The Arbor Car Wash and Lube Center

3120 Guadalupe St, Austin, TX 78705, USA

Address:	3120 Guadalupe St, Austin, TX 78705, USA
Phone:	+1 512-451-2696
Site:	arborcarwash.com
Rating:	2.5
Working:	8AM–6:30PM 8AM–6:30PM 8AM–6:30PM 8AM–6:30PM 8AM–6:30PM 8AM–6:30PM 9AM–5PM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 4

Carolina Baumanis

Do not change your oil here and DO NOT fall for the "oil system cleaner" scam. The guy told me that my oil was really black and really thick, meaning that I had waited too long to change my oil. He said oil is supposed to be a light brown when it comes out. Number 1. Oil is supposed to be black when you change it, it means its working. Number 2. It wasnt thick, at all. It was normal consistency. He told me that I needed an "oil system cleaner" to clean out all the gunk and crap from keeping my oil too long. I asked him that was possible since my car is so new? Theres no way that there could be that much gunk accumulated and built up... Mind you I had only had that oil in for 6,000 miles (synthetic can last up to 15k miles in some cars) and this is a brand new car with barely 20,000 miles on it. I told him no, but he was very persistent and claiming he was being "extremely honest" and that I truly, really needed it. He talked long enough and made me dizzy enough that, embarrassingly, I fell for it. Five minutes after saying yes and reading horror stories on google about this sort of thing, I came running in and told the guy "please dont do it!" and to just do the oil change. He told me that the chemicals were already running. I told him that I didnt care, to just charge me for the 2 minutes that they were running, and to take that crap out. He said once again that he was being "really, really" honest that this wasnt going to hurt my car because the product BOTTLE says that its good to do every 2 to 3 oil changes. He kept telling me that I could read the bottle. Really? Are you kidding me? Youre going off of the words printed on a product?! For crying out loud, just because something is written on a bottle, doesnt mean its true or a good thing to do. I guess its a good thing to do if it puts more money in your pocket though. In the end, I called my dealership and told them the story. They said that they dont offer any sort of "oil system cleaner" because it is BAD for the car. You actually want to keep some of the old oil in there to keep the parts lubricated, its a good thing! This confirmed everything bad I had read online. Now I have to take my car to the dealer to make sure nothing is ruined within the engine. If my review doesnt convince you, read the other reviews. Im not the only one to get scammed here.

Anonymous User

I phoned them in advance to make sure that they could include higher weight oils on special offer. I explained that this was important because my vehicle has a small crack in the engine block. (I know it is small because I lose very little oil.) They said "No problem." So I made the drive into the campus district for the special offer and told the oil tech that because of the engine block crack, I wanted the higher weight oil. "No problem." The oil tech apologized for the long wait because of customers ahead of me and said the oil change and wash would be complete in 40 minutes. I returned 45 minutes later to find no work done. An owner or manager told me, "Sorry. We cant take the responsibility for a cracked engine block." I said, "I dont expect you to take responsibility for it and I even declared it up front. Thats why you KNOW about the cracked block" I was told, "Sorry. Our staff shouldnt have accepted the vehicle." So before I drove away, I asked, "Im curious why you took my phone number down but you didnt bother to call me. It would have saved me nearly an hour of wasted time." He answered, "We tried. But there was no answer." That baffled me because I use Voicepulse, which can field up to six simultaneous calls and ALL calls that arent answered after 4 rings go to centralized voicemail. Plus, none of my phones rang and I didnt use my phones during that time. After returning to my office, I checked the centralized Voicepulse phone logs for my phone account. The call log claims that NOBODY called any of my phones during that hour. WHO DO I BELIEVE? The phone company computer log or Arbor Carwash? I dont know. Conclusion: I was very disappointed and I regret the time lost, especially after I mentioned the cracked engine block TWICE in advance. THE GOOD NEWS: I drove up the street to JIFFY LUBE, gave them the same explanation, and got very fast service at a better price in a fraction of the time. And without excuses.

Andrea Phleger

Absolutely wretched service. I took my car to get waxed and cleaned and paid to have the paneling cleaned with Armorall wipes and such. Upon driving it out of the car wash, they took it to the back where I couldnt see it. When I asked the gentleman managing the outside front portion of the building where my car was and confirmed I was getting it waxed, he told me not to worry to have a seat (as if I were some pesky, unruly student), and to wait for my vehicle. After waiting for over an hour, I begin looking for my car and noticed they didnt have it under the canopy on the left-hand side of the building where other cars were, and where spots were still available to park mine, and instead cleaned it in a corner where I couldnt see what they were doing. When I finally tap my wrist to indicate its been too long, the same gentleman managing the front directs me to walk towards him and to "wait right here" where my car will be brought to me. $69 later, the black plastic paneling on my car has wax smears all over it, I still see spots inside of my car where they failed to vacuum and that they did not attempt to clean the paneling at all indicating the extra charge for the Armorall cleaning had merely been an utter fraudulent charg. To make matters worse, my month old car has a scratch on the outter portion of the driver-side mirror and a scratch on the bumper. With having such a brand new vehicle, I make certain to avoid parking next to any type of shrubbery or a plethora of vehicles to avoid this very encounter only to have it done while entrusting paid staff to do exactly what Ive done to avoid. If you sincerely dont value your vehicle, your time, or your money, then make this the prime spot to disrespect such an investment.

Virginia Brown

DO NOT GO TO ARBOR CAR WASH! I DID AND NOW I NEED A NEW ENGINE! Tl;dr: Didnt put oil in the car during an oil change and now I need a new engine. I went for an oil change on 6/28/14 and then my car broke down on the side of the road on 6/29/14 because there was NO OIL in the car. They forgot to put oil into the engine! Had it towed to Kerrville Ford Dealership and they said that the reason why the car died was b/c there was no oil in the car. The technician had to put in 4 1/2 quarts in! They double checked for leaks and there was none to be found. Contacted Arbor and they said that they wanted another opinion. Had it towed into Austin to Leif Johnson Ford where the double checked for oil leaks. There was NONE to be found. The suggestion on their end was to replace the engine. I have given Arbor Car Wash 2 WEEKS to make things right. Now, theyre telling me that theyre not taking responsibility at this time because of the evidence that they have. 1 is the reports from the shops, which I also have, with one stating there was no oil and both stating that there were no oil leaks. And the other only evidence that they have is a video where it shows the technician putting the gas pump like thing up to the car. BUT there is no video of the gauge of the pump saying how much went in, and theres also no AUDIO to hear if the machine is on or not. Not only am I college student but I am also a delivery driver. I am out of a car and a job! Right now Ive lost up to $1,000 in wages and going to lose more.