So my tranny died. I found Cottman Transmission in the paper and decided to give them a shot. Met Wade, the owner of the shop, and he made us feel very comfortable about the job. BTW, my car is a 1990 BMW 535i, automatic, with at the time 213,036 miles. The car would go in reverse, but not into any of the forward drive gears.
Before the car's transmission died, the car drove very smoothly with no odd sounds or anything. Shifts would be slightly rough, but not too bad. After waiting about 17 days in their shop, the car was finally done. Needless to say, I was excited.
I took the car out and first noticed its roughness at idle. That wasn't there before we took it in the shop. I gave it a rev, sure enough, it sounded like something below the car knocking and created vibration. I went back and asked Wade about it, and he said the tranny was fine.
His exact words, "that thing is bulletproof, you can drive it as hard as you want and itll hold up just fine". I was a bit skeptical about it, but took his word for it. I believed him. Biggest mistake of my life.
Sure enough, I tried to investigate the vibration and noises. Replaced the guibo, driveshaft mounts, and still nothing but vibration. Most mechanics I took it to were stumped. I had this great thing called a warranty, which was for 12 months or 12,000 miles, whichever came first.
Well, I never exceeded that 12,000 mile limit, however, I did exceed the 12 month period by a measly 2 months. And that is when the tranny went completely dead. Same symptoms as last time. How nice of this to happen just as the warranty is up. Now here comes my dillema.
I call up Cottman to find that they went out of business. The nearest shop, in Sterling, VA, say they will check it out for free, but thats about it. I can say goodbye to that $4000 I put into my car a little over a year ago.
I was lied to, and ripped off. I dont know what else I can do to resolve this matter. Now I am out of a car, and dont have the money to repair it, or but a new one. Thanks a lot Cottman Transmission.
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