Family Owned & Operated Since 2000
Ripley's Total Car Care opened in 1973 as an ARCO Service Station. Soon afterwards my father bought the station from ARCO and began selling gas as an independent gasoline retailer. In an effort to support a family of 13 my father attempted many avenues at our intersection and ultimately stuck with Mufflers and Brakes.
Family Business
Every one of us 11 children did our part working for our dad as we grew up. We boys began our career as Muffler and Brakemen around the age of 13. I can only imagine what people thought when they saw us out there at such a young age. I believe they appreciated we were hard working kids and understood we had been raised with values they've grown to trust for some 33 plus years.
Over time Ripley's began offering more and more services. We started out doing mufflers, then brake services, and eventually broke into the performance exhaust arena. In the beginning, we mostly installed glasspacks and turbo mufflers with Custom Dual Exhaust. Eventually companies like Flowmaster and Magnaflow entered the performance exhaust market.
Staying Ahead of the Market
I (Tommy Ripley) returned to Ripley's in 1996 after college and a short career in home building to find the marketplace had upgraded. Performance exhaust was king, catalytic converters were a large part of our business and the old rusty steel exhaust tubing had been replaced with aluminized tubing. We were installing less and less of the mufflers and tailpipes and installing Cat. Back stainless steel exhaust. Chrome tips were being replaced by stainless steel tips. Diesel truck exhaust pipes were beginning to be upgraded to 4" diesel exhaust and 5" diesel exhaust.
The Leader in Custom Mandrel Exhaust
When I first returned to Ripley's in April of 1996, I noticed the "Classic Cars", The "Hot Rod's" weren't coming very often. It was explained to me that the "Rodders" wanted stainless steel mandrel bent exhaust. I looked into the situation and found the machinery necessary was too expensive. Recently a different generation of mandrel pipe benders has surfaced which allowed us the opportunity to offer 2 1/4", 2 1/2", and 3" stainless steel mandrel bent exhaust.
To my knowledge we are the only custom exhaust shop in Houston to offer custom mandrel exhaust and possibly one of the only custom muffler shops in the state of Texas to offer stainless custom mandrel bent exhaust.
This makes us "The Exclusive Custom Exhaust shop in Houston, Texas".
Thank you for choosing Ripley's Total Car Care for your exhaust and brake service needs.
Tommy Ripley
V.P./G.M.
At Ripley's YOU are treated like family.
Honesty and Integrity Since 1973
Ripley's Total Car Care services the northwest region of Houston, Texas with all automotive repairs and service.
Still family owned and operated; Rodney Ripley founded the first shop in July 1973 to serve NW Houston and Spring.
Two Locations
We have two convenient locations to serve you. Both locations provide complete auto repair service. Pick the location nearest you or the best for your car's repair needs:
- 317 Rayford Road - Total Car Care + Custom Exhaust (about a block east of I-45)
- 1960 & Kuykendahl - Total Car Care + Custom Exhaust (the Original Location)
See maps to our locations and come on in!
Services
Ripley'sTotal Car Care offers ALL types of auto repair services including tune-ups, timimng belts, oil changes, air conditioning and heating services, alignments, suspention, shocks, struts, CV joints, and of course our specialty mufflers, catalytic converters, performance exhaust, brakes, alignment, CV joints,shocks, struts, suspension, air conditioning, tune-ups, emission repairs, engine diagnostics.
We also have a custom mandrel pipe bender, for the serious muffler enthusiast.
As of now, Ripley's Total Car Care also offers the BG Maintenance Service Program.
See a full list of services.
Commercial Fleet Services - Decrease Your Total Costs
We provide top-quality commercial fleet maintenance services and are proud to call some of Houston's finest fleet owners and operators our clients. Ripley's Muffler and Brakes fleet clients enjoy the following services:
- Total Vehicle Maintenance
- Emissions Inspections & Compliance Checks
- Shuttle Services
- Chassis Lubrication
- Battery Care
- Special Pricing
- Discounted Parts & Labor
- Yearly Statement of Expenses
Call or contact us online to discuss your fleet maintenance needs and how we can help decrease your overall costs and headaches of maintaining a safe, trouble-free, professional fleet. Learn more about fleet maintenance.
Special Limited Time Offers
We are currently offering special pricing for: