AAMCO Transmissions, Inc. Consumer Reviews - Page 5

TITUSVILLE, FLORIDA -- Had my vehicle towed to Aamco in Titusville Fl. They wanted 2700.00 to rebuild transmission. Had it done and didn't get 25 miles out of town an hour later (had been on trip when incident occurred and so still had to complete my trip home) when all the same bells and whistles came back that my transmission needed to checked, my ABS wasn't working, etc.

Got to Jacksonville and the transmission overheated warning came on so I stopped at the Aamco in Jacksonville. They confirmed the work had to be redone and that it would take a few days. I wasn't prepared to camp out in Jacksonville after being camped out for 15 days in Titusville so I declined and made it home.

I don't have an Aamco dealer in my town, but I was headed to Ft Lauderdale the next week and took it in there. Dealer checked it out and gave me the same report the Jacksonville dealer had given me, but then refused to take it in. My wife and I had rented a car to get around in Ft Lauderdale and so we were prepared to leave it all week. Guy just said he couldn't take it in.

On way back from Ft Lauderdale, now 3 weeks after the initial repair, transmission seals blew again and hot fluid set fire under vehicle. Little town of Hartwell Ga had to send volunteer fire department out on rural SR77 to extinguish blaze. Thanks Aamco.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS -- Buyer beware. Stay away from this shop!!! We currently have a vehicle sitting there in major dispute for pricing scam on a transmission. We were told by the manager Olympia after they did a total inspection of transfer case and transmission that the price was to be $1950 after he first quoted appx. in the $1500 range.

His exact words were "the transfer case was inspected and is absolutely fine and all that was needed was a torque converter and carrier". We knew the $1950 was extremely high after calling other trans shops who were quoting $1200 to $1400, but we agreed to pay the $1950. Everything up to that point was on good terms and faith in the manager.

After days went by with no call from the shop that it was completed... I called olympia the manager to pick up vehicle. All of a sudden to my complete shock... now his whole diagnosis and price changed to be thousands higher!!! Suddenly now he says the transfer case is cracked (after already being inspected days earlier and told was fine???) Amazing huh? He admitted there was an error or mistake?! But refuses to charge us the original quoted price from the complete inspection. So people... Learn from this testimony please! Do not take your vehicle to AAMCO and get ripped off!

My check engine light came on in my truck, so I decided to call around to see how much it would cost to get it checked out (some places do it for free - i.e. auto stores, except, as I was informed at AutoZone, no longer in the state of California). I had heard AAMCO did it for free so I called not one, but TWO, AAMCO stations to talk about an appointment and when I asked how much it would cost me to run the diagnostic, both told me it was free.

I took my car over to one, filled out all the paperwork and had just handed over my keys when the guy tells me "The check is free with repairs" and I said, "Wait a minute, how much is it without repairs?" He proceeds to tell me that it is $40 if no repairs are done - NEITHER of the AAMCO stations I talked to clarified that lovely little detail. I should have walked away right then, but I wanted to know what was wrong so I let them do it and ended up paying the $40 because I felt they were trying to rip me off when they said I needed a $400 repair. That just gives you an idea of the type of establishment they are and what the employees are conditioned to say to customers.

EAST POINT, GEORGIA -- We needed a new transmission for our minivan. Someone recommended us to AAMCO East Point GA. We got the van back and it was running fine until about 1 week after the warranty was over. We broke down with transmission problems, had the car towed to my trusted auto shop (I should have used in the first place), and he told us that that was a very bad job done by AAMCO. We had to get the transmission replaced again. I did finally get a hold of the manager/owner after my complaint being ignored for over one month, and the lame excuse was: Sorry we had a bad contractor at that time.

I was offered the same price as last time (thanks a lot), after some conversation, they said they would look into it and see what they could do to help. I never heard from them again. The AAMCO main office was absolutely no help either. They didn't care. All I wanted is to get a discount or some kind of help, but the way I was treated and brushed off is unacceptable.

I will never do business with AAMCO again and have for quite some time told every one I can think of, about the problems I had with AAMCO East Point GA, and will continue to do so. I wonder how many lost customers that amounts to. Probably a lot more than what it would have cost to do the job right and do what they are supposed to do, CUSTOMER SERVICE.

DES PLAINES, ILLINOIS -- I need to rebuild my transmission on my 2003 Dodge Intrepid. I phoned AAMCO about their price and service and I was told to bring in the car and let them do a Free EDS Electronic Diagnostic Service on the car to pinpoint what the problem is in order to give me an accurate price. I thought that was fair. I left my car at their shop and the next day they call me to say that the price to rebuild my transmission would be $1295. I gave them the authorization to start on the work at this price.

The next day they call me to say that they found other things that need to be changed related to the transmission and the price is now $2200! When I told them that I don't want them to do it at that price and I'm coming to pick up my car they said that I owe them $395 for labor charge now because they took down the transmissions and opened it up. I felt this was unfair since they told me the high $2200 AFTER they opened the transmission, leaving me with no choice but to either pay their $395 or do it at their shop.

I would never never take any of my cars to AAMCO and I do not recommend no one to take it there either. They use pressure tactics for you to leave the car at their shop and do the work and charge you more than what they tell you. They are a classic rip-off and someone needs to close them down.

COLMAR, PENNSYLVANIA -- I was drawn to try Aamco because I drive by the store frequently and noticed their sign advertising brake shoes and pads, most cars, $169.95. When the rear brakes went in my car, I stopped in to inquire about possible costs to repair. I gave the person at the counter a good description of the problem and told him that the rear brakes have never been serviced before. He told me that, worst case, about $300.00. I dropped the car off the next day for repair. I received a phone call later in the day informing me of all the work that had to be done. The new estimate was now $700.00. I authorized the work.

When the car was finished, they called with a final cost of $850.00. I reluctantly paid the fee and took the car. The work seemed to be done well as all the parts they said were replaced, actually were. I am pleased with the quality of the work, but feel as if I was drawn in by deceptive advertising. I have aluminum wheels which are kept perfectly clean and shiny. I noticed the 2 rear wheels are now soiled with dirt and grime as well as the tires. I washed them and scum was removed from the tires, but not the wheels. I suspect polish will take it off.

For the premium price that I paid for this work, my vehicle should have been returned to me in the same condition as it was when left there for repair. This is a sign of a lack of care and respect for the customer. I will not be returning there or referring anyone to their shop.

CENTERPOINT, ALABAMA -- My vehicle was towed to AAMCO February 24th, 2014. The transmission had been rebuilt by AAMCO In January 2013. The car stopped pulling, it is still under warranty until March 11 2014. The car Sat there for 2 weeks. Finally someone called to say they have lost the keys to the car. I would need to deliver them a new set of keys. Thankfully I had a set of spare keys to the car so I dropped them off the next day. One day passed I did not hear anything. The next day the same person ** called and advised me the mileage on the paperwork for the warranty (that they filled out) had incorrect mileage on it and that I had apparently rolled the miles back on the car.

I called corporate to try to locate the owner of the AAMCO. Corporate was quick to respond I will say they provided the Owner's information. I spoke with the owner and was advised he would meet with shop manager the following day. At 3:00 the following day the owner called and advised me that I had rolled the miles back on the car, and in fact the transmission in the car is not the transmission they put in the car. He also went on to say he wanted the car off his lot by Monday.

I have never experienced any business that operates in this manner. The transmission is under warranty and the owner is apparently willing to say anything to avoid making this good. I would advise anyone needing transmission work not to use AAMCO EVER...

RICHMOND, CALIFORNIA -- Aamco #21150 (John R. Copenhaven 12158 san pablo, ave richmond, ca. 94805 510-2351865). I took my 2001 pt cruiser in to have the water pump changed. They pulled the motor to change the pump and timing belt, that took about three weeks for them to do to me. It look like another engine when I took car home the oil was very black so I changed the oil. In the past when I changed the oil and changed the oil filter it took five and a half qts to fill to max, this time it took seven qts. I called owner about this, he said that was OK, then my car engine started to make knocking sound. I was told to bring car in, owner of aamco took it for a test drive.

The car stop running so he had it tow back to shop. I was told that they would get to it in a day or two. They call me to tell me that two of my four cylinders were not working. I told them to put it back together and I would come and get it. They would not. I was told that they would chain it up so I could have it towed. They put parts in the back seat and a head that do not go with the engine. I paid these people $1500.00 and I have nothing, no engine in my car, parts everywhere. I would like someone from your company to come to my home to look at what these people sent me home with my name is **. I hope to hear from you. Thank you very much.

NAMPA, IDAHO -- I took 3 cars in for a check engine light on. We knew what the code was on each. The first one was to be done in 2 hours so we left the truck at 12:30pm. At the end of the day they wanted to keep it over night they said they wanted to test in the cold weather. We later found out they did not get to it at all. MAF was all it was and needed to be cleaned. They told us it was the intake gasket, sensors and PVC. It was to cost us over 1400.00. The second car we took in we knew it was the gas cap. They told us 4 hour later it was the intake gasket once again and would cost us 1300.00. The 3rd car was the same. Intake gasket, 1300.00.

I will tell you if I had a business that performed this way to customers they would be fired. I see you have many complaints with BBB and others. I will never go back and I will let everyone I know what happened. I will call the radio station and let them know what they are telling their audience to do is wrong. This is like taking a baby for care in a doctors hands and finding out they are not qualified to do so and charge you much more than they did. I have reported this to the BBB, state attorney and the Sec of state. It is sad times when a business tries to rip you off.

SPRINGDALE, ARKANSAS -- I had a problem with my Lincoln, the transmission at times would shift erratically. The transmission would do this occasionally. I took it to Aamco because they were a national company and I assumed they were trustworthy and did good work, boy was I surprised. The guy drove my car into the shop, popped the hood, pulled the transmission dipstick, looked at it, and put it back. He then started the car worked the shift lever up and down, he turned the car off and shut the hood. He then went off to another part of the shop, after about 10 minutes he came back backed the car out and parked it.

Another man came into the waiting area and told me my transmission " was fried." I asked him what had they found. He said they put it on the computer analyzer and it needed to be replaced because it was fried. I asked what that cost and he said 2,000.00. He didn't look up anything in the computer or check any kind of resource, he just said 2,000.00. I told him I didn't believe the transmission was bad and asked for some kind of printout or something from his analyzer which he didn't have. He had nothing to back up his claim. Being that a analyzer was never hooked up to my car, a report from the analyzer didn't exist.

Liars and cons are all these people are. I am going to make sure I inform everyone I know about this place. The thing is I went to another local owned transmission shop and was told a solenoid was bad. They replaced the solenoid and my car runs like brand new. This repair cost less than $100.00. So there you go.