The Cottman Transmission Service on Sugar Creek repaired the transmission in my car approximately 2 years ago to the tune of nearly $1500. The sales staff at Cottman assured me that the transmission had been completely rebuilt and offered their warranty of 3 months / 3000 miles.
Within weeks of the repair, I returned to have further warranty work performed as shifting was very rough and the car ran terribly as a result. Having repaired the vehicle to my satisfaction, I proceeded as normal with driving it and experienced no noticable problems for approximately 35,000 miles.
About three months ago, I was having problems with the transmission not shifting into overdrive (a condition that the car's computer creates to facilitate a "limp home" mode, as I later discovered). Uncertain as to what the problem was, and having had a marginally satisfactory experience in dealing with Cottmann in previous repairs, I called and had Cottmann tow my car to their garage for an evaluation of the problem.By the end of the business day, I recieved a call from a woman who works on the Cottmann sales staff and she informed me that the transmission would again require a complete rebuild and that the cost of this repair was uncertain, but that it would fall within the $800 -$1300 range in order to get me back on the road. I told the woman that I needed to sleep on it and that I would contact her the next day with a decision. (This is an older car, and I had been considering a trip to the dealership in the next few months to buy something newer, anyway).
Shocked and awed that I would be up the creek for at least another thousand dollars, I began to research my problems on the web to see if I could find any valuable advice on what steps to take when dealing with a bad transmission. The car is a Chrysler, and one site that I found suggested that many of these shops do not use the proper fluids as approved by Chrysler in the Automatic transmissions and that this was one potential source of "limp home" issues. The site also outlined several potential electronic problems that could cause the "limp home" mode to initialize that were wholly unrelated to the actual transmission. These suggestions included changing the fluid and filter to the proper type, needing to have the CPU reprogrammed at my dealership, and disconnecting the battery for an hour, reconnecting it, then doing a series of shifting maneuvers to "retrain" the computer. While some of this seemed a bit unorthodox, the maintainer of the site claimed to be an ASE certified Master Technician with over 25 years experience in Chryslers, so I took all of this into consideration in my decision.
The following morning, my decision was clear - I was not going to invest this kind of money in an aging car under any circumstances, and I had several ideas that I could try on my own to perhaps address the problem and get me back on the road on the cheap. I made the call to Cottmann and expressed my wishes that I would not want to go forward with any repairs at this time, and that I would come to pick the car up later that morning.
Immediately, the woman on the sales staff began to try sweet-talking me into changing my mind (the car is so beautiful, it's really nice, etc..). I stone-walled her and she asked if she could put me on hold for a moment. I obliged, and when she came back on the phone, she claimed that she could guarantee completion of the rebuild for $750 and that I should do this. I was taken aback, after all this is anywhere from $50 to $450 less than she quoted me for the exact same job only 24 hours ago. She assured me that the work would be of the highest quality and that it would be foolish to pass up this opportunity, as they would completely rebuild my transmission for this low price. She cited computer warning codes and metal shavings in the fluid as evidence that this rebuild was necessary. Giving her the benefit of the doubt, and curious to meet with her face-to-face, I told her that I would visit the garage to get a closer look at the problem and to finalize my decision.
Well, I drove down to the garage with a family friend who has been a diesel mechanic for the better part of three decades to assess the situation. Upon arriving at the garage, the woman again began her sweet-talking routine. As soon as she sensed any doubt (within about a minute and a half), the confrontation became heated and she began using FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) techniques to sway my decision. Within five minutes, I told her that this was all irrelevant. All I wanted to do was have them change the filter and fluid (using the proper Chrysler-Approved ATF), and then I would drive the thing home and take my chances.
Well, the pitch continued for at least another 15 minutes. First she contradicted her earlier statement that my transmission would be rebuilt by stating that they would install a "remanufactured" transmission from their warehouse for $750. (In retrospect, I believe that this might have ben related to a statement I made to her concerning the possibility that I might purchase a remanufactured transmission from a website and install it w / the help of the aforementioned family friend).
Her next strategy was somewhat odd, as she suggested that they were unwilling to change the filter and fluid, since this would cause further damage to the transmission! She also stated that the type of transmission fluid used in the Chrysler was not important, and that "everybody who works on transmissions" knows this to be a fact! Since I had read so much on the ASE Master Tech's website, my lightbulb went off at this point.
After all, why be concerned that you might further damage an already useless transmission, unless you had knowledge that the transmission was not, in fact, useless. Furthermore, why suggest that the recommendations of the engineers who built my car are irrelevant? It was all just too shady in my opinion.
Finally, after some "good cop/bad cop" between her and the manager, I was able to have them agree to my wishes. I picked up the car the next day and drove it home to perform the "battery disconnect" method from the website. Now, over three months later (long enough to have outlived any warranty that Cottman would have given me for my $750) the car runs well, I've had no strange shifting problems or "limp home" mode, and I am in a good position to go shop for a new car with the money I decided not to give Cottman Transmission.
While I cannot be certain that Cottmann was out to rip me off in this case, I have serious doubts about their business practices as a result of the transactions outlined in my little essay above. The most disconcerting part of the exchange involved the sales staff's statement about the non-importance of Chrysler-Approved ATF in a Chrysler-Engineered Automatic Transmission. If any Chrysler owners out there hear this from your mechanic, don't walk but RUN away and find someone, anyone else to work on your car. I was also disappointed with the general state of the sales staff's treatment towards both myself and my mechanic friend considering that, while I was declining the rebuild, I was still spending approx. $100 with them between the tow and the fluid/filter change, and I was nothing if not polite and reasonable as a customer. On a related note, I observed that many of the work orders on the desk were for dealership cars from the surrounding "buy here, pay here" used car dealerships, which tells me that perhaps Cottman Transmission on Sugar Creek doesn't get the opportunity to deal with walk-ins too often.
Although I was a repeat customer, I can now state with all certainty that Cottmann Transmission on Sugar Creek in Charlotte, NC should be avoided at all costs. At the very least, anyone even considering doing business with them would be wise to get a second opinion before going forward with any repairs.
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