AAMCO Richard Beware of AAMCO! Worst Experience and Now Out 5k After Transmission Failed Right After 12 Month Warranty Was Up Internet

Horrible, dishonest transmission repair experience! My car is in shop again: Diagnosis- "Your Transmission is Shot and Needs to be Replaced"

re: AAMCO, Anaheim, CA

After only 20,000 k miles after charging our extended warranty co. almost 5,000 dollars for a Saturn IOn transmission a little over a year ago, our car's transmission has went out again after AAMCOs 12 month warranty expired.

after taking the vehicle to the honest, courteous and customer appreciative Action Auto in Cypress for diagnosis and assessment, they confirmed the worst. The transmission needed to be replaced. We knew something was terribly wrong and feared the worst. After letting Action Auto know we has AAMCO replace transmission less than 20k miles ago, they viewed our paperwork with their mouths hanging open in disbelief that Richard, manager at AAMCO Anaheim, charged almost 5k for a "reconditioned" transmission.Car has warranty company's coverage  for a few more months, when calling warranty company, they will not cover the transmission again because two transmission jobs will be in excess of the 5500 the car is worth. We are basically in a mess because we do not have the money for another transmission, and my husband has recently been laid off of work. my daughter may have to quit school and her job because she was the primary driver of the vehicle.

When I called to speak to Richard, he was not empathetic at all. He mocked my new mechanic, Action Auto, and became irate and a bit nasty and in denial as I stated to him that not one but two mechanics had stated there was something wrong with transmission, and that there was something wrong with the pricing that the warranty company was billed, especially for a reconditioned transmission with a short warranty.

Firestone had asked us almost a year ago who did the transmission work, because something didn't sound or feel right. We had an idea something was not quite right also, but were told different each time we inquired.  We had brought the car back or called about it several times, within AAMCOS 12 month warranty,  but Richard just laughed, saying the car was just fine. We even had to bring it back when two different mechanics attempted to check or service the tranny fluid, but could not, because were afraid of stripping the bolt that had been placed on too tightly by AAMCO. We tried taking it back 3 times with the bolt issue, 15 miles driving each time. We were always tossed to the back burner with some excuse until they finally fixed it after car sat for a few days. Then Richard blamed the others (as usual) for stripping the bolt.

Today when I called AAMCO to inform them that we have a huge problem, Richard became angry at times within the conversation, that my mechanics, when reviewing,  said that in no way should a reconditioned tranny should have costed that much, had a short warranty, or should have to be replaced after only 20k miles. They also gave me some good info to bring up to him about good vs bad rebuilt transmissions, questions to ask Richard, and that the word reconditioned did not coincide with the warranty company being billled such an outrageous price. Richard had an excuse for everything and questioned me, while laughing, on "how dare these other mechanics question him". Richard just called me back having the audacity to tell me he could do another transmission for me for $2,800. No apologies for the trouble we are going through whatsoever. Just another price quote.

i am now checking to see if it was even legal to have my daughter who was a minor at the time, to sign for the bill, ok'ing the huge bill. The bill I signed was blank, ironically. And now the extended warranty money is burned up to have warranty company cover it (because they will not cover more than car is worth).  for a good transmission that has to now be put in. Again, only 20k miles later!