This is a letter that was emailed to me from another AAMCO customer.
I have no personal knowledge of what took place here..I post the letter in the
interest of sharing experiences - and am always looking for more. Good or bad.

Thank your lucky stars that AAMCO only got you for forty dollars. I have been
searching the internet for stories just like yours to help me in resolving my
complaint against this company.

It all started in July of 1996. My transmission completely failed,and like
you, I took it to the AAMCO center in Culver City, CA based on the company's
national advertising. The transmission was replaced with a new, rebuilt unit
at a cost of $2076.70.

Problems with the new transmission started the day after I picked up my car.
For no reason at all and without warning the car would stall. When I went back to
AAMCO for my ten day recheck, I told them about this problem. They said they
checked it out and no problems were found. The condition of my car only
worsened in the following weeks.

There was no reverse when the car was cold. Late shifting into 2nd gear. And
when it finally did shift it just about threw me through the windshield it was
so hard. It was also falling out of gear. I took it back to AAMCO again.
Telling them everything that was going on. They said leave the car overnight
and we will check it out tomorrow. The next day I went to pick up the car and
again they said they could find no problems. In the following weeks and
months I took my car back to AAMCO approximately 5 times, each time with the
same outcome. "They could find no problem." I was also treated like an idiot
not knowing what I was talking about. I can only conclude this behavior was
brought on because I am a woman.

I don't know any of the mechanics of a car, this is true. However, I did know
how this car was suppose to feel and act while it was running. I had been
driving it for almost ten years. I knew that when you put your foot on the gas, the car
wasn't suppose to rev for three to six seconds before it shifted into 2nd or
3rd gear. And I also knew that it was suppose to go into reverse without
hesitation.

After spending two thousand dollars on a new transmission I didn't have the
money to go anywhere else. So I just had to live with the problems I was
having. AAMCO had been no help at all and had made it very clear they were
not going to help. They had gotten my money and that was good enough for
them.

In March of 1998 I took my car to an independent transmission shop. I told
them some of what was going on, but not everything. They kept the car
overnight and when I went to pick it up the next day not only did they confirm
what I had told them, but also found the problems that I had not mentioned.
They told me that the transmission needed rebuilding and that it would cost as
much as $1400.00 plus tax. Two days later, I took it back to AAMCO. I did
not tell them about the independent evaluation of my transmission. But again
I did tell them what was going on with the car. They tried to get me to pay
the forty dollar diagnostic fee, but I fought that tooth and nail. They said
that since the car was out of warrantee I would have to pay the fee. I
explained that this was an ongoing problem that had never been resolved. By
now there was a new manager at this AAMCO and his attitude was that since he
wasn't there when the problems started, it wasn't his responsiblity.
Eventually he agreed to waive the fee. "Let us keep it over night and we
will check it out" I was told yet again and I did. The next day when I went
to pick it up I was told the standard line. "No problems were found" However
on the worksheet they wrote that they had adjusted the TV cable at no charge.
My question was, if no problems were found why did this TV cable, whatever it
is, need adjusting. The people at the AAMCO shop could come up with no
explination for that. Two days before I had been told that I needed to have
my transmission rebuild and these people were telling me that they couldn't
find anything wrong.

I moved in July to a different state. I had my car shipped because I knew it
would not make the drive across the country. The problems persisted with my
car. Without the money to get it fixed and with no help from AAMCO I just had
to live with it. That was until four days ago when my transmission completely
died. I took my car to another independent transmission shop and was told
that it was going to be about $2000.00 to get it fixed.

I called the corporate offices of AAMCO and explained the situation to them.
They told me that if I wanted I could take the car to an AAMCO in my area and
it would be fixed with "price consideration". However they didn't tell me how
much "consideration" I was going to get. I told them that I wanted it fixed
for no fee since it had never been done right to begin with. I was told that
it was out of warrantee and that they couldn't do that. They also tried to
blame this on me by saying that I should have called them, meaning corporate
sooner. It seems as though they are only willing to help as long as the
warrantee is in effect. I was told to call the local AAMCO center, and talk
with the owner or general manager, that they had been advised of my situation
and would help. Of course they would charge me at a "price consideration"
fee. I called the local AAMCO center and asked for the owner. He had
answered the phone. I started the conversation with "hello, my name is and I
want to talk about getting my car repaired." His reply was "what is wrong
with your car" I asked if he had talked to corporate reguarding my situation
and his response was "yes, but they didn't tell me your name". Then he
quickly passed me off to someone else. This is incompetence in it's highest
form.

My car still sits at the independent transmission shop. I will not take it
back to AAMCO and I urge others to find another transmission repair shop. I
will fight to get my money back. I refuse to let these people work on my car
again. I have no faith or trust in AAMCO. With the information I have found
on the web, this is not an isolated incident. Certain AAMCO centers have been
fined for everything from performing unnecessary repairs to charging for
rebuilt transmissions that did not meet the minimum requirements for the
rebuilding of a transmission.

Please post this letter to save others from the time and money AAMCO has taken
from me.