I bought a 1967 Ford Mustang that did not have the original engine or transmission. It was modified for racing then made street legal. I was having trouble with the dipstick tube leaking. I had to keep putting transmission fluid in the vehicle every third or fourth day. I noticed that the seal around the dipstick tube was not seating properly so I contacted Aamco to see about getting a new one. They happily agreed to help me out. What a nightmare that has been.
I dropped my car off with them to fix and since I was dropping it off i asked for an estimate on a shifter close to original as possible. I also asked them to check over the transmission. When they contacted me, I was told that I needed to have my transmission rebuild. I agreed to have them do it because they do advertise as being transmission specialists.
We talked about price, and I was given an estimate of around $800.00. I asked about getting another transmission put in. A used one. I was told that it would be less expensive and a better way to go with rebuilding because I wouldn't know what I was getting with a used one. I told them to rebuild it.
The car has a Hurst Promatic shifter in it but I did not have Aamco do any work replacing that. The estimate was too high. During the work on the transmission I was told by them that a few things were not hooked up and that they couldn't be. My reverse lights, detent cable and neutral safety switch were not connected because whoever put that transmission in butchered it. They said they may be able to hook those things up but I would need to get another shifter and it would have to be modified for them to do the work. I did not want another shifter.
When all was said and done I paid $1339.24 for a dipstick tube and rebuild transmission. I picked the car up and from the moment I drove it off the lot it didn't feel right to me. The shifter was not hooked up right and I had to go down twice to get it into reverse. When I'd be in low gear popping it up into drive it would go straight to neutral. When on the highway doing 55-60 the car would whine like it needed to go into a higher gear. I was afraid that I'd blow it up.
The car also had trouble starting. I'd have to play with the ignition turning the key on and off until the starter would engage and crank over. The car was not and did not perform like that before they worked on it. I noticed that my shifter cable was not hooked up right and two bolts where the transmission gets connected to the engine were just hanging in there. They weren't evened tightened at all.
I went back there a week later because they asked me to bring it in for a weekly check up. I informed them of all of the problems and concerns I had. They knew it was not the original transmission. The person whom i dealt with was Pam. She went out to start it but it would not start. I had to start it. I mentioned that it started fine until you touched it. I told her that my starter is misaligned. Well she did not take the blame for that and said that it was nothing they did. Well yes it is because you have to remove the starter to get the transmission out.
She took it for a drive and said it ran fine. I totally disagree with her. I mentioned about the way it shifted and again it was 'nothing they did'. That was all blamed on the shifter itself. Well that shifter was working properly before they touched it. I was very dissatisfied with their work. I did not get adequate responses to my requests and no fault was taken by them. She said that I could leave the car with them and they'd look over it. I refused. I did not trust them because it was worse than before and because they refused responsibility for my problems.
I took it to another shop to have it checked out. What they told me surprised me. I was informed that Aamco should not have touched that transmission. It was not designed for that car or engine. The transmission is designed for fuel injected engines and mine is not fuel injected. They also stated that Aamco should have refused to work on it based on everything that was disconnected. The transmission was too big for that car. They are to be transmission specialists so they should have refused to work on it unless I was getting another transmission put in it.
I really do believe that they were just trying to take someone for money and that someone was me. I have been pursuing a refund of some type for the past few months but to no avail. They are cold, heartless people. I contacted their customer service hotline to file a complaint and demanded a refund. They are a franchise store and a refund is a long shot. To make a long story short and to the point no refund was given.
I next contacted the Better Business Bureau about this and in the letter I received. No refund yet again. I am not going away and I hope Aamco understands this. They ripped me off by performing work on a transmission that they should have refused to work on. I had a 12 month warranty on it which states that its covered the transmission and defective workmanship. The whole job was defective because of how it ran and shifted and started after it left there. Oh, but I forgot... It was nothing they did.
Since then I have had a used transmission put in it costing less than their nothing work. I am getting another shifter installed which was also three times cheaper than what they quoted. I just wish they would fess up to a bad job they did and return my money. I am looking for a full refund, but would be happy with a partial one. If this goes on longer I may file for suing over stress and hardship issues. The other garage who replaced my transmission also said that they'd help me in any way to get my money back. There is more that I'd like to say about them but I don't want to write those words so I'll end. Whoever reads this DO NOT TAKE YOUR CAR TO ANY AAMCO. They suck!
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