Cottman Transmission Failed to originally fix or warranty their work after 11 tries St Charles Missouri

12/4/06 Brian Standridge, the manager, called and said the car was done and ready for pick-up. I arrived at the shop and attempted to pay with my Visa card, but their bank card machine was not working properly. I asked to write a company check to them in lieu of the charge card and was told that only a money order or a cashier's check would be acceptable since their credit card machine was not working?! I returned with a cashier's check and the associated receipts indicating that the total amount of $2187.61 was paid minus the charge of $3.50 that the bank required to write the check. Glen Ernest, the franchise owner, agreed that this was fair and I was given the car and the associated warranty paperwork and told to return for a check-up within 200 miles or 10 days.

12/8/06 I brought the car back due to it having a noticeable perturbation while shifting from 2nd to 3rd and from 3rd to 4th gear. I described this to Brian as it's like the car can't decide which gear to be in, it shifts back and forth while the throttle remains in a fixed position. I agreed to drop the car off so that Cottman could examine their work the following Monday.

12/11-18/06 The car was returned twice in this period with both times resulting in a session where I drove the car and demonstrated the issue and Cottman claiming that their transmission work was correct, but they would check it out. Their take on the shifting issue was that it was due to the Mass Air Flow sensor acting up. I argued that it wasn't doing that when it was given to them initially and that I had paid careful attention to the symptoms and could now clearly say that they were the result of the transmission slipping and grabbing in a cyclic fashion. Nonetheless, I took the car and had it checked by the same technician that normally does the service work on this car and in fact the one that initially indicated that the transmission was worn. After a 20 plus mile test drive session with him and his Tech II OBD connected, his diagnosis was the engine is working fine; Cottman needs to check their work.

12/19/06 I came into the shop and sat down with Glen and Brian and discussed my issues concerning the quality of the service and repairs that I had received. It was agreed that I would take the car to Behlmann Pontiac and have one of their technicians examine the car and their recommendation would determine who stood responsible for correcting the car's symptom. While at Behlmann, the shop foreman, Art, examined the car. I made no mention of the car's recent repair history, only of the symptoms that were being experienced. After completing the in shop and road test, Art informed me that there was and issue with the pressure falling off in the direct drive clutch, 2nd gear circuit and that the engine, including the MAF sensor are working fine. I returned the car to Brian at Cottman, regurgitated what Art had said, and asked him to contact me when the repairs were completed.

1/5/07 The car was again picked up from Cottman after Brian indicated that the repairs were completed. I drove the car home and noticed two things: 1) the perturbation in the transmission was still there, while now appearing at a slightly higher RPM and 2) the brakes pulsed, indicating that the brake rotors were now warped, a condition I would associate with rough driving or excessive braking, like brake torquing.

1/8/07 I faxed the service center a letter detailing the issues that I have had with their service to my car and the frustration I have been caused due to their inability to make good on the repairs. I mentioned that the issue no longer only involves Cottman repairing the transmission that they kept swinging at and missing, it now appears that they are abusing my car while it is in their care and that their technicians are not capable of actually making the promised repairs that they were paid for.

I asked that they please have the decency to not continue to waste both our time, to discuss this matter and let me know what they would do to remedy the problem. I reminded them of their right to refund me the cost of the repairs in lieu of warranty service to the vehicle as well.

1/10/07 In a follow up call to Brian (no call was returned after the above fax was sent); Brian informed me that the car had a miss in it and that that was the problem and was not a matter of Cottman warranting the transmission. I then took the car back to Behlmann who scheduled a complete diagnostic on the car for 1/17/07.

I also called the Cottman Transmission corporate office to discuss the difficulty I was having with their St Charles, MO service center. I was directed to a voice mail system where I left a detailed message and asked that I be called back, no call was ever returned.

1/18/07 I picked the car up from Behlmann where they had performed a complete diagnostic on the car which revealed that I had a running light out, my headlights were misaligned, the engine and rest of the car were performing satisfactorily but that the transmission was exhibiting symptoms of a bad seal or valve body issue. Specifically, the transmission was loosing pressure causing the friction plates to slip under even light loads. The exact extent of the diagnosis could not be pinpointed further without disassembling the transmission.

1/19/07 I walked into Cottman where I met Brian once again. I explained what the diagnosis had revealed and he asked for a copy of the service printout. I advised that the diagnostic work that had just been performed by Behlmann cost me $253.85 and that I would be happy to give him the report, but I felt that the cost of this diagnosis was his liability and that he should pay for it since it was he that refused to perform any further work on the car until I could prove that there wasn't something else wrong with it. The report revealed that the problem with my car was the same problem that had existed since the first day I picked the car up from Cottman after they proclaimed that their work was completed and were paid for it. Brian told me to leave and don't come back, in fact, told me to sue them if I wanted my money back.

I then called Cottman Transmission Systems, LLC again and was again directed to a voicemail system where I left a detailed message of the nature of my call and again asked that someone please call me back regarding this issue. I also filled out their online customer service form. No response, so

I went to the court house, picked up an information packet for filing a claim in the court system and pursuant to the same, sent Mr. Glen Ernest a 10 day demand letter for $2441.46 that is due to me per the conditions of their limited warranty. The amount includes the original cost of the service, $2187.61, plus an additional $253.85 for a diagnostic service that they demanded be performed elsewhere before they would attempt further corrections to the transmission work performed at their center.

It became clear to me around this time that Glen was no longer at the facility on 5th street and might have skipped town. My 10 day demand letter came back unclaimed.

2/8/07 I stopped in at Cottman Transmission, 3745 Mexico Rd, St. Charles, MO and described my situation to Jim Ecton. Jim contacted Cottman's Regional Manager and then advised me to drop the car off on Tuesday night and they would begin the required warranty work.

2/13/07 Dropped off car at Cottman Transmission, 3745 Mexico Rd, St. Charles, MO per Jim Ecton's instructions. I contacted Jim Wednesday morning and confirmed that he had the car, keys and my contact information.

2/21/07 Car still has not been approved for repair by Cottman. I contacted Brian; Cottman's Regional Manager myself and explained my case. He called back with Jim Ecton on the line and explained that this job was falling through the cracks. Brian assured me that he would follow this case through the corporate framework to avoid any further delay. We all agreed that Jim would be contacting me Monday with an update.

2/28/07 Car presented as fixed including a test drive by the transmission mechanic. I thanked Jim and Charles for their assistance and went on my way. Within 25 miles, the car began to exhibit the same symptoms that it had shortly after it was presented fixed on 12/4/06.

3/8/07 Car was dropped off at Cottman per agreement between Charlie and myself as I would be out of town for several days flying, so I would not need the car. Charlie was good with this and indicated that he would have some answers when I returned.

3/15/07 Charlie said that Bob, his transmission mechanic, was on vacation and that they would not be able to do anything with the car until the following week. I told Charlie that I would like to pick the car up for the weekend since it had not been disassembled and use it as I would need two cars for some of the weekend and I didn't want to rent one unnecessarily. Charlie agreed.

3/19/07 Car was in the lot Sunday night, Jim said the Bob was pretty backed up today, so he would have to get back with me later with a course of action.

3/23/07 - Car still not fixed, Jim says that the Service Vehicle light was on and thought that that was the problem. Jim said that he would order a cam position sensor and call me back when it came in. I came in and drove the car off Cottman's lot, to this moment, I have heard nothing, which has been typical of everything related to my experience thus far.

During this time, I had given up on trying to have Cottman diagnose the problem, they were adamant there was no problem, yet everyone that drove the car besides them, including two GM dealers and two "tech shops" said "the car and engine are in fine shape, but something's wrong with your transmission". So I resigned to driving it until it hand grenaded, then, surely, there would be little doubt what was causing the issue.

8/13/08 - I had hoped that the car would destroy the transmission instead of just continuing to slip, that would have been a more direct way of locating the problem. As it is, it just continues to slip more and more. I noticed the lights were on at Cottman on 5th Street again and an acquaintance indicated that Mike Stilman now owned the franchise. Feeling that I may have just hit the wrong note with the original owner, I dropped the car off at Cottman for them to look at it again. Austin called back; first they couldn't reproduce the problem. After I explained in detail what the problem was, they were able to reproduce. Austin contacted me and suggested that they remove the pan and check the transmission - I concurred and explained at this point that it was a warranty issue and to do what he needs to get it fixed.

8/20/08 - Austin from Cottman called and said that there was nothing in the transmission pan and that the problem was a loss of power issue related to the check engine light. Austin was adamant that the car not be left on Cottman's lot after today (suspicious sounding). The caveat being, the car is having electrical problems (previously dispelled by Behlmann Pontiac, Ternary Chevrolet, Sparks Tune-up and Firestone) and Cottman doesn't want to work on the car unless the electrical problems are cleared. The car had no electrical problems when Cottman initially saw it in Nov '06, but after Cottman repeatedly taking the engine/transmission in and out of the car, now, according to them, it does and since they couldn't have cause this, I should get those problems fixed and bring it back. They'll gladly work on it after that.

8/25/08 - Once again, my car's engine and related electronics were given a clean bill of health, this time by Coffey Automotive, a well-renown auto tech shop. They performed some general maintenance aside from the diagnostic on the engine and I was out the door for $665.70. They also indicated that the car was electronically sound but the transmission had some issues.

9/26/08 - I picked my car up again from Cottman on 5th St after another extended stay there. I had taken Jason, the new manager, on an extended test drive, showing him exactly what the issue was. I explained that the shop that Mike Stilman had referred me to, Coffey Automotive, had been through the car and that they to agree that the transmission was faulty.

You can see the pattern here...

Cottman Transmission Centers only do a patch job on ailing transmissions; they do not "fix" them. You see, they are banking on the idea that you will not be able to continue to leave your car at their facility to be repaired extensively, eventually; you'll get tired of it and move on. Note the times and extended stays my car spent at their shops over the time span of this fix. Generally it was an out of car experience for 2 weeks or more at a time - most people can't cope with that. The "national warranty" is a joke since they never really fix the transmission and the shops seem to change hands regularly, so you'll never be able to take any legal action against them. All their ads say "OEM specs", but my car never worked as poorly as it has since I picked it up from Cottman and I've owned it since new.

When it was apparent that I could afford to leave my car with them to get the work done, they started referring to fictional "electronic issues" as the cause in hopes that I would eventually tire of trying to get my car fixed or the warranty would run out. They have kicked my job down the street for almost 2 full years now, its never been fixed and I'm taking to the dealer finally so that they can actually replace the failing transmission with an OEM unit, something I should have done 2 years ago.

In summary, my experience has taught me to avoid the "cheap" headache fix that you will get at Cottman. Pay the extra and have a dealer install a factory rebuilt unit. It'll work or you can always trade it to them if they say nothing's wrong with it :-)

Dan
St Charles, Missouri
U.S.A.

Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on Cottman Transmission