automotive mechanic

automotive technician

automotive service advisor

service technician

service writer

Christian Brothers Automotive

The day starts off with a "mandatory" 6:50am shop meeting talking about all the work that the favorites techs have and how it all must be done at the end of the week or else you have to stay late every night until its done. "You must be in your bay ready to work at 7am" but you won't get a car to work on until 8am or beyond so 5 hours a week are wasted. There is no reason for techs to be there at 7am if work isn't ready and written up until after 8 am. When you get cars, you have to do a digital inspection that's equivalent to a Pre-Purchase inspection on every car that takes 30min to an hour to do in itself due to the amount of items on it, having to take pictures and complexity of modern cars to access the items to inspect.  They say this can be done in 12 minutes. I didn't learn anything at CBA other than how they operate as a franchise. The workplace culture is typical favoritism where two techs flag 70 hours a week and you make pittance in hours while doing the BS and table scraps. The hardest part of the job was the unnecessary long hours and having to work on weekends for Shop cleanings, Charity events, Free oil changes etc which is 4 weekends a year, so you do indeed  have to work weekends when they say "no weekends" making that a lie. The most enjoyable part of the job was the owner as he has good intentions and a good guy overall, but his management is the problem especially with the abrasive inexperienced service manager who lacks knowledge in the trade and  is a glorified dispatcher who contributes to the favoritism and dysfunction of the shop.  As a technician, you are also expected to make up for the short comings of the service manager, service writers, "builders" etc making your already stressful position worse. They also use the lowest quality of parts from the local discount auto parts vendors which sometimes you have to do the repairs multiple times whereas if you got an OEM part to begin with, the repair would of been done correctly the first time . This is a huge inconvenience to the customer. Parts are ordered incorrectly daily which costs you a lot of time as a technician when a car is torn apart on your lift (you only get one). There is no lube technician so you will also have to push cars out to bring waiter oil changes in which also costs you hours as a technician. Overall I would say CBA is nothing more than a bridge between shops until you get to a better place. Ask to see a flag sheet of all the techs so they can back up their claims of having "a lot of work" before starting there. 

As an employee of Christian Brothers Automotive, I can confidently say that this is a company that truly cares about its employees and customers alike. From the top-down, the leadership team embodies the company's core values of honesty, integrity, and kindness, creating a work environment that is not only productive but also fulfilling and uplifting.

One of the things I appreciate most about working for Christian Brothers Automotive is the company's commitment to its employees' personal and professional growth. Whether it's through regular training sessions or mentorship opportunities, the company is dedicated to helping its employees develop the skills they need to succeed in their roles and advance in their careers.

Moreover, the company culture at Christian Brothers Automotive is truly exceptional. There is a strong sense of community and support among the team members, and everyone is committed to working together to provide the best possible service to our customers. The company's focus on servant leadership ensures that we are always putting the needs of our customers first, and that we are treating them with the utmost respect and kindness.

Finally, the leadership team at Christian Brothers Automotive is truly inspiring. They lead by example, demonstrating a genuine commitment to the well-being and success of their employees. They are always willing to listen to feedback and implement changes that benefit the entire team, and they make it clear that every employee is valued and appreciated.

Christian Brothers is a great company to work for and get quality work performed but if they get an “F” in any area its in 2 areas. 1) Owner’s are pressured to attain a certain (high) profit percentage and total sales to win “Awards” at the yearly owner’s meeting, 2) The Home Office fails to regularly “go into the field” and visit all the stores, old and new, to insure policies are being adhered to. Some store owners take it on themselves to be open on Saturdays (contrary to Mark Carr’s statement on the CBAC web site M-F, 7-6.) and open their stores 6 days a week. Others change the pay policy for service managers/writers from salaried to commission or smaller salary plus commission in order to increase profit and minimize losses on slow months. Greed causes this! A commissioned employee must “sell” to make money. A Salaried employee looks after the customer’s interest first and makes the customer happy. Some owners insist on higher gross profit percentages well in excess of 60%. Some store owners cut the paid labor hours back on the technicians but still charge the customer the higher amount to increase the shop’s profit while stealing from their mechanics.
In the beginning, 1982,
Mark Carr (the CEO, President and owner of store #1, never wanted his shop managed this way. His beliefs were M-F, 7-6, Saturday for the family and Sunday for God. The customer was to leave the store happy, always. As Mark’s company has grown immensely, many stores are left to fend for themselves and others take advantage of the lack of supervision and charge more than they should.

The owner/CEO/President Mark Carr is a fine, honest, Christian man, but his personal reach is not long enough to hug all the store owners or set straight the lost sheep. He needs better sheep dogs.

My time at this location was disappointing due to significant issues with management and workplace culture. The communication between the owner and the manager was inconsistent and often contradictory, leaving staff feeling confused and betrayed. There was a noticeable lack of transparency and accountability, which led to a toxic environment.

The work culture was also problematic, as certain employees seemed to form cliques, creating divisions among the staff. If you weren’t part of that group, you were often undermined and excluded. This made it difficult to work as a team and led to low morale.

There were also serious concerns regarding ethics and professionalism. As an ASE certified master technician, I was often asked to perform repairs that raised red flags, particularly in relation to the parts being used. The owner instructed staff to inform customers that we were using genuine dealership parts, only for non-genuine parts to be installed instead. When issues arose with those parts, it was never acknowledged as a mistake on their part.

Additionally, the pressure to cut corners and push certain products or services was overwhelming, creating a stressful work environment where ethical standards were compromised.

Unfortunately, these issues were compounded by favoritism from management, where one technician consistently received the bulk of the work during slow periods, leaving others with little to do.

Overall, I cannot recommend this workplace due to the lack of trust, transparency, and respect for ethical standards.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The specific location in Corinth TX is an amazing group of people to work for! In my opinion this group actually fulfills the title Christian in Christian Brothers Automotive. They are honest and care for their customers and family who drive these automobiles. I do believe Christ is the center of your relationship and employment with Christian Brothers Automotive (Corinth, TX).

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
I'd say you'd need to have a desire to really repair automobiles at your best. They have an incredible work load due to their integrity and workmanship in the automotive industry.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
It couldn't be better in my opinion. All of this group of people care for one another and people in general. They are very helpful to each other as a team should be. They all have their own way in cutting up at times, laughing, and just having a Great time in an professional work environment. I really enjoyed lunch, often you almost never had to eat alone unless of course it is your preference. This is definitely a group who lives out the definition community in Christ.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
I'm any given day busy! You start everyday out together moving cars out of the shop and around in the parking lots. Trash is collected and taken out then usually the day as a whole is explained in detail of expectations and goals to meet. It really does work for this this location!

I got to work before 7am and cleaned everything making it ready while also recording all the information for every vehicle dropped off over night. The owner would then stroll in after 8 am and expect everything to be done to his standards. I would find solutions to help a customer out and every time the franchise owner would take all the credit. If I had to tell the client bad news the franchise owner was nowhere to be found. I had no support at all. Training in Houston was a lot of fun and very well done. I came back thinking I would be doing this job for years to come. Very quickly the 60+ hour work weeks and constant negative attitudes wore me out. I was made to feel ignorant and stupid on most days. The company ignored my complaints and even went so far as to force a very uncomfortable meeting with the franchise owner who threatened me with my job if I ever spoke out again. The owner knows nothing about cars and says he rather disliked cars. I am a mechanic/restorer and own my own part time hot rod shop. He made me feel as if I knew nothing about cars and would actually tell clients completely wrong information then blame any negative reaction on me. I watched my technicians walk out the door one after another and nothing was ever done about it. I watched good people get charged very high prices for simple repairs, while wealthy people were given discounts by the owner trying to make new friends on the city council.

You’ll have cars to work on and things to do but management and owners know nothing about the mechanic industry. They only care about home office an what they say instead of doing research and having knowledge of the place they are part of. Also they price themselves outrageous compared to any other shop including Firestone and ntb, they always tell customers that they have industry leading warranties on autozone parts. They charge more than dealerships. They have managers that will micromanage everything you do as a writer or technician an always tell you that they could do better. If you complain enough as a customer then you get what ever you want. They grade you on what other people post on social media and google so it can ruin your so called bonus. The owners say they care but would rather hear what home office has to say about how to make money. Pay is good if you get the work done but if you get stuck with big jobs they will constantly pull you off to do smaller jobs. They work you 10.5-11.5 hours a day and complain if you take your full lunch break, management gets to do what they want when they want and can take any time off they please but complain if you miss days due to severe weather. They make up rules at random every day and they can change the way they do stuff almost daily they have secret meetings but tell you they are transparent. They also will promise you things but don’t stand behind it.

The good is its a christian based repair facility thats clean and has very good oem scan tool availability.  The bad is its definitely the least ive ever been able to make as far as hours billed goes if your an experienced technician who is used to being able to make over 40 hrs no problem and 60 plus is the normal.  This is pretty important.  .2 labor for an oil change with a full used car inspection that would pay an hour at any dealer and you are expected to do it for free with pictures and all on a tablet which for most guys takes a little longer than going thru a car while changing the oil and writing down what you see that needs attention.  They are independently owned franchises so each location will be different but they are also a corporate standardized and trained facility so they usually do what the corporation shows and suggests.  The hourly rate may be high but when you see .7 for a control arm that you know is going to be more than that they will bid it at .7 usually and we all know alldata/mitchell is the standard as far as a guideline but we also know when something just isnt enough labor so it needs to be set to a fair time.  Its no midas but its no small reputable independent shop ither.  It seems to have a good image and marketing but if you cant get your hours where you want them while working the same as you always have you will be taking a pay cut

The cedar park vista ridge location was one of the top locations with lots of work. After the manager was replaced with a lube shop manager that believes he can fix cars better than his technicians the place went downhill fast. You will make money if you’re willing to be a yes man and cut corners. But if you strive to fix cars correctly and take pride in your work don’t work there. The store is ran just like a Firestone with micromanaging  of everything you do including your ability to confer with other employees about a repair or a service and with subpar service being the focus, as the manager wants speed over quality and is willing to put on defective parts knowing the vehicle will come back With a failure. In conclusion it’s an at your own risk kind of facility. There is no communication between the techs and the writers. The manager wants all communication to go through him personally and that causes delays in repairing vehicles. Personal communication between technicians and service writers is frowned on. There is no emphasis put on tech efficiency if you need something you will need to hunt for it. (I.E)- if you need new fasteners or any consumables you will need to tell the manager and he will run to Home Depot or harbor freight and get it for you. And sometimes your just told to do with out it. Depends on his mood, could get it today could get it tomorrow you just never know. 

A typical work day starts at 8:00 a.m. and ends at 6:00 p.m. They have great 401K. They have great vacation. For example you get one week vacation after 6 months. They don't have an Express technician so you have to push your car outside and pull in an oil change waiter which takes up most of your time. They have free lunch every Friday. The culture of this place was to sell engines instead of replacing the coil pack. The DVI's digital vehicle inspection takes on average 20 to 30 minutes to complete. They have their two favorite techs and they make sure they get At least 50 hours a week while you are working on school buses and church buses out in the parking lot. They couldn't care less about the third or fourth Tech. The management is below par and could have been much better. The health insurance is good. we had Blue Cross Blue shield. You get six sick days a year which is good. What I have learned is this is a bridge place to work until you can find a decent place to work. Although you will be at work 50 to 60 hours a week you will only turn 25 hours labor time. But you will be making below minimum wage. Hardest part about this place was coming to work in knowing that you weren't respected and we're being used. The most enjoyable part of this place was being off on the weekends.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Automotive mechanic 34 salaries reported	$42.81 per hour
Automotive technician 34 salaries reported	$36.88 per hour
Automotive service advisor 32 salaries reported	$73,494 per year
Service technician 13 salaries reported	$18.73 per hour
Service writer 2 salaries reported	$55,000 per year

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