Please check out the Mid-City Auto Service Facebook page – That is where we most often share content and updates.

The average customer coming in our door has been a repeat customer of Mid-City Auto Service for 5 years, 7 years, 10 years and as many as 30+ years. Mid-City Auto Service was started in 1961 by my father. I started hanging around the shop at a young age – most likely 13 or 14. I’m now 60 years old. My formal training is in refinery instrumentation technology and process technology. Considering computer controlled carburetors were common and electronic fuel injection was in it’s infancy around the time of me being in high school and graduating in 1983, during my instrumentation and process technology training, in 1986 I decided to stay in the automotive technology field. After all, electronics on automobiles is nothing more than a process control and I was better at diagnosing and repairing the modern vehicle than were all the folks that had been in the industry forever.

I bought the business from my father in 1991 and have been owning and operating Mid-City Auto Service ever since. Being “into” all things electronic and geeky and gadgety I was the first small shop with a website. The website was kinda left out to pasture with the inception of Facebook and at some point it was hacked and hijacked – this basic and elementary site is the result of recovering as much of the old site as possible. Most activity is on the Facebook page at Facebook.com/midcityauto.

That said, back to the geeky/gadgety and electronics – Mid-City Auto Service was also the first auto repair shop to acquire dealer level diagnostic equipment – initially for Ford products first , then later General Motors products and currently still have Ford, GM and Chrysler product dealer capabilities along with aftermarket diagnostic equipment for imports.

Mid-City Auto Service has undergone many different models during my 35 years. At one point along with routine repairs and service we did a large amount of hotrod work, we did a large amount of diesel truck repairs and performance, we did a large amount of carburetor to electronic fuel injection conversions, we did a large amount of swapping late model engines into older vehicles. At some point during all this I began getting a higher and higher volume of people who were being referred by other shops and other customers for technical, complex, highly diagnostic oriented and time consuming work as well as for repairs and diagnostics that have been attempted often times by a few others with no success. It was at some point 6 or so years ago we let all of the really time consuming work like cab-off diesel work and custom wiring/efi conversion and one-off type work go to focus on the routine diagnostics, routine maintenance, service and repair of the average daily driven cars and trucks.

I also had some employment changes – I had a fella work for me for 27 years – around the time of hurricane Laura recovery he passed away from cancer at 46 years old. Also during the year the shop was closed for Laura recovery/rebuilding another employee moved on to a different industry entirely. I worked alone for nearly a year, then picked another guy, then later picked up another – and now, having one make a move into working strictly on hotrods, which was always his passion and another moving on to the faster paced hustle and bustle and high volume of bigger business, I once again work alone. I don’t have anyone to sell the business to like my dad did me and at 60 years old I have to decide if I want to continue to scale the business down more and more every year for the next 5 to 10 years before retirement or if I want to pick up another couple guys and stay full-blown for the next 5-10 years and then just abruptly close up shop one day randomly out of the blue when it’s no longer enjoyable. Stay tuned and follow along as I make that decision in the coming weeks/months/years. I’m not saying I won’t hire one or two guys but they would have to fit a SUPER tight qualification/ethic/character model – anyone off the street or high job swap rate folks won’t do. They just won’t fit. Maybe some talented individual with decades of work history without changing jobs like underwear who has recently retired but has a huge arsenal of tools and knowledge built up doing this type work as a hobby or in a different but related field. We shall see.

But for now anyway Mid-City Auto is even more so the small scale and personal “you are dealing directly with the owner in every transaction” than before and back to that model I ran alone for that year after Laura.

Many NEW folks are contacting me in high numbers who have never been to the shop and I’m getting people that reach out and ask, “How does it work with y’all to get a vehicle in?” Also even though many folks are long time repeat customers, things have changed. I am back to not manning an office and not dealing with any “drive up to discuss it” type business and back to that “contactless” not manning the office model when working alone.

SO…this is how it works: You reach out to me via text message at 337-274-4260 and you give me as much information as you can. That text message should NOT say, “This is so and so call me back at this number.”

Your text message should include the year, make and model vehicle you have and your first and last name as well as what type of routine service you need done or what symptoms you are having if you are in need of a diagnosis and repair versus just a routine service.

You may also call the shop at 337-436-0755, however, scammers, spammers, telemarketers and solicitors have gotten out of hand considering both the office and the cell phone numbers have been available on the entirety of the World Wide Web for decades. The phone could ring 200 times a day and literally 150 of those calls or more would be junk calls. If text message is just absolutely not an option for you then you may call the office and leave a voicemail but it likely will not be returned until later the same day or even more likely the following morning.

If you can, please include a picture of the license plate or VIN number. Doing so often times saves a tremendous amount of time because before I even return your text message many times I have already been able to look up various different things that matter, like what size engine, what options the vehicle has, whether it’s Two Wheel Drive, Four Wheel Drive or All Wheel Drive. That type stuff absolutely matters when discussing a diagnosis you need on a vehicle or discussing needed routine services. If I already have that information in that initial communication you send then things can move along much quicker.

Once we have that initial communication I will let you know when you can drop the vehicle off – for your convenience we have a 24 hour key drop box that contains envelopes and pens and you can drop your vehicle off before we open, after we are closed, nights, weekends, it doesn’t matter – even if it’s during business hours, I won’t be manning the office – you will do like all my customers did after Laura when I was working alone – drop the vehicle off using the key drop box. Once the vehicle is ready I will email or text a link for you to click to pay online without having to pay in person.

The key drop also has combination lock pick up bins. When your vehicle is ready I will send you that secure payment link to click on that will take you to a secure site and you can pay the bill online. Once the bill is paid I will change the combination on one of the pickup bins, put your key in a bin and send you the new combination and just like you dropped it off, you pick up the vehicle at your convenience day or night. The lot is well lit and there are security cameras literally everywhere.

That said – if you absolutely do not want to drop off the vehicle without personal contact or pay the bill and pick up the vehicle without personal contact, OR if you want to pay with cash, we can make arrangements to do that in the office, HOWEVER, we will have to do so within a narrow window of time that we agree upon that will work for both of us. If you arrive unplanned, you WILL arrive to a locked office because I’ll be deeply engrossed in something really technical or time consuming in the shop.

We are not the “you drive up and I walk out and take a look at something” type shop. We are not the “someone paid just to answer every phone call” type shop. We are not the “there is always someone in the office” type shop. Again, when I’m working alone you will in fact arrive to a locked office if your visit is not planned ahead with me.

MANY THANKS for consider us for your service and repair.

Now – back to your regularly scheduled programming. The following was part of that old website that existed way back in the 1990s.

There are a few things you MUST know about automotive technicians, and the auto repair business in general…

First things first! Yes, auto repair IS a service business just like any other. However, it is NOT akin to going in for a haircut or a pedicure where you can just walk in and be served with a short wait or schedule an appointment for an exact time. Maybe getting tires installed at a tire store…maybe getting an oil change at an oil change quick lane…but not auto repair dealing with service engine/malfunction indicator lights, noises, hesitations, intermittent problems, inoperative air conditioning, no starts, stalls, etc…those type repairs will require significant effort to find the cause of the problem…it’s simply not the same TYPE of service as a brake job.

Let’s say one day you wake up with a pain in your gut, you are peeing blood and sick as a dog…to find out what is the cause of all this will require hour upon hour of cat scans, pet scans, upper and lower GI’s, biopsies, blood tests and more tests AND THEN…FINALLY, THEN the actual procedure that will cure the problem will have to be done. If you call us and you need a front brake job, or a 30,000 mile maintenance inspection or some other preventive maintenance, it is likely we can get you in the following day and get you out in one day…those type services require no such diagnostic time…however, a service engine light on combined with a random hesitation will require diagnostic time…so will a roaring noise at road speeds, or a fluid leak…or overheating…and if we already have SEVERAL of this type repair on the schedule already, it may be a day or more before we can even take you in…please do not let this discourage you, it is the nature of the beast with REPAIR work, it’s simply much more complicated than MAINTENANCE work, and will be the same story at all REPUTABLE repair facilities…if you call a shop and they are in a position with their schedule that they can immediately take in a job that may well consume hours just to find the problem and then repair correctly, they must have a pretty bad reputation…any good shop simply cannot do “walk-ins” when it comes to repair of modern vehicles.

Secondly, you must not fall victim to the asinine notion that there is some magical “machine” we can “put your car on” that will “tell us what is wrong”…the diagnostic equipment we use is 100 times more sophisticated than that $500 device you can drive up and have connected at one of the parts stores, but even as sophisticated as our equipment is (much of it the same as used by the dealer) it is JUST A TOOL…and like a blood test, it may take hours of examining the results and after examining the results MORE tests may be required!

There IS no device that “tells you what’s wrong”…that is a fallacy…and believing this can cost you HUNDREDS of unnecessary dollars…how? Because there are ACTUALLY those folks that work on cars and call themselves technicians that ALSO think the circuit description the tool references with the fault code is the part that needs changing…this is WRONG, the information the device reads out is merely a general circuit description that set the fault code in history, but there may be 15 possible causes for that particular fault code. When you have some clown that thinks you just replace the part listed in the description and if that does not fix it, change the next part listed, and if that does not work, change the next part listed, it can cost you dearly…THAT is NOT how it works.

When we look up the information the device reads out in our factory service information system, it may print out one page of 10 tests that take an hour to perform for one fault, but a different fault on a different car the service procedure printed out may be 5 pages of tests that take hours to complete just to find the problem…and when we schedule a job, there is NO WAY of knowing which will happen, an hour diagnostic routine required or a three hour diagnostic routine required. THIS is the REALITY of auto repair. So…if you need a brake job, odds are we can work you in pretty quick, but if you hear strange noises, or your car is stalling, hard to start, hesitates, or has some electrical device that is not working properly, it may be something that will take a couple days to fix…..that may not be what you want to hear, but it’s the TRUTH, not just what I need to say to get you to pick US for your repairs.

Here is a recent conversation that I have with prospective customers day in and day out, I probably repeat this stuff in my sleep…it may answer a few questions you have:
Guy on the phone: How much do you charge to run a diagnostic test?

Me: Well, you can go to a parts store and possibly get them to do a diagnostic test for free…but that does not tell you what is wrong with the car.

Guy: What do you mean?

Me: There is a difference between a “diagnostic test” and a “diagnosis”….a BIG difference…they are two TOTALLY separate things. Connecting the diagnostic scanner to the vehicle and communicating with the vehicle’s onboard systems will retrieve a list of stored “fault codes” that the system has stored. THAT is a “diagnostic test”…..THAT is not a “diagnosis”…..THAT does not tell us what is wrong, or how much it will cost to fix or how long it will take to fix….

Guy: Why not?

Me: That “readout” is only a code description…which is an overview of the affected components in THAT particular CIRCUIT that is affected. That’s why sometimes it will mention one part or five different parts…it’s just telling you the parts that are used by the system strategy that set that particular fault code…only one out of ten times will changing the part or parts mentioned in that description actually fix the problem. To arrive at a DIAGNOSIS we have to take those fault codes that were retrieved by the diagnostic test and look them up in the diagnostic service information for that vehicle, and it will specify a diagnostic routine that we we have to complete in order to find the cause of the fault code being set.

Guy: Well, then how much does THAT cost then?

Me: I cannot answer that question. It is not always the same. You may have one fault code stored that needs diagnosing or you may have three, or you may have five…and diagnostic routines will have to be done for all unrelated codes.

Guy: I see…..

Me: To top THAT unknown off, with EACH of these diagnostic procedures, for one code the procedure may be four little steps that take thirty minutes, but for another code the routine may be thirty steps that require accessing certain components for circuit testing…and if the components the manual tells us to access are under the carpet and require removing the seats and carpet, or behind the instrument panel, you can EASILY run into three hours just to find the problem…modern vehicles newer than a 2000 model have upwards of 40 plus computer modules that all “talk to each other” through a CAN bus communications line…you likely have one in each door, one for the anti-lock brakes, one for the engine, one for the A/C, one for the air bags, one for the body functions like lighting and wipers and such, and one in the radio, another if you have OnStar or some such, one in the trunk, an occupant classification system module…all vehicle, year model and options dependent.

Guy: Oh wow…….

Me: There are cases where we get a vehicle in, do the diagnostic test, perform the diagnostic routines, arrive at a diagnosis, formulate an estimate, call the customer for an authorization, procure parts, install the parts, and have the car road tested, all within a couple of hours…HOWEVER, there are more times where we do the diagnostic test, and the diagnostic routines indicate accessing a module in all four doors…..or under the seat…..or to access a CAN bus communications junction behind the instrument panel and we have to stop there, call you and tell you it is going to take $300 just to perform the diagnostic routine that the service manual specifies…so you see…I CANNOT tell you how much it will cost to find your problem until that preliminary test is done…TYPICALLY that initial testing can be done in the amount of time that $125 will cover and THAT will give us a clue how much the diagnosis will cost and how long to expect…..

Guy: So the free test at the parts store is only that preliminary test?

Me: Not even…that only retrieves the fault codes…but THEN we then have to look them up in the service information system, ding this can easily take an hour in RESEARCH alone…and only THEN will we have an inkling of how long and how much it will take to find the problem in order to give you an estimate of the required repair.

Guy: Well that’s fair.

Me: I know….I’m all about fair. Ten years ago you were lucky to get a FAIR repair done for $500 on a 3 year old car…..today, a FAIR and HONEST repair can easily hit $1000 for what presents itself as a minor problem…but then on the flipside we get people come in thinking they need a $5,000 transmission and it winds up being a $500 electronic repair…you never know until you do the diagnostic test AND perform the diagnostic routines that the service information requires for the fault the diagnostic test reveals.

Guy: Wow. I feel like I just got a year’s education in five minutes. I feel like I owe you money just for talking to me on the phone……….

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You ALSO need to know this before you choose a repair shop: You REALLY need to know that there is no “test” a technician must pass before doing work for the public…

No “internship” they must go through…

No “apprenticeship”……

No “code” of any kind that dictates an automobile service technician’s or shop owner’s ethics like required to be able to call yourself a “Realtor”………

ALL of the certifications are VOLUNTARY and cost money…

All of the training offered is VOLUNTARY and even more expensive…

There is no mandatory “internship” or mandatory “apprenticeship” a technician must go through and pass before doing work for the public…

There is no law that sets a MINIMUM REQUIREMENT as to the amount of experience you must have AS A TECHNICIAN before opening up a shop…

Anyone can wake up in the morning and decide to work on cars or decide to open up an auto repair shop! Yes ANYONE can…and YES there are some that did just that…

Power Steering fix on a Nissan pickup, Rear Differential repair on a Nissan pickup, couple of Ford diesel engine repairs, Check Engine Light diagnosis on a Lightning, Charging System diagnosis on a Nissan Altima, Ford F350 in need of fuel injector replacement…….

Electrical issues on a Hummer.

Clutch replacement on a Mini Cooper S

Air Conditioning Evaporator Core replacement….

Another Mini Cooper S clutch replacement……

Starter replacement on a Tundra…..

Vacuum leak fix and Charge Air Cooler cleaning on a Harley Edition……

Searching for a Driveline noise on a Ford F150…..

Faulty PCM replacement and programming on an Avalanche……

Engine replacement……….

Driveability issues on a Suzuki and a Soul, Power Steering fix on a Suburban and a Water pump replacement on a Jeep……

Mustang Body Control Module replacement and programming…..