AAMCO Transmission

I can trust their service and price. They do excellent diagnostic work. Rarely do I have to take something back too them twice, it is fixed right the first time. They are very professional. The price is pretty good, it could have been better.

They have always been really good. They don't repair anything that they are not supposed to. They don't try to sell me something that I don't need. I like them in that respect. The prices are excellent compared to the dealers. We started using them 2-3 years ago and we decided to keep our last two new cars and now they are beginning to age and there are major repairs that we have to do to them. Doing that is dearer and will cost like $3000 -$4000 but with AAMCO it $1500. The main thing that I look for in a mechanic is someone who is not trying to sell me parts. They need to fix what is broken and not something else.

My engine light had been going on and off for a couple of days. I called late on a Friday afternoon and asked if I could come in for a diagnostic (which I assumed I would have to pay for) and I was told to come right down for a free diagnostic. The code was pulled and the shop manager looked it up on the computer and showed me what the code indicated. It turned out to be a Knock sensor and I was told that it could be something as simple as it being loose or it could possibly need to be replaced. The sensor was bad so they replaced it. I also had them do an oil change. Additionally, they replaced some of the older fluids in the car and cleaned some terminals. I've had my car for 10 years and I take care of it so I know their prices are in line with other work I've had done. Service was performed in one day. All in all it was a positive experience and I will take my business to them again.

The soonest they rebuilt my transmission we discovered that the original problem was still there. What worse, after their work, the transmission was in worse shape than when I took it to them. They admitted that they didn’t rebuilt it properly. They blamed parts from Honda which was rather ridiculous. They tried the second time without success and only after the third time the transmission got better, but not quite right. All these repairs took over a month (three times with constant delays and broken promises).

However, rebuilding transmission did not fix the original problem, the one with which I came to the shop. In short, the transmission work was not really necessary. Unfortunately, they never admitted their mistake. At that point they simply claimed that transmission work was necessary anyway and the other problem can be fixed at the dealer.

I entertained the idea of suing them, but because it is difficult to prove anything after the transmission is rebuilt and old parts are gone, I abandoned the idea as too costly and got rid of the car (traded it in with a full disclosure of the problems) cutting my losses.

In short, no shop is all bad or all good. I am sure many people are okay with this AAMCO in Pasadena. However, the risks are too high. Even if their poor quality work affects 5 percent of customers, that is too high of a risk for major repairs. Even if for some reason you are drawn to that AAMCO, get “second opinion” from a dealer or any other shop. Don’t trust them.

Prompt service at a reasonable rate (Ford Dealership quoted $3,100). Transmission worked fine. On test drive, engine was idling low and stalling. Robert payed for an extra days car rental while his shop figured out it was a computer issue (needed rebooting after battery disconnect) and fixed it at no extra cost and without any hassle.

Robert was very pleasant on the phone (Saturday afternoon). He guaranteed the job would cost between $1200 and $1800. I went to the AAMCO website and chose the Pasadena location because it was the closest AAMCO to our house that ACCEPTED online coupons. My husband forgot to mention the coupon when he spoke to Robert on the phone. We dropped the car off two days later (Monday morning). When he tried to mention the online coupon offered on their website to the manager he was blown off, "not necessary, it's included in the price." Excuse me? You quoted us the price before you knew we had a coupon. Again, at pick-up we tried to discuss the coupon (Tuesday). Again we were told the same thing, it's included in the price. Not sure how or where our $100 dollar coupon saved us money. We were quoted a price that would be between $1200-$1800 without a coupon. Final cost, $1800 plus tax. Disappointing to say the least. We could have just taken it in to the Glendale location. It was closer.