We brought our '97 Toyota Corolla with 57,000 miles to Aamco (10231 Hull St. Rd, Midlothian, VA) in January because the transmission was slipping. Jerry (the service writer) was very pleasant and told us it may just need a simple adjustment, so we decided to bring it to there. As my husband and I have discovered, this was a big mistake.
When Aamco looked at it, they told us the transmission needed to be rebuilt that there were metal shavings in addition to there being some parts melded together (this seems to be a very standard Aamco response from what I've read lately in some of the complaints). Jerry assured us that if Aamco repaired it, our car would be better than before and that there was a 90% chance wed get another 150,000 miles out of the car.
They worked on the car from January 27 - 28. We paid $2,591.47 for the work. We were told it would probably feel a little stiff. Right from when we left Aamco, the transmission slammed into gear at the 35-40 mph range causing the whole car to shudder.
My husband stopped by Aamco Feb 4th and was told it just needed a minor adjustment so he brought it back on Feb 7th. Whatever they adjusted had no effect the car still slammed into gear at 35-40 mph.
We brought the car back to Aamco on Feb. 10th and we were assured it would be fixed and that yes, they had experience with Toyota transmissions and that they knew what they were doing. When the car still wasnt ready after 2 days we started pressing them because the car was needed for work and they wouldnt give us a loaner. On the 3rd day of the adjustment, Aamco told us they were doing a conference call to Ohio to try to figure out how to fix the problem. On the 4th day of the "adjustment" (Feb 13), Jerry told us they would stay until the car was fixed even if they had to work late. We called at 6:30 and there was no answer. At 7PM Jerry called saying we could pick up the car.
Were sure its no coincidence that nobody from Aamco was present when we picked up the car. The car was in worse shape than before we brought it in to be fixed in the 1st place: not only did the car still slam into gear, but now it also had a horrible vibration, very little power and had a strong transmission fluid smell. It was UNBELIEVABLE - we were stunned!
Since my husband needs a reliable car for work (sales), we couldnt afford to bring the car back for Aamco to attempt another repair. Also, at this point we had no faith in Aamcos ability to fix the problem. This lack of faith was compounded by the fact that during this adjustment period, we discovered there are currently over 60,000 complaints filed against Aamco.
My husband brought the car to Saturn the next morning and traded it in for a used car. The used car evaluator said he had never seen anything like it.
We sent several letters to Aamco's Headquarters in Bala Cynwyd PA (Mark Wurth, President & Keith Morgan, CEO) with copies to Tom Hughes III who is the owner of the Aamco on Hull St in Midlothian, VA. Mr. Hughes denied everything and will accept no responsibility for what Aamco did. He stated (in one of his letters back to headquarters in response to one of our letters) that the computer and road tests were satisfactory. They must need new equipment and competent test drivers. The owner made several comments in his responses that we should have brought the car back to Aamco. Whether or not Mr. Hughes wants to admit it, the truth is his technician (s) not only didn't repair the car, but made it worse than before it was brought in to be repaired. We could not in our right minds have brought it back again.
We believe either the technician is not owning up to the condition of the car after he worked on it and left if for us to pick up after hours, or the owner is trying to get away with this which seems to be a very common Aamco practice.
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER bring your car to Aamco.
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