AAMCO Transmissions
Reviews and Complaints

On 2/14/11 I called my local aamco transmissions repair center, I told them that my 2002 nissan maxima GXE was driving a little sluggish at times, and slow, basically just lacking in performance. My step dad is a mechanic, and he is the guy I go to for advice. He didn't really know what was wrong with my car so he recommended I take it to aamco so they can run some testing on the engine and transmission. Since this is the only vehicle that I have currently, I dropped my maxima off and about 2 hours later the manager calls me back and says, Well Justin by the looks of it, you need the following..

1. Vavle Cover Gaskets Replaced Both Driver & Passenger Side $500
2. Ignition Coils/Boots $750
3. O2 Sensor. $102
4. Spark Plugs. $80
5. Tune Up, With New Transmission filter. $155
6. P1800 Code. Solenoid For the Intake Manifold. $294

When he started telling me everything I was pretty much dumbfounded, and really surprised that I had all of these problems. Well after owning my 2002 nissan maxima almost 3 years, I really never done anything to the car major. I was looking at over $2, 000 just in repair costs (parts and labor). At this time I am thinking to myself well I hope nothing happens to my transmission, (knock on wood) I could be looking anywhere between $3, 000 to $4, 000 for a rebuilt transmission. This doesn't include the $500 stereo system that I just put in, plus the custom air intake INJEN and MEGAN racing exhaust system that cost me another $1, 000. And the rims that cost me another $1, 300. Sooner or later I need new brakes and rotors (I have know idea what that will cost me). I paid $7, 000 for the car cash 3 years ago, and if I was considering selling her today I would put a price take on her for $5800 OBO. Just with extras and repair costs I put more in her than what she is worth.

So before I left the shop on monday he needed to order the solenoid part for my car and said it will be in in the next 2 days. So on 2/17/11 no one calls me to let me know the situation. So I end up calling around 11am this morning and the manager answers and I asked him if my part came in yet for my maxima. He says, "I just called and confirmed that the solenoid will be in at anytime". Well almost 2 hours later and he hasn't called me yet? I know with all of the repair work it will last about a half a day..

I finally took my car in and after repairs I feel like my car still drives the same? You would think after spending $2, 000 these guys know what they are doing? I guess not. Last time I go to a repair shop. OVER PRICED! HALF ### JOB! Stay away people, go elsewhere!

I went to AMMCO in Glendale, CA. Had I read the reviews I would have never stepped foot there. Anyways they charged me 89.99 for a diagnostic, which I was fine with. Even though I already knew what was wrong with the car, but I agreed to it because I wanted and estimate of the cost to repair. John told me to give them a couple of hours and they would call me back. I told them I didn't have a way to get home, so he told me they would give me a ride home and pick me up when my car was done. I go home, two hours pass they call me and tell me exactly what I already know the transmission grinds. They estimate the cost at around 1500. I tell them i don't have that kind of money. He starts insisting that I do the repairs or my transmission might get damaged further, even though I have had this problem for almost forty thousand miles. He keeps pushing forward "do you have credit? Do you have someone that can lend you money?". Long story short they tell me they can't pick me up because "they have no one available" and they tell me if I don't pick up my car by 4:45 that they will close. My only other option is to ride my bicycle to Glendale but there is no way I can make it in time before they close.Of course they say they can pick me up the next day. Now I'm stuck with no car for the night so I can't pick up my wife from work at midnight and I work tomorrow morning. Had I known they were going to leave me stranded I would have never agreed to any of this. I figured I would pay for an estimate and this is what 89.99 dollars gets me.

I had AAMCO tow my vehicle 60 miles to their shop as I did not have up to date insurance or tags...the company was aware of this. I told them what needed done and approx. 5 days later they called and said it was finished. I told them it would be approx. 10 days till I picked it up as I was waiting for a paycheck that i would pay the repair bill put new tags and renew insurance. Two days later my husband drove around the corner from my house ( 60 miles away) and our vehicle was sitting out front. My husband went and asked the homeowner where they got the vehicle. The woman told my husband she was getting her vehicle repaired at AAMCO and that the vehicle was the loaner that they gave her. We informed her that was our vehicle and the police were called. We drove our vehicle around the corner and put it back in our garage. The next day we went to AAMCO...I asked where my vehicle was and the "owner" told me he loaned it to a lady who was in a tight spot without a car. He didnt want me to contact the police...and offered me a WOW big 20% off. I told him no thank you that I would not be paying the bill and that he had no right to loan out my car..he proceded to tell me that I was going to punish him 2000 dollars and go to the news and ruin his reputation because he made a small bad judgment call...ummm yes i think i will...i then proceded to tell him if he felt so bad for the lady he should of loaned her his personal vehicle not one of his customers...remember this vehicle had NO TAGS AND NO INSURANCE

I dropped my car off to be analyzed for a transmission repair on November 29 2010 with my boyfriend. For 2 weeks I waited for an analysis of my vehicle. I didn't stress the time frame as it was right after the holidays and I had another vehicle to drive. This was my second car that I only use for traveling. On December 10th my boyfriend tells me that he made a deal with the company to fix my car. A deal I never knew about and never authorized. I was really upset that he even was able to talk to them about my car. So I called AAMCO and spoke to the owner JOSEPH. I asked what deal did he and BOB (the initial rep) make with my boyfriend. He told me that he had an agreement to fix my car and that he would have it ready in January as he had people who needed their car ready in two days and that mine could wait. I was completely shocked at everything he was saying because at this time I still had not even received a diagnosis of my vehicle. I told him that I didn't authorize AAMCO to work on my vehicle and my boyfriend had no right to tell you to do so. JOSPEH then tries to tell me that my now "husband" can give him authorization on my vehicle because he brought my car in to be analyzed. I then informed him that he was delusional as I brought my car in with him, I gave him the authorization to analyze it, I signed the agreement, and its my car owned solely by me. He then tells me why is my boyfriends name on the top of the agreement. I then returned the question as I didn't even notice his name was at the top. I wasn't reading the contact info I was reading where I had to sign. He then scrambles threw his paper work and realizes that I was the person who brought the car in and I should've been the only one spoken to about my car. My boyfriends number was one of out three numbers I gave this company to contact me at. Yet they chose his cell to call. He then tells me that I have to pay $695 to have my transmission put back into my car. I told him it would be a cold day in hell before I give him a dime as I never told them to take it out in the first place. He told me that he didn't even have to talk to me. He just needed to talk to my boyfriend. This even more pushed me over the edge so I informed him that I know my rights and I would be there to pick up my vehicle and that I would seek legal action against him if necessary. I hung up the phone and less than 2 minutes later I have a message on my job phone informing me that the owner said he would waive the $695 and that I had to pick up my vehicle from his property by 5pm that day. The owner then calls my boyfriend and informs him that he had to release my car to me because he had no legal right to touch it and that if he had signed the paper he would make sure he got his $695 for just the removal of the transmission not repair or anything. So I called to have a tow truck pick up my vehicle and returned to my home. When I returned home my vehicle was in pieces. My muffler was hanging off my car. My transmission was in the trunk, and there were solid chains hanging off my vehicle. I asked the tow company and they maybe left the chains by mistake. They informed me that the chains were on the vehicle when they picked it up and they thought they were mine. Now I drove my car to AAMCO so that was the condition it was in when I brought it. I called the company and of course Joseph isn't in but BOB was. Poor Bob! He should have never answered the phone. The nice version is that I informed them that I will seek legal action now. I will make sure everyone in our small area knows what kind of service these (bleep bleep) are rendering and what they think they will get away with. I also contacted our states Attorney General and I plan to go to the Mayors office to make an official complaint. I will let any and every website that offers the ability to share your experience know what type of people are running such establishments and what kind of experience to expect!

We had our transmission rebuilt in our 1996 dodge ram 1500 p/u at the Clark rd store in Sarasota Fla in April 2010. We paid $1500.00 . We chose AAmco because we were told of the nationwide warranty. Well here we are 300 miles from home and 4000.00 miles into our warranty on a Saturday no less and the front seal blows. We were able to contact a store in Gainsville Fla Spoke with a Mr. Bobby Taylor there who assured us if we paid $200.00 to have our vehicle towed to his AAMCO he would get right on it Monday morning. Well I had to contact him at 930 am which is not first thing in my book and he informed me he had to get back with the sarasota store to get permission to fix our vehicle.

Well that was about six hrs ago and I still have no idea whats actually wrong with my vehicle or when it will be fixed. I spoke with the gentleman in Sarasota and he informed me that he has to be sure what is wrong with the vehicle as these stores tend to rip each other off. We were'nt informed at the time ofservice that this was how the nationwide warranty workeld. If you are going to offer such a warranty such as this you certainly should inform the consumer and give them the opportunity to say no thanks I'll take my chances with a local.

Now I am out 150.00 for a rental car plus maybe more and I have no idea when i will be able to get my vehicle back or get back to my life 300 miles from here.

I would never allow them to change the air freshener hanging from the rearview let alone allowing them to try and do any real work. They gambled on a resolution, it failed, they lost, they kept my money and after 9 months still have my car.

Therefore, I lost.

News flash - fixing the damage does not always fix the problem. Most people expect that the problem be fixed. Consumers generally do not care about the damage only a satisfactory resolution.

If I had a flat tire, putting more air in might solve the issue - but only until all the air leaks out.

replacing a transmission might fix the problem, but if it doesn't consumers do not care that you replaced the transmission. We want a working car after thousands of dollars and months of time.

See you in court fellas.

My son took his 1996 dodge avenger into the aamco shop in mcdonough to have them do a diagnostic test on his car to find out why his car would not shift properly and would only go about 30 mph. They said they did diagnostics on the car and they needed to tear the transmission apart in order to find out where the problem might be. They charged up almost $2500 to tear down and repair the transmission, only to have the car do the same thing it was doing before they did the work.

We don't feel that they did a proper diagnostic on the car, and rushed us in to all these repairs. After all was done, they said it was the tcm module that was bad, which is an electrical problem. They said they wouldn't cover it. But they towed his car over to an electrical shop to have them run tests on it. They said the tcm module was bad (My son has replaced this part 5 times now).

If you need more information on this, please contact my son, eric rinearson. He has the address of the repair shop, and all the paperwork on this. I was the one to pay for the repairs, and we both feel they ripped us off. His phone number is [protected].

I feel that aamco should reimburse us for these repairs, since they really weren't needed and it did not solve the problem. At the very least, and I mean the very least, they should pay to have the tcm module replaced.

Please respond as soon as possible.

Thank you

Mary rinearson
[protected] home
[protected] cell

Took my 003 caddy in with ck engine light on. Jose checked the car said he needed to ck it further no charge to ck it. Ok so I left him the car.2 hrs later he called me to tell me I needed a transmission rebuilt it would cost beetween 2 and 3000 to fix it. This gu y didnt seem like the brightest person I have ever met I didnt trust him to fix it. So I went to get my car. Execpt for the ck eng light on there was nothing wrong with my car. When I got there jose told me my transmission is now slipping. It was not slipping befor wat did you do. He starting yelling at me cursing why are u blaming me I said the car was running fine befor you touched it who else am I going to blame? He then through me out of his shop. I had it towed rite up the block to lee myles he showed me where he drained thans. Fluid out of my car to make it slip. The ck engine light was on because of a bad speed sensor $97.00 he fixed my car amco and jose wanted 3000 for a transmission I didnt need. Paul at lee myles said this goes on almost everyday. So let my bad fortune be your good fortuine. Do not go to aamco linden and see jose

I went to AAMCO for an oil change and brake check. The manager told me my brakes were shot and needed total replacement, including pads, rotors, and hardware, to the tune of $500 bucks. I became suspicious because of the steep price and the fact that 6 mos earlier, the brakes had been just fine. So I got a second opinion at Christian Brothers Auto Repair. They found that the brakes only needed cleaning and the rotors needed resurfacing. The pads were fine. They did the job for $184.00!. When I called the manager of AAMCO and told him I did not appreciate that he had lied to me and I was taking my business elsewhere from now on, he did not even deny my allegations nor did he apologize! Talk about arrogance! I guess he thought if he could get away with it, he deserved and extra $400 bucks for doing nothing! :(

Janet

AAMCO Pasadena CA took over $2, 000 from me.I took my Mercedes to repair the transmission.Within months the car wouldn't shift and finally stalled, they wouldn't accept responsibility.I finally took them to small claims and won my case. The Dept.Automotive Repairs found problems with them and my car (they had failed to do a valve job when rebuilding the transmission).They have many law suits filed in the Pasadena Court House.They counter sued and I lost only because I was too drained from it all to explain my case to the new judge. The manager's name is Rob. Called AAMCo's Corp. office was told they don't get involved each shop is independent. My car never drove the same again.

I took my car to aamco in bothell and asked this guy bill wright if he could get the codes and reset my computer. he told me to bring it back at 3pm and he'll charge me $40. when i get there he tells me he only takes cash, to i walked over to the 7 eleven atm and withdrew $40(with a $2.50 atm charge). when i walked back he told me that my water pump was bad and my transmission was bad, he told me that he would be happy to do it cheap if i could get someone to get the tranny out and he would only charge me $300 to $2200. i told him that was a pretty big difference in #'s. he said that everyone does it like that and that would be $40. i asked him if he reset the computer codes like i asked and he told me he was telling me what the codes were. then he took me to where he had the code readers and told me how much all the tools cost, so again i just asked him for the codes. he told me he doesn't print them out, so i asked him if there was any way he could write them down for me, he said sure. we started to walk to the office and he started to tell me something else and i asked him if he canceled the codes on the computer. he started yelling at me and telling me he didn't appreciate what i was trying to do and that was why he always wants his money up front because of people like me. i told him that i didn't understand what he was talking about and that all i wanted to know was if he reset the computer, i told him i could not beleive he was talking to me the way he was. he told me he didn't want my money and to leave. i was confused on why he was acting like that yelling and screaming. i was getting into the driver's seat and trying to call my step father and he started putting things under my car, i didn't know what he was doing. he got frusted at something so he started comeing towards me, i told him to stay away from me, he opened my back driver side door and got in i kept asking him what are you doing i seen him trying to reach for the ignition and figured my keys were in it. so i reached in and got them before he could, all of a sudden i felt him punch me in the side of my head. i called the police and while i was waiting he decided to grab a rolling jack put it under my car, pushed it out of the bay and before the car rolled down the hill he dropped the jack slamming my car down. then closed the bay door. cops came and sayed it was his word against mine. i am a single mother that just can't beleive that employees in this company are allowed to act like this. i left a message on the company web page to see if i could talk to the owner. we will see. i just wanted everyone to know how i was treated and to be aware.

I took my 99 Mazda 626 in for transmission repairs on 9/25/09 at which time the shop performed a total rebuild for $2000. Not even 2 months later, the car had problems at which time I took the car back and they again spent 2 days repairing the transmission because they had failed to replace a part that they were 'unsure' needed repair the first time. Luckily, they did not charge me. Now, less than 10 months later the car again has transmission problems. In fact, my nanny was left stranded on an open highway unable to drive more than 50 miles from home. AAMCO of West Palm towed the car 50 miles to its location from Weston, FL only to tell me oh we just looked into and you are out of warranty. I had driven 13, 770 miles since the transmission was originally done on the 25th, but less than 12, 000 when the fixed it the second time. They called me to offer me 'another deal' of not charging me more than $1600 for the third repair in less than a year and they would go ahead and throw in an extended warranty for 18 months this time...Yeah right like I am gonna give them another dime. They have no idea what they are doing there and Jimmy who has only been working there for the last week, says that he wasn't the one that did the repairs so I wasn't giving him very much room to argue...Unbelievable. Buyer beware at this joke of an establishment. They are piss-poor mechanics. Never take your car to a place even that has a national brand identity. AAMCO is a franchise so each guy is out there to make money as cheaply as possible. Take your car to a real mechanic and never trust anything they tell you!

They prey on students and don't tell the full story just so they can get you in there. I had looked at reviews online and all were negative for this place. However I figured that if someone has a good experience they are less apt to write about it. Boy was I wrong. A 500 job turned into 2800 and when I asked for my car back they wanted to charge me another fee to put it back together. Update: not only was my car damaged on the outside, my cd player was mysteriously stolen as well. Horrid disgusting people I will never let them touch my car!‎

I recently had my car reapired by Aamco and a few days later it catches on fire.

My car was overheating and Aamco said they could check it for free. I brought the car into them, the week before repairs were made, and they told me it was one of two things, my PCM Computer or a faulty wire to my relay. They then said to dtermine the issue it would cost me around $100 and then $80 and hour to fix.

I brought my car to them on a Wensday the prior week. They fixed the car and told me it was a wire and the relay. I also asked them to fix my cigarette lighter adapter so that I could use it (I do not smoke). After the repairs before I left the lot, my car was making an extremly loud buzzing noise as soon as I turned it on. They told me it was a problem with my automatic seatbelts and said they would disconnect the module and fuse that goes to them. The buzzing noise stopped and so I left the lot.

I drove my car less than five miles the next two days and did not drive durring the weekend or that monday. On tuesday after dropping my daugther off at school I decided to head to my sisters and my car began overheating. I called the shop they told me to bring it in. I told them I could not drive it because it need to cool down and I let it cool off at home.

Hours later, I headed to the shop on the way, it began smoking and caught fire. I pulled over and took my 9 month old son out of the carand put him and his car seat on the side of the road away from the car and my sister and her husband got out to examine the fire. I opened the middle console where it was burning and put water on the fire to put it out. It kept smoking. An Orange city officer stopped to help and said it was an electrical fire and to have it towed.

I called the shop and they told me they have nothing to do with it but I could bring it in for them to look at. I brought the car into them and they told me it was the "body control module" which caught fire and that the car was not worth fixing because it was $400 for the part and about $2500 + to rewire.He told me not to drive the car and also said they were not at fault because they did not touch that area of my car.

There is no BCM for my car - they lied to me.

I had the car towed and it turned out to be the PCM which caught fire and the relay, the two things they did in fact mess with.

I now have no car and no transportation. They are not accepting the mistake they made and will not give me my money even though my car was still overheating after their repairs and then caught fire.

I have a nine month old son who has a heart condition and needs to go to the cardilolgist in orlando in a week. I am at a loss for what to do.

This is a very long story. It starts in St. Marys, GA where a very nice and competent man named Jack Allen at the AAMCO shop replaced our transmission. The total bill was 4, 661.20. I live on disability and was only able to pay for this through the one credit card I had with that much money available on it. This was on 5/7/09. On 10/6/09, while traveling through Texas, the transmission lost 6th gear. I had it towed 112 miles to the closest AAMCO which is in Odessa, Tx. That is where the real problems began. I was told by the owner there after diagnosing the transmission that a new one would have to be shipped to him. I was also told that my clutch, throw out bearing would need to be replaced or he would have my warranty voided. He also insisted on not giving me a receipt for this work as he would then have to charge me more money even though he stated the problems with those parts were directly related to the transmission.

I was told I had to get the parts to him and pay for them myself. Mind you he had my truck; I was in a place where I knew no one; I had no means to rent a car. A very nice employee at Advance Auto Parts was able to have the parts delivered directly to Ben's shop since I had no way of picking them up. I have the receipt with HIS address on it. On 10/9/09 he contacted me and told me to come pick up the truck. I did. I then hooked my 5th wheel trailer (that is what I live in) and proceeded to leave Odessa. 28 miles into my trip the same gear blew. I promptly turned around, called Ben and brought the truck back to him. This was a Friday and he wouldn't be able to do anything until Monday. Finally, the following Wednesday (at 4pm mind you) I was on my way with yet another transmission (or so he said). It turns out (I was just informed by the transmission manufacturer) that Ben put the wrong fluid in not just the first transmission, but the second one as well. Now, 2 days before my warranty runs out I have it looked over by AAMCO in Cathedral City, Ca. (I have to be where it's warm year round due to my disabilities) and sure enough there are more problems. I knew there was something not right with 2nd gear when at a stop and 6th gear when at highway speed. This AAMCO in southern California confirmed there is a problem. Regardless of when my warranty runs out or what the problem is I DO NOT HAVE ANOTHER $5000.00 to replace the transmission again. I feel AAMCO needs to not only honor this warranty but extend it in case, on my way to my next destination, I have another issue I will be able to count on not having to be stuck in the middle of nowhere because I have no money to fix what was broken by AAMCO to begin with. They are now saying that they may possibly drain the fluid out of this transmission and hopefully that will fix it; but if the fluid is wrong and has damaged some of the transmission, what good will putting the right fluid in now do? I just want to drive down the road confident in the workmanship AAMCO professes to be so concerned about. I AM NOT COMPLAINING ABOUT the AAMCO in Ga. or in southern Ca. Both shops have/are doing their best to help me. Of course, they need to make sure they are reimbursed for their time as well.

They had terrible service. I was dealing with a rep name dan. He told me several lies.

1. That my I needed to pay $20 for gas. When I picked up my car is was still empty.

2. I needed a battery. I had the same battery in my car when I picked it up. Paid $99 for and additional $100 for labor.

3. I was told since I was getting a batter I would get additional cost off the price of the repairs. When I was paying I mentioned the discount and he said he gave me a web discount but we never talked about it.

4. I was told if anything goes wrong bring the car back.

5. After I picked up my car it failed emission twice. They said it had nothing to do with them.

6. My check engine light came on and he Dan asked me what code and told me to take it some where else to get checked and if its transmission codes bring it back. I reminded him that he told me to bring the car back if it had problems and he said not to bring it that day they were to busy bring it in the morning.

7. I mentioned to him some red fluid was dripping and Dan got smart and said he told me if it starts dripping it was my responsibility to bring the car back. I told him that’s why I was calling and he said then bring it right now.

The server before I dropped my car off was alright. After they had my car at the location they treated me horrible and super rude. I am out of 2500 and now my car is still broken and they are saying it might be something else. I asked them to do a thorough inspection prior to fixing it to make sure what was wrong. They indicated it was the transmission. Now the car is having problem with the check engine light and the oil light are coming on. I am totally dissatisfied with the service. I could have had the transmission done for $1000 less from a foreign shop that was two doors down but I decided to go American thinking I would get better service. But this American company treated me like garbage. I’m out of money and out of a car.