Key Auto Werks

KEY AUTO WERKS is an amazing gem in a city that supports 4 Mercedes Dealerships where most cities support only one. The competition is stiff for repairs but their service is head and shoulders above the rest. I always take my Mercedes to the dealership for service and repairs because I want it done by the best. Right now I’m in Houston receiving cancer treatment at MD Anderson. My ML350 died in front of my hotel which is connected to MD Anderson’s Main Building. I didn’t want to go far for repairs so AAA took me to Key Auto Werks on Holcombe Blvd. It took George, Owner, the end of the day to notify me that my engine was broken. I thought he was slow to diagnose the problem because I’m use to a dealership taking a few hours. I paid Key Auto Werks their fee of $ 185 and took my ML to the Mercedes Dealership for a second opinion. They took 2 days and fixed a fuel pump that wasn’t broken. They wanted over $ 2,000 to take the engine apart to find the problem. I told them to forget taking the engine apart because I already know what’s wrong. They were incensed that I didn’t tell them I took it to Key Auto Werks when I brought it in. I paid for the diagnostic service at Key Auto Werks and I also agreed to pay Mercedes’ fee for their diagnostic service when I brought my ML to them. I don’t expect to help them do their job and that’s why I pay a premium to have a dealership work on my vehicles. I’ve had my vehicles serviced in Colorado, Florida, Ohio and other places and HOUSTON YOU HAVE GEM IN KEY AUTO WERKS AND I WOULDN’T CONSIDER DOING BUSSINESS WITH ANYONE ELSE.
Mary

Once again, dropped off my vehicle because it was dripping some oil (turned out to be the seal for the rear axle) and it was diagnosed and fixed in 2 days ready to go. Very prompt service, constant status updates, very friendly knowledgeable staff, clean facility. Again and again, I highly recommend them!

I can’t recommend Key Auto Werks.
My engine died during an enormous rainstorm in Houston and I really needed a good shop. I took my car here due to the positive Unilocal reviews and the excellent phone consultation that Scott gave me when I told him about the issue. He explained everything to me clearly and thoroughly and agreed to work with me and the insurance company. They explained clearly that the damage was caused by water getting into the engine, and worked out an estimate that seemed reasonable for a used replacement engine.
Trouble started when they recommended that I also get body work done on the car; apparently in an unrelated incident the bumper had gotten pushed back so that the engine fan might not work properly, possibly causing a future engine failure. Scott said he had a great body shop in mind, but got a bit pushy when I told him that I was going to take it to a different one.
Over the course of the repairs, communication with Scott got more and more terse and unpleasant (I should add that this shop is extremely busy). I eventually got my car back and took it to the body shop, and not 30 minutes after I had that work done, the «check engine» light came on. Figuring it wasn’t a coincidence, I called Key Auto Werks to ask if they’d take a look at it. They said they’d be happy to take a look at it, but if the cause turned out to not be due to the repairs, they told me they’d charge a $ 120 «engine diagnostic» fee. I was afraid they’d try to blame the body shop for whatever it was, since they had worked on the bumper, and I asked them to look at it instead. They did it for free, and it amounted to basically reading a code that my car’s computer spit out. I could have paid $ 120 for them to read a code!
It turns out that the code indicated a failure with one of the oxygen sensors in the engine. I again called Key, and Scott estimated it was «about a 10% chance» that the failure was related to the repairs and that the insurance company would probably not reimburse me. I had the body shop take a look, and sure enough the sensor was water damaged. It turns out that while Key had replaced the engine block, they had simply transferred the electrical components from the old engine to the new. I have since found out that this is not an unreasonable repair, but I was not informed of this and at that point had become frustrated with dealing with Key. I had the body shop replace the sensor instead.
I should emphasize that I don’t think the shop is run by crooks or anything, just that I didn’t have a pleasant experience dealing with a very stressful situation (I ended up being without use of my car for an entire month). I don’t know if it was because my car was a Honda Fit (being in West U, they are probably more accustomed to handling BMWs and Audis) or if I caught them on a bad month, but for what I had to pay and for what I was dealing with, I think another shop could have done a better job.

I drove in because my oil light had come on (two weeks after I had an oil change). Instead of doing a diagnostic and charging a bazillion dollars, they filled up my oil (which had all leaked out) and suggested I go back to the place where I got the oil changed in the first place. Well, It ended up being a busted oil sensor, and I paid about $ 90 in all ($ 20 to Key, $ 70 to the oil change place to replace the sensor) instead of the $ 120 diagnostic +++ at Key. I can’t really say that much more about the place but I do appreciate your honesty.

Like the guy before me: I’m surprised that more people haven’t reviewed how excellent Key Auto Werks (KAW) really is. We lived in Houston from 2003 to 2011, and b/​c KAW was right around the corner from where we first lived, we had both Toyotas serviced there. When we moved further away, we resisted the temptation to go elsewhere: and the one time we did not go to KAW, we ended up having to return to KAW to get…(wait for it). the work repaired that was performed by a local Toyota dealer.
I usually heard in great detail from Scot what the diagnosis was for any repair, and the range of possibilities for repairs. He’s very sympathetic to my approach: drive a Toyota for at least 200k, and try for 300k. To accomplish that, you take care of the car. B/​c they share my commitment, they are also aware that I’m not out to treat my RAV4 like it’s one of the Beemer’s in the next repair bay, either.
So, besides lots of German makes getting repaired, KAW does excellent work on Japanese models of all kinds. They know their stuff, and the certificates on the walls are not because they want to impress you with their classroom learning: it’s b/​c they can do the work on your car. Two last things in this regard.
If they don’t do the work, or they think you can get it done cheaper else where, much to my ongoing surprise: Scott and George will tell you so. Off the top of my head, I can’t recall the few times what the repairs were that we were offered the possibility of going elsewhere, but no way was I going to let someone else touch the cars: especially after receiving «factory-​trained technicians» of Toyota work on my car…
Ordinarily, I do my own work, or at least as much as I can: if it involves a wrench and doesn’t require a lift or a similar concern about gravity, I will try it. Now, there are some things, having read my manuals and asked around about, that I will have KAW do the work on my Toyotas. Timing belts. Clutch adjustments. Transmission inspections. Some of this kind of work, you benefit from an experienced hand. That’s KAW.
So, having them work on your car is money well-​spent. This is also one of the rare repair shops in which there are no dumb questions. I like ‘em, and you won’t regret having them service your car. Too bad they don’t have a satellite operation in Calif: it’d be worth the drive.

Wow, I’m so shocked to be the first one to review Key Auto Werks! OK, I have not lived in Houston since 2006, but I must let Unilocalers know about this place.
I’ve had BMWs for a long time and it’s always a challenge to find the best, most trustworthy, independent specialist in a new city. After trying another BMW place (which turned out to be geared more toward blank check-​writing, hands-​off, affluent Beemer owners who want their car fixed at ANY price), we thankfully discovered Key Auto through the reviews on NPR’s Car Talk website.
My husband and I took our cars to Key Auto from about 2001 – 2006 (when we moved out of state). We were thrilled to have found them, and the entire time we took our cars there we were extremely pleased with their honesty, their fairness, their excellent work and their general knowledge.
They work on BMWs, Toyotas and other nice foreign cars. I liked the fact that they are just as comfortable working on older models (i.e. our 1989 Toyota truck — all raised, with big wheels! — and our 1994 BMW), as well as newer models we got when we lived there (like our 2001 and 2002 BMW 3 series convt and wagon) — they have proved equally competent and knowledgable of both. They were extremely thorough and diligent about explaining problems, potential work, and work actually completed.
They will honestly tell you if something does not need to be done to your car, and they are extremely nice, friendly people.
HIGHLY recommended!