOUR AUTOMOBILE TO THIS PLACE! I have a truck that runs great but a few years ago it started draining the battery. I took it in to get the short fixed and when I got it back all they had done was charge the battery and CHARGE me $ 37.50 for doing nothing. Recently I brought it back it to get it fixed up for my sons birthday and this time they charged me $ 165 for a battery and to install it. I told them also that it still had the SHORT so I got a call a few weeks later telling me it was ready. When I asked what the problem was I was told my dome light switch was on but here’s the thing… I took the dome light out before I even brought it to them. The guy up front was the head scam artist and told me all they did was turn it off and put in a new battery. They charged me $ 75 for doing nothing and not fixing the problem. The guy told me that it was fine and treated me like an idiot. Well, you cant run a battery down on a light that was not installed. I would NEVER bring my car to this place. They ripped me off and they will rip you off too. Further more I was treated like I had no idea how a circuit works or like I had a brain. If you value your money, time and dignity do not take your cars to these crooks otherwise you may be paying $over a hundred dollars for them to turn your dome light off and not fix the problem. They lack integrity… which is doing what you say you are going to do. I will be contacting the BBB next so that hopefully some of you reading this will make a better choice about mechanics than I did. WORST SHOP EVER!

Good people. Excellent service. David runs this shop and he is conscientious. He keeps his inventory up and the people know their job. They are quick and reasonably priced. This is a good business.