In February of my transmission went out on my 2001 Saturn SL1. It had 105k miles on it at that point. I needed a car and didn't have the opportunity or the cash at that point to purchase a new car. With the lower mileage on this vehicle, I thought having a rebuilt transmission put in my car was my best option.
I found the closest transmission shop to my house, which happened to be this Aamco shop located on Broadway in Crystal (Minneapolis address). After speaking with them, they towed my car to their shop and told it would be $2300 to put in a rebuilt transmission. I figured $2300 then would be enough to get me at least another 4 years/95k miles before something else major happened to the vehicle.
At the end of June I pulled out of my driveway and halfway down the block my car would not move anymore. I got out, looked behind me and saw a trail of liquid behind the car. It turned out that my transmission blew and all the fluid drained out. I had it towed to this same Aamco figuring they would be able to replace/repair this for a minimal fee since I had just gotten it put in 16 months prior.
I talked to Rich at the shop who said it may only be $100 to fix the problem and he'd look into it. He called me back the next day to explain to me that the vehicle had a good run, but there was nothing he could do. I told him that I could not believe that a transmission would only last 16 months and 25k miles. He told me that they should last much longer than that, but mine only had a year warranty on it so there was nothing he could do and I would need to have a new one put in. We talked a little longer and he said he would talk to his district manager to find out if there was something more he could do.
He called me back later that afternoon and told me he had a "deal" for me. His "deal" was to give me a brand new transmission for $1600. I explained to him that I did not want to put another $1600 (totalling almost $4k) into the vehicle, especially giving more money to the same company that sold me the last one that lasted only 16 months. I told him I could not do anything for more than $1k. He told me he'd check into and get back to me if there was anything else he could do.
It is now a week later and I have not heard from him. I had to purchase a new vehicle to get to work. I sold the Saturn with no transmission for $500.
The people at Aamco have been very polite. I have nothing against Rich and the staff. If you are looking to purchase from them, however, I would definitely shop elsewhere as you do not want to pay over $2k for something major only to have it break down a short time later. There are plenty of other transmission shops out there willing to fix their mistakes.
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