Beware of the Aamco transmission shop in FWB! This place is a full fledged scam that will make up repairs that your vehicle is in need of and then make excuses for why the original problem still exists all the while still expecting payment for the unnecessary fix.

We brought in our Expedition for rear end clunking, our warranty company told us that Aamco will except the warranty company's payment amount. So we think great no out of pocket costs...think again. Aamco said that the rear end needed to be rebuilt and received approval from our warranty company for the work($1200). The work done and Aamco paid in full the rear end still clunks and now it whines like crazy too. We bring it back in again for another diagnostic and they say nothing is wrong w/ the truck and that we need to bring it back in at 5K miles to have rear end fluid changed and the whining will go away...but it still clunks? They now say that this is "normal" transmission double down shifting and does not require repair...now we are confused because you rebuilt the rear end, which was supposed to be the clunking issue fix and now that isn't a problem at all??? So why did the rear end get rebuilt? No answer...so fast forward to 5K miles later and we bring in the truck for our appointment for the oil to be changed and wait for a full 2 hours after our appointment for the truck to even be taken back for service. We meet w/ the service guy after the oil change and he says it is still whining...we ask why...he says he doesn't know, but it should get better. He goes on to tell us that maybe the rear end has additional issues and that is why it is whining, we tell him that it did not whine before they touched it only clunked, now it is whining and clunking. At this point he says that he noticed uneven wear on our rear tires, this is the most astounding thing about this situation because our tires are brand new with a total of 30 miles on them (yes 30 miles). We tell him that the tires are brand new and cannot possibly show uneven wear after only 30 miles to which he has no reply and simply stumbles over his words, at this point we realize that he is simply trying to get us to once again have an unnecessary repair done at their shop! Once he recovers a little bit from the tires he hits us w/ the total bill for the oil change is $137! I was dumbfounded...we were under the impression that this needed to be done and was a part of the original rebuild costs, he informs us that no it is not and says that he can do away with the labor costs and that we will only be required to pay $67 for the oil.

We have been waiting for several days for the shop manager to return our calls about getting the oil charge refunded to us, the service guy said that it would likely be refunded and yet no one calls us.

Please avoid this shop at all costs or you will likely be in for a nightmare of paying for something that isn't necessary.

Below is the original complaint posting and the thread:
http://aamco-transmissions.pissedconsumer.com/aamco-fort-walton-beach-fl-20110714248862.html

I called Aamco because they were the only transmission shop within 60 miles of my residence. I spoke with a guy over the phone who asked what my car was doing. I told him that the vehicle was driving normal, had never had any transmission issues whatsoever, the fluid was normal level and suddenly the overdrive light started blinking, about 30 seconds later the vehicle began to rev up, jump and shift into the next gear everytime it would shift. As I said I had no prior warning of this happening because my car hasn't had problems. The Aamco employee told me that it sounded like my car (98 Ford Contour) had gone into something called fail safe mode and it sounded like it was probably a sensor or something that had gone bad because transmissions usually don't just go out with no warning. He told me I could have my car towed in the following Monday. I went to this Aamco because on their website it says they will approve you for financing, no credit checks. I did this just in case I needed to have work done and it was something more serious then a sensor. At 11:15am Rick who claimed to be the manager at the store called and told me that they pulled the codes PO732 and PO734 from my car and that those codes basically meant that I had no 2nd gear. He told me that he can not further diagnose my car without taking out the entire transmission and just for removing the transmission and the diagnosis it would be 675.00. He then quoted me prices. He said if there was a minor problem inside the transmission or a sensor (why cant you get to a sensor without taking out the tranny?) then it would end up running about 1200 - 1400.00. If there was a major issue and they needed to rebuild the tranny then it would run 2400 - 2800.00. I told them I didnt have this kind of money and the only way I could do it is if they financed me through the program they advertise. "Rick" told me he would call me back. I got a call back again saying that this particular Aamco doesn't offer the financing with no credit check and that I would have to apply for GE credit to have the work done. Needless to say during all of this I found out that three other people I know recently were told the SAME thing about their cars (one of who just had bad fluid/filter) and luckily none of those people approved the repairs either. The day after I refused the work I got a rude call from "Rick" telling me my car is bottlenecking their shop and I need to get it out of there.

I saw on the outside of the building that it was Aamco but nobody was wearing Aamco gear and the "manager" appeared to be some guy off the street. I also noticed the permits on the walls for for a Pacific Coast Transmission not for Aamco. These people did NOT try to help me, they falsely advertised their financing options forcing me to use a AAA tow that I wouldn't have used if I knew and now I am without a car thanks to them and their outrageous ways and prices.

Took my van on Feb.21 2011 to look at transmission .They said leave it, when the finally called 2days later they said need we needed a trans we said "ok" do the work need a $750 dep. they got it. Kept calling they were waiting on parts order wrong ones.Oh we order 2wheel drive & My husband told them it was 4wheel drive.We had a rental car for 14days.Well we got our van back on March7, 2011 after driving it for a day notice sounds come from under the hood.Took itback looked at it yes some volts were still missing.We took it dealer they gave us a report of whats wrong have to keep taking it back..Iam sick of this SH**T.

DO NOT TAKE YOUR CAR HERE! I took my car to the shop on 2/16/2011, it was listed as the preferred vendor for my warranty company. At first AAMCO told me the TCM needed to be replaced. After sitting on my car and doing nothing for nearly two weeks they replaced the TCM and towed my car to the dealership to have the computer reprogrammed. When AAMCO got it back from the dealer, there was an additional code regarding the transmission solenoid. At that point I was told by AAMCO they would need to replace the solenoid. When AAMCO went it to start replacing the solenoid, they noticed metal shavings in the transmission pan. I was then told the transmission would need to be replaced. I have yet to get my car back and its now almost a month later. AAMCO should have did a complete diagnostics and looked in the metal pan before replacing all these parts I probably did not need!

I had AAMCO tow my vehicle 60 miles to their shop as I did not have up to date insurance or tags...the company was aware of this. I told them what needed done and approx. 5 days later they called and said it was finished. I told them it would be approx. 10 days till I picked it up as I was waiting for a paycheck that i would pay the repair bill put new tags and renew insurance. Two days later my husband drove around the corner from my house ( 60 miles away) and our vehicle was sitting out front. My husband went and asked the homeowner where they got the vehicle. The woman told my husband she was getting her vehicle repaired at AAMCO and that the vehicle was the loaner that they gave her. We informed her that was our vehicle and the police were called. We drove our vehicle around the corner and put it back in our garage. The next day we went to AAMCO...I asked where my vehicle was and the "owner" told me he loaned it to a lady who was in a tight spot without a car. He didnt want me to contact the police...and offered me a WOW big 20% off. I told him no thank you that I would not be paying the bill and that he had no right to loan out my car..he proceded to tell me that I was going to punish him 2000 dollars and go to the news and ruin his reputation because he made a small bad judgment call...ummm yes i think i will...i then proceded to tell him if he felt so bad for the lady he should of loaned her his personal vehicle not one of his customers...remember this vehicle had NO TAGS AND NO INSURANCE