AAMCO Transmissions
reviews and complaints

I want everyone out there to be aware of the scam this shop tries to pull.
I dropped my car off at 8 am and at 9:30 am I received a strange phone call from the shop which consisted of "Has anyone been messing around with your car?" well no except for Jiffy lube and pep-boys for repairs here and there. Why the question with no reason to ask I thought? I also thought is there something weird you have found I should know about? Well this will make more sense toward the end of my story.
I recently had a situation where the check engine light came on and the car had trouble accelerating and shifting out of first or second gear. I was told it was the transmission by another mechanic and he suggested taking the vehicle to AAMCO or to the dealer. I chose AAMCO because they specialize in transmissions. I was informed by AAMCO that they had checked the car diagnostically and the codes were for the transmission however they were not ELECTRICAL codes but rather MECHANICAL codes and the trans would need to be taken out of the car, taken apart and possibly overhauled costing no less than $1500. When I said no thank you I will be in to pick up my car I received a phone call from the store serviceman about a half hour later offering me a "feasible alternative" which he was "confident would have the car problems solved". The story suddenly changed as far as what was causing the trouble with my car. It was no longer a mechanical problem located on the inside of the transmission but rather a problem with the solenoid sensors on the outside of the transmission. But the catch here was the solenoid sensors are located (according to him) in a panel on the outside of the trans which requires the trans to be removed from the car in order to access these solenoid sensors. Seriously? Suddenly went from mechanical to electrical but this would only cost me at least $800. I politely declined and proceeded to drive 15-20 mph all the way to Lincolnwood Illinois where the car dealership is located.
It turns out the car dealership said I do not need a new transmission nor new solenoid sensors nd the transmission. The car has some wore out wires which run along the underside of the vehicle that had been pinched are spliced and corroded and need replacing. Fixing it at the dealership did not even cost 1/3 of what the AAMCO shop wanted to charge me. The dealership price also included a new O2 sensor and installation along with the price of the diagnostic workup.
I wonder if the AAMCO noticed these wires and that was the reason for the question regarding has anyone been messing around with your car? Even if they did not notice this I believe they are incompetent and do not know how to properly diagnose a vehicles transmission problems or just plain crooks out to take as much money from consumers as they can by pretending to conduct unnecessary repairs on vehicles. It is a shame thet someone would try to take advantage of another person like this. This shop lives up to the stereo-type given to auto mechanics regarding ripping people off. I want to share my experience so hopefully this does not happen to anybody else.

My husband's transmission went out on his 2004 Subaru WRX. We had it towed to AAMCO where they told him that it was a clutch problem, which my husband knew was wrong. They told us they would take it apart and look at it, then call him the next morning. My husband ended up calling them the next afternoon because they never called like they said they would. After days of them telling us they would call and us having to call them when they never called back, they tell us his front differential went out but they couldn't get the part. In the mean time, my husband found a Subaru shop to work on his car, so he had AAMCO box up all the parts and we once again paid $100 to tow the car to the new shop. As soon as we got the car there, the owner looked over the transmission and said it was not the front differential that was out, but the center differential, which is an easy fix and you don't even have to take the transmission out of the car! Also, they spilled transmission fluid all over the front fender and left big, greasy hand prints on his matte black hood (impossible to clean!) Since they completely destroyed the transmission, we still ended up having to replace the entire transmission. We called AAMCO about a possible refund for what they charged us to take apart his transmission and all they could offer was a credit toward a future repair. Like we would ever bring our car back there for them to destroy!

After two vehicle inspections, new brakes, a tune up on my truck, and an oil change, I was informed that there was an issue with my transmission. My truck was sounding like it was getting stuck in gear. I was told one day before taking my truck in to AAMCO that I had a non serviceable transmission. I called Aamco and told the guy the problem and he said that it sounded like the differential and not to drive. He sent a tow truck out at no charge. I backed my truck out of the driveway for the tow man to drive it on the truck. Once the car got there, it was confirmed that it was the differential and the cost would be $3056.29. It took me almost 6 wks to pay the total cost. I picked my car up and found that it was riding exactly the same, with the exception of the ABS sensor light now on in my truck. I called back and was then informed that there were 2 problems with my car and the one I had complained about hadn't been fixed. They stated that the rear end was locked and they had to fix that first and if I wanted to fix the problem that I had complained about, I could bring it back in. I asked for a detailed list of everything that was done on my car and the name of the tow company so that the tow truck driver could verify how my truck got on the tow truck, proving that my car was drivable. I am still waiting for that response.

Well i took my truck there to get a new Transmission. Well after $2100.00 dollars later my transmission is still leaking. The Manager there had my truck there 11 times and they still can't figure out why my truck is still leaking. The mechanics there have no idea what they are doing. And they are very RUDE and Nasty to there Customers. BEWARe I ask them for my money Back and they said NO. Talk about RIP OFF. Well my truck still leaks. Vero Beach BEWARE.

Transmission failed while still on warranty. Took the car to Rubens AAMCO in Moca, PR. They have had the car for 37 days! During this time, after a full month, the car was returned to me with the transmission "fixed". I drove the car to the store, and the transmission failed again the same day. I had to have the car towed back to them. The manager of the repair station, which is an AAMCO branch center, rarely returns my phone calls when I inquire as to what is happening with the car. He constantly comes up with lame excuses as to why it is taking so long. This is a ridiculously long time to repair a car. Oh, and the center keeps changing phone numbers. The number shown above is the latest one.

Took 3 days to tell me they did not have a part and charged me $200 in labor that included
re-installing the transmission, but when I got there it was still on a table. When I first arrived there I heard a Tech named Michael telling a lady on the phone how good women were in taking care of their cars and how bad men were in the same regard. I should have left right then. When I told Michael that I needed my truck no later than Saturday( three days earlier )he initially said that was not possible, but when I said I told him I would call him back after I spoke with some other repair shops, he called back within one minute and said " I called someone and we can have it ready Saturday." He then called Friday afternoon with the "no part story." The dealership I called quoted me $300 cheaper than Aamco's quote for the exact same repair. I sent a tow truck there to pick up my truck after paying the unjustified fees. I believe these people are dishonest and unethical.

In February 2009 I took my car to Aamco to replace my transmission. The gears were slipping that caused the car to jerk. They put in a used transmission and assured me that my car will be in complete working order when they are done with it without any problems. About a week later I received my car back and it seemed to be working good until the next day I felt the jerking in my car again. I called them and they said to bring it back and later said that it needed another used transmission. So I was stuck without a car for another week and had to rent one. When I got my car back for the second time, the SAME problem happened. But this time I took it to my original dealership to get their advice on what was going on with my tranny. This is Audi by the way. Audi said that the tail shaft of the tranny that Aamco had put in was leaking! So I took it back yet a THIRD time and they said they just had to adjust some things in the tranny to stop the jerking and leaking.
Now for the third time, I had to rent a car for a few days again. When I got back my car, the leaking was fixed but a few days later...the jerking starts again AND my starter was making a buzzing noise when I started the car. I was so furious when I had to go back a FOURTH time. This time, they blamed the jerking on the computer in my car and its not their fault. They also said that my starter is going bad because my car is an old car. Mind you, it is only a 2000. I was fed up when they told me all this and told them that I am reporting them to Aamco headquarters which I'm currently in the process of. I am also getting a lawyer to get all my money back hopefully. I paid then $4, 200 for this crappy job! NEVER GO TO AAMCO, PLEASE SAVE YOURSELF THE HEADACHE!

This man here will lie to and tell you that you have a transmission problem and charge you top dollrs like if you was getting serviced at the dealer. Half the time he does not replace anything on your invoice. He will give you such a low price for any service. But thats just to get you in the door. Once you authorize him to do any thing he has you hanging by a string. Again beware especially if your car does not move. He awlayz staes its a tranmission problem without doing a complete extrenal diagnostic. How do I know this. Lets just say a lil birdly that used to work there told me... Beware beware beware he is a snake... And especially if u have a newer car. For price he chrges you, you might as well go to the dealer and you'll get a better waranty.. Trust me... Beware... Beware... Beware... And becareful he will fool you « hide

Hi my name is D, I am having a problem with an AAMCO auto repair shop, located in queens, ny. I own a 1999 ford expedition, which had a check engine light on in the dash and also my A/C system was blowing warm air. I visited the aamco on june 24th, I spoke a man who claim to be the station manager/owner named "marty " he asked me what was the problem with my truck and i explained to him that my check engine light on in the dash and also my A/C system was blowing warm air. He told me that he could check the car, but that it would take about two hrs, and would have to leave him the truck. i arrived at his location at about 9:10am. I returned to the location and my car was still in the same parking space that i had left it. He didnt have anyone look at my car until about 1:15 pm. thats when i was told that they were not sure what was wrong with the car and that i can leave them the car and they would call me when the figure out what was wrong. I did not hear back from the shop for 3days, and they told me that they found something wrong with an engine valve"evr" which cost them 40 bucks as stated in reciept and that my A/C condenser had a leak. marty stated that since it was saturday there wasnt much that can be done. Marty stated that if i wanted to i can pick up my truck and use it for the remander of the weekend. when i returned monday at 8am which is when the shop opened, marty told me that since i ownn an extended warranty thru us fidelis, he would contact them and see if my repairs would be covered. Marty did not call me the entire day with any information. I called Marty about 8 times and he claimed that he was left onhold for 20 min and that he did not have time to waste, so he claimed that he left us fidedis a message for someone to call him back. I called the warranty company back myself and was able to reach them right away. I asked the person to please call the repair shop, so that marty would give them the results and we can move foward with m y possible claim. the company called the shop and told marty that they would cover 500 towards the A/C unit and not the valve. marty still did not let me know what was said until I called him for the 10th time that day. marty told me what the company would cover and that i would cover the rest. I asked him how long would it take because i really need my car and that i would have to get a rental, he said dont worried that by tuesday morning the work would be completed and my a/c would be working. the work was not completed until july the 3rd. when i went to pick up the car the a/c blew cold for about 2min and the check enegine light was no longer on in the dash, i went into the office and made the payment. when I got back in the car the a/c had stopped working and started blowing warm air once again.also my car started
shaking and even shutoff 2x on its own. i told marty who inturn said hey u can leave the car here for us again and pick it up on monday. i explained to him that i am still paying for a rental and that intotal they have had my truck for almost 2 weeks. he told me that my truck must have something else wrong but that he did what i paid for which was just change the condenser and that anything else was on me. i told him that doesnt make sense and he said that he has nothing else he can do for me. That my truck must have what he called an-underlined problem which they cant figure out yet. I told him to just refund my money which he sad "no way will i ever give u a refund as i said my work is done. I told him to look at this situation as a human being and not like a business man which he inturn replyed to by saying I am and since u think that I am looking at this like a bsiness man then u owe me 89.99 an hour for each hour that my worker has been looking at your truck since this morning. So now im out 351 from a rental 902.00 for the repair and my car still has no a/c. and now my check engine light is back on in the dash I can not afford to be ripped off by some con man. Stay away this place is a scam and the manager/owner is very rude. I really want to know can I sue them, and how do I go about it? anyone else with this drama please let me know.

Aamco Merriam is a prime example of why this website was created. Don't spend a dime here. I wouldn't let these people touch my car again for free.

We took our car here because we suspected a transmission problem and noticed their 'free' diagnositic test offer. Well all that means is that they drive it around the block and then tell you you need to pay for the $100+ to hookup it up to the computer for the real diagnostic test.

We fell for it and paid for the diagnostic. The diagnostic test indicated that the vehicle need a tune up ($400+). I questioned the employee 'John' because the issues seemed more significant than a tune up would fix. I was assured the tune up would fix the problems. Keep in mind this is a 2001 vehicle and we were at the point of not wanting to spend a lot of money on it and were comtemplating just getting rid of it. After the $400+ tune up we were then told that the vehicle actually needed a new catalytic converter ($600).

As you might imagine I was upset at this point. We would have never spent the $400 in the first place unless we were told it would fix the problem. I specifially questioned 'John' about this prior to the work being done. After the fact he claims that he told me that the tune up was needed to even see what the problem was. LIE, LIE, LIE. Again we wouldv'e never OK'd the $400 tune up. At this point I'm questioning the point of the $100+ diagnostic test that apparently can't diagnosis anything. I expressed my unhappiness to 'John' who is also apparently the customer service guy (that is hilarious...) and they offer $100 discount on the catalytic converter. No thanks, no way I'm paying these guys another penny. How about a refund on a portion of inflated tune up costs?!?! 'John' also wouldn't tell me who the name of the owner which is interesting on it's own... This place is very shady please don't waste your time and money here. Please also do an internet search prior to having work done here. I wish we would have! There are a number of other people with similar issues/problems.

We took our Honda CRV to their shop because the car would hesitate before shifting and then clunk when it finally did. AAMCO said we needed to rebuild it so they did. The car still had the same issue when they returned it. Two weeks later the whole transmission when out and stranded us. They rebuilt it again and the same hesitation problem was there. We kept taking it back and they would give us a runaround and not repair it.

The transmission went out again and we took it to another shop and had the transmission replaced with a used one. The new shop said the overdrive switch caused the hesitation and replaced it. The transmission probably never needed rebuilding. We tried to sue in small claims court but AAMCO got their attorneys to move it to a district court. We had to hire a lawyer and go to hearing and to court.

We lost since we signed AAMCO's agreement each time agreeing to their service terms. We ended up paying AAMCO for ruining our transmission and attorney fees. And then paid another shop to replace the transmission that AAMCO worked on twice. I would never recommend anyone go to AAMCO since they have inexperienced mechanics and don't stand behind their work.