johnceggleston Posted December 24, 2006 Share Posted December 24, 2006 Are you serial, its not a straight swap on the JDM transmissioni don't know. i would have thought itwould have come up before now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OB99W Posted December 24, 2006 Share Posted December 24, 2006 Maybe my is experience is unique, but the BBB Helped me recover $ 200.00 after other atempts failed. I'm glad that the BBB was able to help you recover some funds. However, my point was that they may not be the disinterested party to go to when evaluating the reputation of a business. Personally, I'd rather not have a reason to try to get money back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiny Clark Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 AAMCO, like all other national chain/whateveryouwannacall'em, is a transmission store. They sell transmissions so they can make a ton of money on parts markups. I made the mistake of going to MrTransmission in NC. After 1600 bucks, my tranny went out in less than 4 months (past the warranty of course). The guy came out and started talking to me like we were in a hospital and my child was dying and needed a new heart. I talked to a local shop guy, and he showed me a parts list book he got from a previous MrTranny employee that worked for him. It was sticker shock heaven. ALWAYS find a couple local ATRA certified shops and ask them for an estimate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john in KY Posted December 26, 2006 Share Posted December 26, 2006 Just have to put out there my dealer horror story. Event took place about 15 years ago and the car was an 88 Chrysler 5th Avenue. I was in Alaska and the wife in KY. She called to tell me she thought something was wrong with the transmission. I strongly advised her to not take it to the local Chrysler dealership but she insisted mainly because she and her family members always bought Mopar cars and trusted dealerships. Car was taken to the dealer and told to "just inspect and tell me what is wrong so I can then tell my husband". Wife was told the transmission needed rebuilt. Wife said I'll get back with you and the dealer said "how do you plan to get home because the transmission is now out of the car and in a million pieces?". Wife didn't know what to do so rented a car and authorized the repair even though no one had told her the transmission was coming out of the car. Wife drove the car for 2-3 months and then left the car in KY and joined me in AK for a year. We both returned 12 months later and I noticed the car had an oil leak under it. (Car was stored on a car port). Looked under the car, saw ATF had leaked from the speedometer cable where the dealer had slapped a gob of blue RTV. Transmission was covered with road grim and grease. Obvious to me it was an $100 junkyard transmission, not a dealer rebuild. Transmission lasted 4 months and then failed. No recourse because the 12 month warrenty had expired even though the car was stored for 12 months. Did I mention the dealer charged the wife $2300? Result: I replaced the transmission myself and sold the car. No one in my or the wife's family has owned a Chrysler product since this reaming and i can state with absolutely certainty neither the wife or I will ever buy another Chrysler product. Real shame because we both preferred Chrysler products all of our lives but we just can't put that dealership experience behind us. Note to Ford, GM and Chrysler: This is how you lose a buyer for life. Makes no difference if your product is good or bad when the dealership screws over the buyer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted December 26, 2006 Share Posted December 26, 2006 Since we are telling horror stories ... My sister Had (she sold it last august) a 3yo BMW. In those three years it had 4 transmissions. Seems that it liked to put itself in drive and reverse at the same time. The last time it happened they tried to blame her for the failure. What threw me off tranny shops, many years ago in a far off land i had a 1973 Suoer beatle with a semi automatic. The clutch actually went bad (it had a torque converter and a vacum operated clutch). They had the car for 3 weeks, and i never did get it back. They gave me the run around about parts, etc. One night a car ran a red light in front of a gasoline tanker. Neeldess to say a huge boom and fire ensued, and the tranny shop was at that intersetion. the car and the shop was melted. Just to show this is not a new scam... My faimily had a 1964 amc rambler wagon. This had to be the late 60's early 70's. The car had a torque tube, which was a tube that covered the driveshaft and mounted the rear axle to the transmission. One of the universal joints in the driveshaft went. the car had to go to a transmission shop. They had the car for 3 weeks. We almost lost the car, as my father went to the shop to find out the shop was for sale (this was before consumer laws). What should have been an all day repair was still not done in three weeks. All i know 2 days later the car was home repaired. I did not ask dad what he did (I was 8 i think). That was an AAMCO. The biggest reason for years that i would not by an automtaic car was because of tranny shops and thier scams. Automatics have gotten so much more betterbut the scams have yet to change. If my tranny was to go i would get a used one, as i dont trust tranny shops. nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericem Posted December 26, 2006 Share Posted December 26, 2006 Since we are telling horror stories ... My sister Had (she sold it last august) a 3yo BMW. In those three years it had 4 transmissions. Seems that it liked to put itself in drive and reverse at the same time. The last time it happened they tried to blame her for the failure. What threw me off tranny shops, many years ago in a far off land i had a 1973 Suoer beatle with a semi automatic. The clutch actually went bad (it had a torque converter and a vacum operated clutch). They had the car for 3 weeks, and i never did get it back. They gave me the run around about parts, etc. One night a car ran a red light in front of a gasoline tanker. Neeldess to say a huge boom and fire ensued, and the tranny shop was at that intersetion. the car and the shop was melted. Just to show this is not a new scam... My faimily had a 1964 amc rambler wagon. This had to be the late 60's early 70's. The car had a torque tube, which was a tube that covered the driveshaft and mounted the rear axle to the transmission. One of the universal joints in the driveshaft went. the car had to go to a transmission shop. They had the car for 3 weeks. We almost lost the car, as my father went to the shop to find out the shop was for sale (this was before consumer laws). What should have been an all day repair was still not done in three weeks. All i know 2 days later the car was home repaired. I did not ask dad what he did (I was 8 i think). That was an AAMCO. The biggest reason for years that i would not by an automtaic car was because of tranny shops and thier scams. Automatics have gotten so much more betterbut the scams have yet to change. If my tranny was to go i would get a used one, as i dont trust tranny shops. nipper Wow? never heard of such a thing happening, are you just kidding, or telling the truth, but that sound awful,i mean it MELTED! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montana105 Posted December 28, 2006 Share Posted December 28, 2006 After reading through this long post I've got to add that while I support a qualified mechanic earning a good living I have a real issue with shops that charge flat rates,an estimate of the time believed to be needed per a book that the shop believes is reliable x a per hour rate,up here in Montana it's approaching 90.00 per hour,the book says it takes an hour to change a rear turn signal on a 79 Ford pickup-you get charged 90.00 plus incredibly expensive parts,to remove two screws and twist a bulb out.These shops do eat it with inexperienced techs that do the wrong things,I accept it's part of their education,but they also have experienced techs leaning over their shoulders teaching them the tricks,but those techs also teach bad habits llike cutting corners that just don't fit with todays engineering,like using used parts in an area where a new part is totally needed and for the cost of the new part compared to used totally stupid to use inferior.Well I'm just ranting due to experiences with both dealerships and reputable shops,I can't believe this hasn't been cleared up in the automotive world. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted December 28, 2006 Share Posted December 28, 2006 Wow? never heard of such a thing happening, are you just kidding, or telling the truth, but that sound awful,i mean it MELTED! They never did "find" the driver of the other car. they barely found the car itself. nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Posted December 28, 2006 Share Posted December 28, 2006 They never did "find" the driver of the other car. they barely found the car itself. nipper Years ago, my brother took his brand new AMC car to the dealer for service. That night a tornado picked the AC unit off the dealership's roof and dropped it on his car. The car was totalled. Personally, I think the twister did him a favor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twagoon Posted December 28, 2006 Share Posted December 28, 2006 AAMCO is the worst. I just bought a 96 Legacy sedan that AAMCO had supposedly replaced the clutch and all associated bearings within 6 months of my purchasing the car. I noticed a throw out bearing noise while driving it to my mechanic for a pre-purchase inspection. While they were inspecting the car I called the owner and asked her who had replaced the clutch and how long ago. She told me the receipt was in the glove box. When I looked at the receipt I was shocked. They charged her $2000.00 parts and labor plus resurfacing the flywheel. On the receipt it stated that there was a throw out bearing noise and that the parts warranty was only 90 days due to the noise. I suspect that they did not even replace all the parts and saw that it was a young female bringing the car in. Thus they decided to make some money. I had the same job done, plus had the rear main and the rear baffle plate thingy (yes that is the technical term) resealed, ball joint replaced (with my part), and new gear oil done for around $550.00. I know that price isn't the best or the worst but I trust the people doing the work. Heck I worked there for 4 1/2 years, I was not a tech though, just a service writer. Sorry for the long rant, I know it has all been said before. I just hate to see people going to AAMCO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilroy Posted December 28, 2006 Author Share Posted December 28, 2006 One person CAN lift a Suburu transmission onto the back of a pickup, I did it without knowing how heavy it was. I was trying to ship it to somebody and it was the weekend, all the couriers were closed at this time. I took the tranmission to Greyhound, hoping they would sent it. They will not ship anything over 100 lbs., so they put the transmission up on their large scale in the back of the bus station with a pallet jack. It was 240 lbs! I used to be a musclehead, but I got married about 4.5 years ago and haven't been to the gym since, was I ever surprised that I could still lift that much! Hey nipper, I used to own a '64 Rambler 660 (a '66 Rambler as well). It was purchased brand new by my great uncle and given to my sister for a Christmas present in '87, then I bought it off of her a couple of years later. I had the interior completely redone in deep brown crushed velvet and spent ~60 hours using 'Color Back' on the paint to get rid of the old paint and it looked great when done. One of the best features of the car was the two reverse S hooks that went below the rear bench seat and allowed the front bench to recline right level with the rear seat. It was about the size of a double bed in there fully reclined! BBB is only as good as the people working there. I have a friend who worked for the BBB for awhile and he said they were most interested in making money from companies purchasing their representation than actually providing help to customers with complaints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted December 28, 2006 Share Posted December 28, 2006 Kilroy .. We had a 1961 American 4dr sedan that was moms car in the mid 70's. We laos had at the same time the Rambler american wagon. And my favorit was my 1969 Rambler american wagon... all with the fold down bed features. Great for relaxing after a long date (hehehehe). Guess thats why i like wagons. i like my OBW since the rear seat will fold flat, too bad the front ones wont, but i think saftey rules sort of killed that. New outbacks the seat bottom doesnt flip up to allow that. nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 Transmission shops are the only place i fear to go. This is the last part of the automotive industry that is still really shady. nipper the other still really shady part of the automotive industry are towing companies. our company's suburban and testing trailer wrecked last year, both rolled over on the hiway. thankfully no one was hurt. the towing company brought out some big stuff rolled both back over, loaded them on a trailer, strapped them down and towed them to the repair shop, about 25 miles. the bill for recovery was 1200$, but that wasn't the worst of it. they charge a 700$ mileage fee. i just came across the invoice this week and i couldn't believe it. i also couldn't believe that the company paid it. this happen before i was hired. towing companies and tranny shops give good mechanics a bad name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cz777 Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 AAMCO, like all other national chain/whateveryouwannacall'em, is a transmission store. They sell transmissions so they can make a ton of money on parts markups. I made the mistake of going to MrTransmission in NC. After 1600 bucks, my tranny went out in less than 4 months (past the warranty of course). The guy came out and started talking to me like we were in a hospital and my child was dying and needed a new heart. I talked to a local shop guy, and he showed me a parts list book he got from a previous MrTranny employee that worked for him. It was sticker shock heaven. ALWAYS find a couple local ATRA certified shops and ask them for an estimate. i too been burned by mr.transmission back in 1990 - payed for a rebuilt tranny installed in Tennessee and live in va .....it was pile of crap -more like spray can over haul .......i got a 3 year warranty nation wide ...2 years later my poor subb '78 dies .....tranny blew the mid-chamber seal the seal which divides the final drive from rest of the tranny ....poor sub it was a great small car -no rust etc sold her in 92 for next to nothing .....main reason due to bring very sick at the time ...i dont trust most of them tranny shops now like mr.tranny same with ammco heard more bad of them too !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tirod Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 And open ended repair with no written estimate of costs was agreed on, and that is what has resulted. Allowing someone with NO previous experience to work on one of these - including myself - is also questionable. I spent about 6 hours online over a period of two weeks until I understood exactly the correct procedure to install the torque converter, and then, diagnosing a bad solenoid that came in the used trans. The rationalization to spend more on the transmission than the car could sell for is known at being uneconomically repairable. Most choose to scrap the car on the spot when definitive evidence exists. I had the problem recently, after replacing the motor, the trans went. I was already in over my head, bought a replacement and installed it myself. I now own a car worth about 2.5X what it would sell for. Nobody else to blame. When sourcing my solenoid, it came from the old one, took about 15 minutes and a salvage yard with a core would be as quick. I agree, it's highly suspect that it would take weeks to source one and that it had to be made. I agree the shop has some questionable practices but all in all, with the expertise demonstrated concerning the sales hijinks and how they were countered, it seems the basic decision wasn't at the same level of discretion. Anybody can say "Sue the bums" but it's not their money they are spending to get an attorney on retainer - and it's very common in this day to overlook the basic responsibility that the owner has when they agree to the repair in the first place. That will be a major issue in any legalities. It's difficult to complain about getting soaked when someone walks outdoors into the pouring rain with no umbrella. I'm still drying off myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darsdoug Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 I delivered parts to various repair shops all over the Seattle area about twenty five years ago. They supplied parts for Ford, Subaru, and Izuzu. The norm was usually a 150% markup on everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auto2 Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 what is the cost of buying a reman trans from subaru for that car? cause something is rotten in denmark........:-(def lawyer time. good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brus brother Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 Have car towed to a shop to install a junk yard/rebuilt if available. Open complaint/chargeback with CC company as soon as it is off their premises. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 FYI: this thread is from 2006. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brus brother Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 FYI: this thread is from 2006. That's outrageous! How long do they expect this guy to wait to get his car back? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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