AAMCO for Transmission Repair?

[jdlowery]

All,

I have a question for the brain trust. It appears that my '03 Acura MDX will need transmission work or replacement, again, and I'm wondering how many of you have used AAMCO for repair. This will be the second transmission. The first was replaced under warranty. The SUV has close to 280K miles on it with only about 50K on the second engine. If the price for repair is too great it may be time to get rid of it and find a used pickup truck. Basically, I need this vehicle for towing motorcycles.

What do you guys think?

Thanks,

JDL

[craigster59]

No. Didn't have a good experience with my LandCruiser. Expensive, big on the upsell and never did run right until i took it to another independent.

[ossiblue]

My only experience with Aamco was many years ago--early 80s. Our Volvo wagon's auto trans locked up. Aamco fixed it, but the repair failed very shortly there after. They fixed it again, same result. Third time was the charm. They told me the problem was if the trans overheated, the drillings/ports within the case became distorted and would cause the failure. They did the repairs with used tranny cases and, eventually found one that did not have the distortion. After our repair, they told us they no longer worked on Volvos.

In short, they did the work and stood behind it. They lost money on us. Each facility is a franchise so results may vary.

[Dantilla]

A franchise is hit or miss. Mostly miss, in my opinin. They have access to the national marketing campaigns and name recognition, but they are still just a local shop.

Find a local shop that does not need those crutches to be successful. They stay in business by running a good business, which usually means earning repeat customers.

Then there are the flakes who stay in business through advertising low prices that attract new customers, then giving them "the bad news" once their tranny is just parts scattered on the bench. Pay us more to fix this mess, or we'll give you all your tranny parts in a cardboard box. But we offer 90 days, same as cash!

Get recommendations from others in your local area. They may even recommend AAMCO.

[Mike Billings]

AAMCO shops also have access to AAMCO national technical database, and a hotline for any tech questions. I've heard it's an awesome resource and they use it constantly. They have the latest info on any factory updates for your trans as well.

My buddy George at AAMCO built my 915 once. No problems. Didn't charge me either!

Used to drink with those guys!

[Mike Billings]

Forgot to mention that the Acura down the street sent all their trans builds to the same AAMCO. This Acura (in Illinois) was consistently awarded #1 service in the country.

So as the one post above says, hit or miss.

[flatbutt]

No!

[GH85Carrera]

From what I understand AAMCO is a total crap shoot. If you are lucky and get a good local owner, great. Often you get a local jerk that does not know how to fix anything.

I am lucky enough to have a local shop that is not affiliated with any chain. The owner has been doing transmissions for over 25 years. He only does automatic transmissions. I drove over my El Camino with a tired slipping Turbo 350 and he replaced it with a built 2004R with a shift kit. He tweaked the shift linkage and swapped out the transmission cross-member with the one I supplied for him. He did it all in one day. Next to the fuel injection that I converted it to it was the best thing I ever did to the Elky.

[fastfredracing]

Id be shocked if aamco is building that unit in house. I think ammco has their own rebuild center, or supplier .
Any good indie wrench can buy a new unit from Trans Star and install it .
I have not done an mdx yet, but from what I understand, it is a big ugly job . My buddy at the trans shop hates r&ring them .

[aigel]

I would definitely have a look at the local AAMCO compared to other transmission shops. Don't assume the are all the same. Use YELP for guidance. I have used them for my Sequoia. The shop was in Glendora, CA. Yelp has it at 3.5 stars, which is pretty good. Shops are notoriously slammed with bad reviews, sometimes for good reason but often also by clueless customers that believe they've been wronged.

I had a good experience. It helps if you are a car guy of course and can go over the quote with a fine toothed comb and make sure they don't sell you thinks you don't need.

They built the transmission very well. It held up for >100k miles before I sold the Sequoia. They let me come by and have a look at it apart. The guy doing the work walked me through it etc.

G

[Craig T]

I had a bad experience with one in Orange Co on my daughter's Honda Civic. They're worse than Wells Fargo when it related to up-selling....The one in Thousand Oaks has a terrible reputation. But, they are franchises and that makes each one different. The ethics of the franchise owners means everything.

[Dantilla]

Originally Posted by Dantilla

A franchise is hit or miss.

Originally Posted by Mike Billings

... hit or miss.

Originally Posted by ossiblue

Each facility is a franchise so results may vary.

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

From what I understand AAMCO is a total crap shoot. If you are lucky and get a good local owner, great. Often you get a local jerk that does not know how to fix anything.

Originally Posted by aigel

Don't assume the are all the same.

Originally Posted by Craig T

But, they are franchises and that makes each one different.

Notice a trend here?

[asphaltgambler]

Uh....no. Franchised fleecing of your wallet.

You should research more options near you.

[aigel]

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

Id be shocked if aamco is building that unit in house. I think ammco has their own rebuild center, or supplier .
Any good indie wrench can buy a new unit from Trans Star and install it .
I have not done an mdx yet, but from what I understand, it is a big ugly job . My buddy at the trans shop hates r&ring them .

Do you know for a fact? My trans was done right there by a "late career" transmission specialist. I was able to come by when he had it apart and he walked me through it. I'd ask all these questions. Even an independent shop may ship them to a low wage state with quick turnaround. It is done a lot these days, especially in CA, where a trip to nearby NV, AZ, UT will save a lot of $.

G

[aigel]

One upside of a franchise is that you may have better recourse if they mess up. PLUS, you will be able to have warranty coverage anywhere in the nation, i.e. if it blows on a road trip.

My suggestion is to look at 2-3 local shops but don't exclude AAMCO.

G

[asphaltgambler]

Also check with your local Acura dealer for factory re man units. They may prove to be very competitive in price / warranty.

[1990C4S]

I would try a Honda forum. Their transmissions are hardly bulletproof, lots of people across the country will have gone through the same thing. You will probably finds someone nearby who can recommend a good independent shop.

[Steve Carlton]

I called a friend of mine (Phil) a former Acura service manager at Oakland Acura and he speculated that a factory reman installed by a dealer would be in the $6,500 range. He didn't know if they could even get the part anymore by now. He suspects that an independent would probably do the job for around $4,000. A good guy to call per his recommendation would be Jim Nielsen at Berkeley Minicar. Drop Phil's name, he'll know him. I know Berkeley Minicar has a very good reputation.

[jdlowery]

Thanks for all the input. I called my local independent mechanic to go over some options for me. Repair vs Replace with some numbers. I'll see what he comes up with. On the other hand, it's a 14 year old vehicle. Do I really want to put more money into it? Decisions, decisions.

Thanks for the name and shop Steve and the numbers. I think we met quite a while ago on a ride to the Junction on our R1100's.

I will post a similar question to the MDX forum but I wanted to hear what you guys thought about AAMCO first.

[aigel]

Jim,

Towing is probably not the best idea with any FWD vehicle. The transmission is very small for space / weight reasons and physics aren't in your favor. Personally, 2003 and that mileage is getting pretty dang old. My Sequoia was of the same vintage / mileage. I don't regret letting it go.

You could buy a used truck that's made for the job of towing ...

G