COTTMAN TRANSMISSION RIPOPFF, TRANNY REBUILT, PROBLEM STILL THERE, MANY ATTEMPTS TO FIX BUT NEVER FIXED; HONEST MANAGER PROBABLY FIRED OR QUIT. HUNTINGTON BEACH California and Nationwide

I had a 1997 Ford Taurus with a slipping transmission. I took it to Cottman, where the manager, a very nice and seemingly knowledgeable mechanic, diagnosed the tranny and said basically it needed to be rebuilt. I said O.K. to the $1,700 estimate and they rebuilt it (I guess).

The tranny was fine during the warranty period, but about a week after the warranty expired, the tranny started acting up again --shifting hard and slipping. I took it back, and the manager generously agreed to repair it under the warranty since it was so close to the expiration date.

When I got the car back, it was fine -- for awhile; then it started doing the same thing AGAIN. So I took it back, they checked it out, said they repaired it (at no charge), and I picked it up.

Again, it was fine for awhile, then started acting up again. I wound up returning to Cottman SEVERAL times, and each time was told they really were not sure what was causing the problem. The manager, to his credit, said he vowed to find and fix the problem, even if they had to rebuild the tranny again. It was "repaired" several times (all at no charge, by the way).

The last time I took the car back, the manager who had been there was gone, and the new one seemed as though he did not want to go into any details about what happened to the previous manager. He told me he was familiar with my car, and that it was out of warranty. I suspect the original manager was honest, or at least mostly so, and the corporate office either moved him to another location or fired him, or else the guy, if he was honest, got disgusted with the dishonesty and quit.

One day driving home from work, the tranny finally died, and I had to be towed home. I wound up selling the car to a mechanic friend who said he would repair or replace the tranny and sell the car.

Stuart
Huntington Beach, California
U.S.A.