Tom Bess Automotive Inc

I can’t say anything about their mechanical prowess, but doing 75mph in a 35 zone in an Escalade down Jamieson’s parking lane with their dealer plate while trying to run cars off the road can’t be good for business.
Dealer tag D5964BG
From the MO Department of Revenue ;D5964 ;TOM BESS AUTOMOTIVE INC ;BESS LINDA C ;4922 MACKLIND ;ST LOUIS ;MO;63 109;ST LOUIS CITY ;15;314−353−9936

I bring my car is here anytime we need work, they are very reputable and very good at the work they do. They do a lot of major companies including Barnes and gateway high school to repair their vehicles. Tom Bess and his family have always been very supportive and very good people. Mechanics are usually very good and friendly. Of course everybody has bad days and good days but overall my experience with them has been very positive and very good. I recommend these people to everybody who needs car work done all my friends I send them to Tom. Tom is a great guy.
Their oil changes of always been very good and at less then 20 dollars they beat the competition hands down

Would not recommend this place for women, older cars/​trucks, those who don’t know about their vehicles & really anyone else also!
Took my 77 Ford truck in recently, normally I do my own work & I’ve half rebuilt my engine already. I got relocated for work recently & once I knew the truck had to make it 500 miles I took it to Tom Bess automotive based on someone’s recommendation.
They broke my hood spring and latch, did not reattach my alternator bolt & called me with a ridiculous quote for things I did not even want work done on & seemed afraid or unwilling to do any work. They also quoted me for front brake hoses, and they look just fine to me.
Today I called to make the owner aware of my experience. Didn’t want anything from him, and certainly did not want them to attempt to fix anything they broke. What did surprise me though is that the owner never apologized or even seem surprised, and never offered to refund my $ 20 rack fee. I would think an apology would be common courtesy.

Got an oil change from them I didn’t wait for it I dropped it off. When I came back to pay I asked for my keys. They told me the keys were in the truck which was parked on the street. I ask how long my truck had been done and she told me a few hours. So they left my car unattended with the keys in it in the streets of St. Louis. When I got home I saw that I was leaking oil and my engine was smoking. They didn’t tighten the filter on all the way. Called to ask them for a refund and got told that they didn’t do it and won’t give me my money back. Crooks

Great people. Wouldn’t use anyone else. Very fast and clean. Family owned, owner is there if you need to talk to him.

These guys are crooks. Just came from there. My heater was blowing cold air. They diagnosed it as the blender door needs replaced. 7 hours/​$ 700 labor to get to it under the dash. The part cost $ 450. Hmm… Really? I did a quick google search, first entry was the Toyota website selling a brand new blender door for my 2007 Toyota Corolla for $ 120. Ha! I called another shop in town to get a price estimate and they priced the job, parts and labor, at $ 600. Exactly half of what Tom Bess wanted to charge me.
Hilarious how dumb this shop is thinking they can get away with this crap in the age of google and also the age of google reviews.
Funny side story, when I went in to pay the $ 100 diagnostic fee and pick my car up the mechanic said that they pretty much had the dash ripped all the way to the part that needed replaced. Strange. I had only left the car there one hour before they diagnosed it and called me, and one and a half hours total before I picked it up. Shouldn’t it have taken 3 and a half hours to do that?
At 38 years old I can’t recall a more dishonest shop than this one and I’ve been to dozens of them. Until they clean up their dirty act, steer clear.
UPDATE 2015: A month or so after i wrote this review I actually went in to take a look at the problem myself as a total car repair neophyte. Took me less than five minutes to pop the glove box off and get to the blender door which was directly behind it. No ripping apart the dash at all. Lol. And while I don’t buy the part to fix it properly, I was able to push the door all the way open which allows my heater to work at full blast. Works good enough for me on my tight budget, funny they didn’t inform me of this option when quoting me their original outrageous price.
Bill Oberg
St. Louis, MO

Tom Bess is a family owned and operated shop in the heart of South City. The location has been a stalwart in the ever changing South Hampton area. The prices have always been fair and the work reasonable. We have taken our vehicles to TBA for everything from major repair to the $ 20 oil change and never have been upset.
This place is not a large chain and they do work for the real people of the neighborhood. Understand, their work is completed in-​house and on-​site. I have read some other reviews of the shop and have to think there must have been another problem from the one star review.
The people at the shop are good to my family and helpful with the neighborhood. Any business I can keep in the neighborhood, will stay in the neighborhood.

If you are going for an oil change, great. If you want quality work done on major repairs and a solid warranty, forget about it. They overcharge on parts big time, and their labor is 120 dollars per hour. You may as well go to Firestone or Dobbs. They can offer you a warranty you can count on.
I came to Tom Bess after being referred by my fiancée. Another mechanic told me I needed a total break system overhaul, and I wanted a second opinion. Long story short, I ended up having to pay for the same service twice because they messed over it the first time. When I contacted the BBB, they furnished all these documents to them that were never given to me concerning the status of my brake system. People come to places like Tom Bess for honesty and transparency. Do not expect it from them.

Fast service reasonable pricing and a convenient ride to work while car being fixed I have used them twice and both times repairs were cheaper than quoted elsewhere

Don’t trust them. They lie, cheat and steal. I used to live directly across the street from them so i took my car there b/​c i was having some problems with my car starting sometimes. they kept the car overnight saying they were hooking it up for diagnostic testing. when i called them the next day, Tom Bess himself told me he was on his way to pick up the part that i needed and it was $ 54. So i gave the get ok to fix my car. A couple hours later i get a call saying that it was actually the wrong part and the correct part was $ 165! What??? My hands were tied b/​c they already had the part taken out and I needed to get to work. and they were going to charge me the diagnostic fee if I did not get the replacement part. (around $ 150). So angrily i told them to put the new part in. when i went to pick up my car, i asked them if i could have the part that they replaced and they told me it was a core part and that they couldn’t give it to me!
The part they replaced is a clutch pedal switch which i’m finding on line to be anywhere between 20 – 50 dollars.
So my final bill with the part and labor ended up being $ 340! needless to say, i not happy!