AAMCO Transmissions of Boardman

I took my 2008 Grand Caravan and they said it needs a new transmission. They offered me a Certified rebuilt unit for $5,800. When I got the van back after paying almost $6,000 the problem still exists but mild. They just repainted the unit and returned in my van and charged me the certified rebuilt price. I spoke to their lawyer and admitted to me that the place did not replaced it.

I took my vehicle to this location for a transmission and engine code diagnostics. They took the vehicle out for a 5 minute drive and reported that the transmission was "toast" and that both catalytic converters were bad. They recommended a used transmission, converters, and O2 sensors. The repairs were made, bad on me I should have checked the price they were asking for the used transmission which was as much as a NEW transmission. The following week the transmission started acting up again so I looked at the invoice a little closer, they listed the wrong transmission being put in, so I went underneath to look at it and found what appeared to be my old transmission, I stripped a bolt hole when I did the fluid change and they had a shiny new bolt in the same hole that I put the old one back in. Called to explain what happened and Larry basically called me a liar and told me to bring it back in and they would "make it right." By this time I noticed what sounded like a small exhaust leak starting, and decided I would look into it after the weather got nicer. Another used transmission that took twice as long as the "first" one. Fast forward a couple weeks and the small exhaust leak is now a rumbling roar and it's 7 degrees outside with 6 inches of snow on the ground. The snow finally melts and I crawl under again and find that the clamp they reused had completely let go and my exhaust is completely open, my resonator and muffler are full of water, and my tailpipe has busted off the muffler. What I assume happened is the pipes came apart and as I drove the truck kicked snow and water up into the gaping hole in my exhaust, then froze at the end and broke the weld holding the tailpipe on. I call them AGAIN to ask for rework and I am told that they have a reputation of doing excellent work and that the only reason they "keep striking out with me is because I am a mechanic and can find fault in anything" and that "the exhaust clamp was probably bad." Me being a mechanic has no bearing at all on not doing a proper job.

Moving on to the follow-up repair, they pulled my truck in and Larry proceeded to come out and tell me that there was no water in my muffler and that its not their fault that they used a bad clamp on rotten exhaust, with out saying a word about it to me, and that I would have to pay them to fix it. Sprinkled through this tirade were several offers of physical violence, finally resulting in Larry flat out telling me to leave or he would kick my a[censored] as he walked through the door and locked it. My truck comes out and I leave with a bad exhaust repair. I don't care how stubborn or belligerent a customer is being, you don't threaten or insult them.

I would not recommend this place to anyone.

I was having transmission problems with my 2006 GMC Yukon so I took it there to get looked at. They said it needed replaced which I had them do. so far so good on the transmission, but its only been a few days. in the process of replacing the transmission they broke my starter and told me I would have to pay for it...$200. They charged me $283. The day after picking it up I had a 6 inch puddle of oil under it. This vehicle has never dripped a drop of anything. That also was my problem. They claim they didn't do anything to cause it. They won't work with me on that either. It will cost be another $480 to get the oil leak fixed on top of the $3362 they gouged me for. I called their international customer service line for help, don't waste your time. They'll just tell you that you need to work it out with the store manager. Don't waste you're time here, take it to a dealer.

Took my car to these folks to get a free estimate on transmission work. I live over 20 miles from this shop so there is a bit of travel time & gas to get there & back home. Plus I had to sit and wait while they took another customer in front of me and then crawled over every inch of my engine, which I did not ask or authorize them to do.

They refused to give me a written estimate for the transmssion work or any of the other work they claimed my car needed after I refused to let them fix anything other than the transmission cable on my car. They wasted about 3 hours of my time and try to sell me a repair I did not need.

I took my car here for a transmission work estimate ONLY because my regular mechanic is not a transmission mechanic and recommended I seek out a transmission repair shop. I did not need or want AAMCO Boardman to fix anything else on my car. Only the transmission cable. I stressed that and made it clear to him when I made the appointment.

They finally gave me a huge VERBAL estimate (over $300) of several items: serpentine belt (did not ask them touch or repair), transmission cable (the only reason I brought it to them), and oxygen sensor(also did not ask them to touch and had already been reapired).

When I told them, again, that I did not want them to repair anything other than the transmission cable he refused to give me a written estimate of any of the work because "he wouldn't get anything out of it" since I told him I was not going to have any other repairs done there.

He verbally told me it would be about $250 to fix my transmission cable but would not give the estimate to me in writing. He had quoted me $85 for labor to repair the cable on the phone. The part is not available after-market and costs $50 from the manufacturer (GM). Where the extra $100+ came from I will never know. He seemed to pick this number out of the air when I asked him how much it would cost to fix just the cable.

They also tried to sell me a reapair I did not need. He tried to tell me my oxygen sensor was bad. It is not. There were no errors on the dash and my mechanic ran a complete computer diagnostic on the car the day before I took it to AAMCO and did not find any error codes, including the oxygen sensor, at all.

After leaving AAMCO, I called my mechanic about the supposed oxygen sensor error code on the engine. I was told that they scanned my engine completely and the oxygen sensor was not giving of any errors. He asked if the check engine light was on. I told him it was not and had not been on at all. He told me that my check engine light would be on, which it was not, if the oxygen sensor was malfunctioning. I checked with another repair shop regarding the oxygen sensor and was told the same thing: the check engine light would be on if the sensor was giving off any error codes.

Last year I took my car to AAMCO Boardman for a transmission tune up. At that time the oxygen sensor did need repaired. Since that time I had it repaired. I believe they had it in the system that the sensor was bad and that is how they knew about it and tried to sell me a repair on it.

I left their shop and did not have any work done there. I subsequently contacted a few other transmission shops for an estimate on the cable repair, including a couple of other AAMCO shops.

The highest estimate I recieved from any of the shops was $155. One AAMCO shop quoted me $131 over the phone. How can other AAMCO shops do the same repair for much less money?

I would not recommend this shop to anyone. Ohio law states that customers are entitled to a written estimate of any repair work before the work is completed. They refused to give me a written estimate, wasted a bunch of my time, and tried to sell me a repair I did not need and overcharge me on the one I did need.

They've lost me as a customer forever. I will never take my car back there for any reason.