Unfortunately, on April 4, '10 (Easter) my wife's 97 Toyota 4 Runner broke down due to a transmission problem. Being Easter Sunday, I had intended to tow our vehicle home and while doing so managed to get a person on the line from AAMCO Transmission. Note, I called several repair shops but being Easter most, if not all shops, were closed. Jay, the owner, seemed like a nice enough guy and being Easter Sunday, I was surprized to actually have gotten ahold of someone live. Jay informed me that based on rebuilding hundreds of these types of transmissions, worst case scenario would not exceed $2200. And, that before I authorize repairs there would be not cost. Simple enough, so I went ahead and had the car towed to his shop on FM 1960 E of 59.

Two days later, another guy (a shop lead mechanic) called and said that for $475 they would have to remove the transmission to determine what the problem is and that this would be added to the total charge if I decide to fix it. Remembering what I was told by the owner, it wouldn't cost anything to determine problem and total cost would not exceed $2200 as worst case. With some reluctance, I went ahead and allowed them to pull the transmission.

Following the next day, the same mechanic called and started to run down a comprehensive list of issues with the transmission and all could be fixed for $3700.00. When question why the owner said the cost would not exceed $2200, the mechanic said he should have not said that! Surely, the owner would be completely aware of parts and labor costs charged by his mechanics since they've rebuilt hundreds of them just like it!

OK, I'm a reasonable person, so informed AAMCO to hold the work. I started calling other transmission repair shops and all were quoting what the owner, Jay originally quoted - without the need to even having to look at it! I even called the local Toyota Dealer and they were $500 less in parts and labor with a new tranmission, not a rebuild?

When I called the lead mechanic back, I had informed him that I may choose to buy a new transmission from Toyota and would they install it (remember the $475 already commited?), he replied that he wasn't sure AAMCO would allow him to do this. But went on to try convincing me a rebuild would the same as buying a new tranmission from the Dealer. I was floored when hearing this! New vs. Rebuilt. How many times have they used this line?

Since, I plan to move my wife's truck and have it repaired elsewhere, I can't really comment on quality of
their work. But, I can tell you this feels a little deceptive in pricing and to my knowledge, could be a violation of Texas Deceptive Trade Practices. I just wanted to warn everyone to do a better job than I did and to not believe what a person tells you over the phone. Please do your own due diligence, but just thought that it would be a good idea to put this out there. By the way, Jay has never contacted me to explain the difference. I also notice that a lack of response to other complaints far worse than my experience are listed on the Houston BBB. They have a grade of "F" the lowest grade BBB assigns to a business.