Mayeaux’s Quality Car Care

By Steve McLinden

Before Metairie’s ”Mechanic Brothers,” Wayne and Levy Mayeaux, opened Mayeaux’s Quality Car Care six years ago, they had already built a large group of devotees. Each brother worked at several different mechanic shops in the same industrial part of town where they now do business, and their reliability became their calling card.

“Wherever we went to work over the years, customers always followed us,” said co-owner Levy Mayeaux.

At an early age, the brothers’ mechanic father taught them the importance of proper vehicle upkeep and how that attention extends to better performance and longer lives. It’s an ethic that stuck with them over the years, said Mayeaux.

The shop works on all American, European and Japanese cars but is also widely known as for its work with top brands such as Mercedes Benz (A and B programs), BMW and Lexus. The ASE Certified Master-trained shop owners are more seasoned than most dealership mechanics, who often use trainees or other minimally experienced workers to work on such premium vehicles while still charging high prices for the work, the brothers say.

All told, co-owner Wayne Mayeaux has been repairing cars for 30 years and his younger brother, 25 years. Between that curriculum vitae, word-of-mouth referrals and reams of internet accolades, Mayeaux’s doesn’t have to advertise its services (with the exception of one Yelp ad), and the shop is usually as busy as it wants to be, Levy Mayeaux said.

“For that reason, it’s often best to schedule an appointment if possible,” he said, “because we have to get those other jobs out on a timely basis.”

Customers seeking out Mayeaux’s Quality Car Care don’t want to miss the Causeway Boulevard turnoff to the business, which sits at 3107 Sixth Street in the New Orleans suburb. Otherwise they may find themselves on the 24-mile-long  Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Bridge, the world’s longest continuous bridge over water, which starts just two blocks from the shop.

Besides the Metairie market, the shop draws customers from New Orleans to Kenner to Laplace and several towns across the lake, including Mandeville and Madisonville, among other locations throughout the region. While the brothers don’t play up their work on custom cars, they had a few of them in the shop on a mid-March Monday.

“We don’t advertise we do them,” said Wayne Mayeaux. They are time-consuming and minimally profitable, he said.

The brothers each earned degrees in motor vehicle technology at locally-based Delgado Community College, where they learned how to use computer-based diagnostic tools, among other skills. Both had considerable mechanical experience before enrolling, assisting their father in repairing countless vehicles.

There are several competing mechanic shops in the area, and most enjoy the spirit of cooperation.

“We kind of help each other out; we don’t burn any bridges with them,” Levy said. “If a shop wants to come over here after hours and use equipment that they don’t have at their shops, then that’s okay.”

To keep up-to-date, the brothers participate in regular continuing-education repair seminars on such things as anti-lock brakes and fuel-injection systems. That comes in handy, especially when working on problematic fuel-injection systems such as the Land Rover’s, which the manufacturer stopped making years ago because of leaking, stalling and overall lack of reliability. “When fuel is coming out of the exhaust pipe, you know there’s a problem,” said Wayne Mayeaux.

For all its popularity, the BMW is by far the most expensive vehicle to maintain, the brothers said. Indeed, maintenance and repairs for the average BMW cost nearly $18,000 in its first 10 years of operation, according to Yourmechanic.com.

As is the case elsewhere in the car-repair trade, the one time the shop isn’t full of repair jobs is around the Christmas holidays, because would-be customers are putting off car-repair expenses to buy presents for their families.

“During Christmas time, if it’s not towed in here, we won’t be fixing it,” Levy Mayeaux joked.

The brothers are big believers in Jasper Engines parts and regularly use the manufacturer’s engines, transmissions and differentials in their labors.

“Jasper is constantly doing re-engineering,” said Levy Mayeaux. “They offer the best warranties and are always making important upgrades to keep their parts from failing.”

Among the tools of the trade at Mayeaux’s Quality Car Care are three lifts, including a Rotary Lift and a pair of Challengers, an Autel advanced-diagnostic system and dozens of specialty tools too numerous  to name.

Social media reviewers rave about the brothers’ automotive artistry: “A Honda dealer had my Odyssey for three days and diagnosed it as needing a transmission,” wrote one local motorist. “Levy (quickly) diagnosed my problem, replaced an electronic-controlled engine mount and my van is running like new. It’s refreshing to be treated with such integrity.” Another noted: “Awesome! They fix it when no one else can.” The only blemish was a negative Facebook “review” written by a mechanic who applied for a job at Mayeaux’s but was turned down. The man never brought a vehicle to the shop for repair, the brothers realized, and obviously made up the story out of spite, said Wayne.

The shop’s staff, which processes about five cars a day, consists of four at present, including the brothers and mechanics Drew Marino and Charlie Stephenson. The owners’ plan is to buy their current leased building and neighboring space, then expand.

“We are just waiting on a price,” said Levy.

Parking is also limited at the facility, and the shop could use some of the additional space to store cars, they said.

Working side-by-side every day, the brothers get along well for the most part in their cramped quarters, with only an occasional disagreement.

“By now, we are used to each other’s issues,” Levy Mayeaux said.

Both love to fish in their spare time and almost always hit the limit of 25 trout and five redfish at their favorite fishing holes, they say.

“If you don’t hit the limit, you’re not trying,” Levy said, as if confirming the state’s motto of the “Fisherman’s Paradise.”

Ever the conscientious shop owners, the Mayeaux brothers summarize their repair ethic on social media with a mission statement: “Although we have each learned the most advanced techniques in auto repair, we never forgot the lessons we learned from our father all those years ago,” they write. “We never forget the gratitude of those we have helped; we never forgot the warm feeling we felt every time we would deliver a restored vehicle to someone who couldn’t afford a new one.”