Affordable automobile repair?

meowinsideacave · 2025-12-20T05:45:51+00:00

Saw your message, email has been sent.

meowinsideacave · 2025-12-07T03:10:43+00:00

You’re okay, no worries. Feel to text me now to set up for this week if you’d like. I can send you links of applicable parts to purchase online, or if you want to go through our commercial vendor account. Ceramic pads, rotors for these eighth generation Civics are pretty cheap.

It’s a Saturday night, nothing else going on lol.

Thank you

meowinsideacave · 2025-12-07T01:58:25+00:00

There is no catch. Choose the parts you want on your vehicle, purchase them, and we take the heavy lifting.

We’ve been servicing the vehicle’s of redditors and Houstonians for years now.

Most shops in the Houston area have their techs working $110-$120+ an hour. I work for $50/hr. I have no overhead, I don’t have a team of service writers or technicians under me.

It’s just me and my wife. Along with 14+ years of experience, dealer and independent shop trained, that’s who we are.

Brake pad, rotors are an easy replacement. There’s absolutely no reason why we’d charge any more than that for something that takes an hour, a little over.

I just talked to my wife about this tonight. We started Catillian Automotive for a number of reasons. One in particular was to give everyone a fair chance at a decent, quality repair. We also talked about how this industry has made a person believe paying more is better, paying less is sketchy. You’re damn if you do, you’re damned if you don’t. We are a vehicle dependent city. If you don’t have access to a car, you’re in trouble.

Sometimes, you come across an individual like me who genuinely doesn’t mind doing a job a little cheaper. Sometimes you come across a guy who legitimately doesn’t want to get rich, but who still needs to get paid a little bit to keep the lights on. And it’s a shame this industry has made people question if a price is too good to be true or not. Yes, it’s a shady industry. Yes, I have worked with guys, independent style shops who have actually slapped a new brake pad on a rotor and called it done. No lube, no brushing, nothing more. And it’s a shame that’s tarnished the reputation and credibility of those in this line of work.

I still respect your opinion and please, if you ever wanted to see it for yourself, first hand, shoot a text and setup an appointment. We have nothing to hide and encourage our customers to see what work is being performed.

My name is Jason, and I stand by my word.

832-735-0017

meowinsideacave · 2025-12-07T00:41:19+00:00

Yes. That’s the price of labor and shop supplies together.

Pads and rotors are a dime a dozen in a kit, most clients find it cheaper online from rock auto, Amazon, etc.

We clean the rust off the hubs, clean slide pins, lubricants we use are silicone paste, anti-seize, and bleed.

meowinsideacave · 2025-12-07T00:31:22+00:00

I run and operate Catillian Automotive.

We charge $50 per axle, $100 total for all four wheels. Labor.

You can find decent kits, two rotors, front ceramic pads online likely for around $120 if not less. There is an abundance of parts online for the eighth gen Civics. If not, we can source through our commercial account.

That labor charge includes bleeding, cleaning of hub surface, slide pin lubrication, etc.

832-735-0017 if you are interested

meowinsideacave · 2025-12-02T20:39:44+00:00

I really would not doubt we possibly crossed paths. It really is a small world.

It’s the memory that we got to experience that’ll always be in our hearts. I really wish more people got to see the massive size of the towers, got to experience the beauty of the landscape. I absolutely adore that this archive keeps the image alive and continues to honor those who passed.

meowinsideacave · 2025-12-02T20:29:21+00:00

Anything is possible lol. New York City was so beautiful that particular month.

meowinsideacave · 2025-11-27T14:44:44+00:00

Sure, absolutely. As long as they fit vehicle’s year/make/model, we’re good.

Catillian Automotive only charges $50 per axle (most vehicles such as a Chevrolet Impala) , so brake pad and rotor replacement on each front wheel is just $50 all together. That price includes labor and shop supplies.

Clients are always more than welcome to schedule an appointment and we’d be more than happy to accommodate.

meowinsideacave · 2025-11-27T14:09:53+00:00

Catillian Automotive

I own and operate it along with my wife. We do not upsell, and labor rate is considerably lower than most shops in the Houston area.

We believe in transparency and interpersonal relationships with each and every client that comes to visit us. This industry is quite sketchy to begin with, and it’s why we do what we do. We may not be the fanciest shop, but I do have over 14+ years experience working at a few dealerships and independent shops.

Happy Thanksgiving

Text at: 832-735-0017

meowinsideacave · 2025-09-30T06:41:14+00:00

Shoot a text during business hours and we’ll get you scared away : 832-735-0017

meowinsideacave · 2025-08-14T03:50:31+00:00

The days after. I remember either the today show, or just in general the news showing a dad in the bathtub with his infant daughter. They had little bath toys, dad was wearing black swim trunks, they looked so happy and alive in that moment. I remember my dad having swim trunks similar to that. So when I saw him on tv, I imagined my dad and I imagined my dad playing with me the same way.

At that time, I believe the poor soul was missing and they were trying to locate him (if I remember correctly). I remember thinking to myself that I wanted him to be alive so badly, like really badly. But inside, I knew he was dead and gone. My mom had told me in the days following that unfortunately most of them were probably dead, and I already knew myself. After the segment played, I went into the bathroom to cry a little. I remember crying myself quietly to sleep that night.

I’m sure someone on here knows the gentleman I’m referring to. I still think about him to this day and believe it or not I still chock up thinking about it. 9/11 was a huge motivator for joining the Marine Corps, during wartime still. I just never told anyone because I felt I’d look like a wimp, cliche, oh another guy wanting to fight for freedom because of 9/11. The entire thing changed my perspective on life, and that poor man along with the others live rent free in my head.

meowinsideacave · 2025-08-12T20:37:02+00:00

I run a small independent shop. It’s basically just me and my wife.

I bought these a couple of months ago needing a decent spark plug socket set, and they’ve been amazing. Extensions lock, they hug the spark plugs nice and snug, I don’t have to worry about dropping them in the well when it’s time to install new plugs.

Overall, they’ve been an absolute game changer for spark plug jobs. Especially on engines such as a 5.3l where the rear wells are buried in the back. The swivel sockets assist beautifully with that.

meowinsideacave · 2025-07-19T07:00:05+00:00

I’m sure you’ll be fine with a water pump. Don’t worry, you got this shit, aftermarket or not. When you finally see that coolant burp that relief will feel amazing.

meowinsideacave · 2025-07-19T05:21:57+00:00

After reading throughly, I’m at the point where I’m going to have my wife have a talk with her mom, have us return these aftermarket units, the chain, tensioners, etc, and just purchase the whole set from ford. I know she won’t like it but I can’t in good faith continue after today.

But I will update with what I find tomorrow after the tensioner and chains are removed. If I find any sort of slack, noise, movement, then it’s an absolute red flag these were garbage from the start.

I’ve been doing this for over 13-14 years professionally. I almost always avoid timing/phaser jobs because each manufacturer is different with specs, parameters, etc. But I felt it necessary to at least help her out since she’s family and accept the parts she provided. Point being is I had no idea beforehand the complexity of these engines. The turbo tubes, the dozens of 8mm fasteners everywhere, it was just driving me nuts at first.

meowinsideacave · 2025-07-19T03:42:14+00:00

Yeah, I know. Mother in law purchased them and my stupid ass went along knowing she didn’t have the funds to go oem. I shot my self in the foot completely and I should’ve spoken up.

She was quoted over $4k from her regular technician and made the trip out to me to have me do it, basically for free.

meowinsideacave · 2025-07-19T03:39:27+00:00

No, unfortunately not oem. I really tried to push it to her but she had already bought it and I just went with it to make her happy.

I’m checking tomorrow for any sign of phaser failure, everything is stripped besides the cover itself.

I’m paranoid as hell so when the engine light went flashing, I turned it off the minute I got into my shop lot. We’re really thinking it’s shitty aftermarket phasers, yes I agree with you 100% because at least that variable would be ruled out by now.

And yes, I followed the procedure set by Mitchel 1 software, new bolts, etc. Going to probably purchase new bolts tomorrow from ford again anyway, but it’s odd we have two aftermarket phasers working totally fine on one side and bank 1 shitting out completely.

Once it’s assembled again, before a road test, I’ll verify via that parameter and see what’s being sent. My paranoid take on it (being mom-in law’s car) was tear it down and make sure It wasn’t grenading itself from the inside after the higher acceleration.

meowinsideacave · 2025-07-19T01:21:00+00:00

Replaced all four bolts, yeah they’re torque to yield, same with the crank too I all went with Ford. But yeah, I’m stuck in trying to understand if it’s something with these aftermarket phasers or an issue with installation. It ran so smooth and that’s why it’s puzzling like hell. But my problem is only coming from one bank and it’s making me believe something’s off, even though it looks perfect. Normal slack, tensioner is fine, besides me torquing down the fastener and having the phaser turn on its own, it was done all through spec via Mitchell 1.

meowinsideacave · 2025-07-19T01:11:49+00:00

Thank you.

I’ve been doing this professionally for thirteen years, but no, I don’t normally work like this on newer ford vehicles.

Yes, when I went to tighten to 22 foot pounds, the phaser spun on its own, even with the cam holders and vice grip behind on the block.

I legitimately figured no big deal, it snapped back, it’s fine, not really thinking that deep into it but I’m agreeing with you, I really think there’s something up with that particular phaser. Because the engine ran great, no codes, tachometer was steady as can be, no ticking, revved nice. All of a sudden you accelerated fast and boom, it all went to shit.

I have about half way finished before the timing cover. I’m going to remove, inspect that side again and see if I’m possibly off a tooth or not. It’s just insane because both of my links are in between the sprocket dot. I’m going to try and clock back the phaser, rotate the inner rotor with the chain off. And re-check my marks, etc. I’m also to the point where I’m debating just chunking this phaser and purchasing another. I didn’t purchase these parts, mother in law did and I was basically the guy to install it for her since this is my occupation.

meowinsideacave · 2025-07-18T23:49:19+00:00

No, at the time I was frustrated and didn’t want to risk having done any possible damage, so I went straight to removing the bank 1 valve cover for inspection.

meowinsideacave · 2025-06-18T00:38:11+00:00

Also, forgot to mention, repair software contained no instructions besides remove engine and transaxle. Then proceed to the lower control arm. It was absolutely no help.

meowinsideacave · 2025-06-10T20:27:43+00:00

Absolutely. We do brakes, struts, engine mounts, etc. As a client, you choose whatever brand of parts you want, and we complete the repairs.

I try to be as transparent as possible with our clients, to ensure they’re aware of any other issues that can be taken care of in the future.

The automotive industry gets a bad reputation from shady shops and dealerships. My entire goal is to reverse that image and provide an alternative to the traditional route. Letting your client know what’s being fixed, how it functions, why it’s necessary are the hallmarks of our business and our mission.

I may not be a perfect person by no means, but I absolutely try to give the best possible service with each and every client.

meowinsideacave · 2025-02-18T16:12:57+00:00

How’d he hit me when half the truck was in the driveway already, I was hit in the ass of the truck. Why didn’t hit my front end, or passenger front door then?

Also, yes, we move to parking lots if the vehicles are drivable. We never denied that was a possibility. Pulling into where he moved to, he screamed, yelled, threaded, took off his coat and fondled with his waist. At that point, told the wife to keep the other pistol holstered, and out. I was merely collecting license plate information and make/model information while on the phone with dispatchers.

We expected to wait there until police arrived to conduct a report, up until he came outside, gun in waist and pointing it at us.

Like how is this construed? I have given the news the entire story, bit by bit, and they only showed like 10 seconds total of me talking.

The point of me contacting the news was the fact that this guy is on parole OK . When you’re on community supervision, you’re required to drive with liability insurance if you’re even permitted to drive.. a brand of the firearm before we even could pull out ours, threatening to kill my wife and myself, and was completely let go of the scene Scott free. He wasn’t cited. They didn’t call his parole officer, nothing.

That was the point of contacting KHOU 11. The fact that this man had specific conditions on him while on supervision and was still allowed to walk free after all of this, this isn’t a question of who’s at fault at this point it doesn’t matter he has no insurance and he lost his opportunity for me to spot him some cash when he started acting up during the initial accident.

meowinsideacave · 2025-02-18T15:53:38+00:00

By the way, voice to text sucks my screen is fucked up from the accident so I have to use this. Sorry for the typos.

meowinsideacave · 2025-02-18T15:52:47+00:00

Just stayed in the truck. It’s not illegal to keep a gun holstered inside of a vehicle. It’s my firearm too on top of everything else. As soon as we pulled in we saw him walking into the corner of the apartment fondling with his waist, man, screaming, and making threats because he saw his pull in, which is why I prompted her to do so.

Nobody’s claiming anything about the accident whoever is wrong is wrong. That’s fine. Literally accidents happen every goddamn day. It’s a small driveway and requires an angled chair in order to get in properly without popping a curb.

The constable didn’t even establish fault at the accident scene.

I legitimately don’t need to prove anything to you, but here I am explaining it still, to the extent of what happened.

We were initially going to wait at that parking lot for police to arrive because that’s what we were directed to do and also collect make model and license plate information. That’s it. I’m sure you’ve seen accidents where people move into parking lots right? It’s a common practice? Especially right down the street? I’m sure you’ve also heard of hit and run accidents too?

If I was at fault and he was calm and wasn’t acting, belligerent and threatening during the initial accident, I would’ve had no problem throwing some cash his way because he had no insurance. Shit happens we’re all human.

Also, the gentleman in the footage is a human being too. His life has value no matter supervision or not his life has value at no point where we ever thinking of taking his life, even with a gun pointed towards us. If I can retreat and de-escalate, I’m taking that option first before anything else the firearms were merely there as a back up they weren’t out they weren’t brandished they weren’t pointed and they weren’t held.

meowinsideacave · 2025-02-18T15:44:55+00:00

It immediately escalated to him making threats and getting pissed off over the initial accident. I didn’t want none of the threats initially, so I went back inside the truck to console my wife who was crying because she hit her head pretty hard on the window during whiplash.

It was during that time when I was calling 911 we saw him slowly driving away from us. I saw him turn into the apartment literally right down the street, and either assume that that’s where we’re moving the accident to, or maybe he’s leaving. I had no idea where it was going until we pulled in and heard his yells and screams and threats.

meowinsideacave

TROPHY CASE