NEVER EVER buy aamco

[Dav]

or The ongoing story of how i've been screwed
in may of 2016 i had aamco put a 'factory rebuilt' trannie in my 95 2,3 auto ranger took a week and a half to get the truck back. there was an annoying thump from 2 to 3rd gear. aamco said its suppost to do that so you dont burn out the bands.(wdf?)
sept 2016 i went back for the umteenth time to bitch and there was a new manager who said'we're going to take care of you. they pulled the trans and got another. a week plus of no truck. when i got it back, it STILL had the thump from 2nd to 3rd. aamco said i had low vaacum in 3rd gear and they wouldnt do trans work until i did motor work first.
a few months ago, naybe april or may or 2017 i finally contacted aamco corporate who backed up the local shop but did say the local shop would swap a motor for free (i just had to supply the motor. the old motor was still running fairly strong)
august 2017. the 23rd the trans went into neutral 3 times in 2 minutes.
2 days later it did it again but then lost overdrive and would not upshift. and started leaking from the bellhousing.
dropped it at aamco on the 28th. not ready on september 1 so no truck for the holiday weekend wasn't ready until the 6th, wednesday
i picked the truck up at 4;30 on wednesday. on the shop window was a sign saying they would be closed until after hurricane irma passed. off i drove
2 times on the way home the trans 'flared'- momentarilly went into neutral, or maybe the converter unlocked, and then went right back into gear.
thursday morning on the way to work it flared again
thursday afternoon it made it less than 3 miles until, leaving a stop light, it would not shift into 2nd until 35 mph. next light that shift happened at almost 40. i thought the motor was finally going to grenade
the last light on the way home was red, as always. the truck stayed in first, wound up tight and barely doing 3 miles an hour
pulled into the yard, started the usual 3 point turn to face the gate-no reverse.
less than 24 hours and 75 miles and the trans is nfg
typed an explanation to aamco corporate of why i want a full refund and for them to take their piece of junk trans out of my truck. cant send it because the edress i used before when typing with them is no longer valid
no way to get out of the path of irma-i'm outside of tampa, and no way to get to a shelter so we are hunkered down riding it out

 

[Mark_88]

Wow...that sounds like quite the ordeal...

One of the reasons I decided to sell my Ranger instead of going to the automatic transmission was not being able to find one with low mileage. It was upsetting but after hearing all the stories about how easy those transmissions were to destroy I didn't want to chance it.

The M5OD transmission on my first 1988 Ranger had over 440,000 km and still worked great.

Stay safe...not much you can do other than pray it misses your area and make sure you have everything you might need for a few days...or more.

 

[Doofy]

Praying for your Families safety!

 

[chvlfrk]

Ummm.....

The ongoing story of how i've been screwed in may of 2016 i had aamco put a 'factory rebuilt' trannie in my 95 2,3 auto ranger took a week and a half to get the truck back.
No way to get out of the path of irma-i'm outside of tampa, and no way to get to a shelter so we are hunkered down riding it out

=================
First off: PRAY you & your family are safe! My LB is in Kenneth City, have Nefew in Brandon, and Dad's Widow is in Clearwater.

Second: "Factory Rebuilt", so they installed a Motorcraft Reman? If it was one of they're Aamco trans, it WASN'T a Factory Rebuilt! Ford/Motorcraft doesn't sell their transmission to outside sources to be sold as their's.

I've worked for a Ford Dealership Parts Dept for 16 yrs., sell bunch of trannys to shops, need VIN & Mileage to activate 3yr/Unlimited Mileage Motorcraft Warranty and never have any issues. If we run into issue more than once, they usually want us to look at it to see if the shop it was sold too did something wrong with installation (ALL under warranty). If its found that the shop did something faulty. It's on them! If its something internal with the trans, it will be replaced by our shop under warranty. I can recollecked 1 issue like that, was a Diesel trans & it was a trans issue. Got replacement & never had another issue.

 

[scotts90ranger]

I have a friend that has been a transmission mechanic for over 10 years, he has nothing good to say about Aamco... Find a trans shop that is local or ask around and you will find people that will have recommendations. Fortunately I have an in and I've known him for 30 years otherwise I wouldn't know where I would go...

 

[Ozwynn]

Had a 97 expedition. Trans goes out in Billings MT..... gets rebuilt at Aamco...... doesn't make it to Seattle before it goes out again. 2 weeks waiting for aamco in Auburn WA to get it re rebuilt..... does not make it back to Berrien Springs MI before dying again. Lesson learned..... Got my money back from aamco and got a new unit from Ford for the cost of the rebuild from aamco.

 

[tomw]

AAMCO is a franchiser, with each shop independently owned and operated. They can be just as good or bad as an independent, non-affiliated shop.
The problem, speaking as one who ran my dad's shop for a while, is the 'cross warranty' billing. If you fix a transmission, and the purchaser travels to Dunkpo Village, where there's a problem, they can get their warranty work done at the local AAMCO shop.
That shop can and may decide that "Those guys back in Podunk did everything wrong, attached the servos to the accumulators, leaving the bands all slippery, and coated in transmission fluid. There's your problem, lady." So, they do a complete 'rebuild', and sent the $$$ bill to the AAMCO 'clearinghouse'. Your shop gets billed $$$ for the 'fix/rebuild' done by the Dunkpo shop. And boy do they. Whether it was a loose nut behind the wheel, a vacuum line that split and came loose from the modulator, or a seeping shift linkage seal, the originating shop is going to get hammered. It's a profit center to the billing shop, and there's no 'proof' required to submit a charge.
Other than that, they are just like any other franchise, with good ones and some that should go back to the swamp from whence they came. I would not 'bless them' all with the same verbs and adjectives...
A transmission shop is not a place one wants to come visit. When you leave, you just have your vehicle moving as is did 'before', not like when you get new tires, and it rides and steers like never before, or you get brakes, and it now will stop without deafening all those in the vicinity. So, it's just a PITA place, where you get to leave $$$$, and redeem your truck from someone holding it hostage for money.
A good shop will go out of their way to try to make you happy with their service, no matter the service being provided. Those shops that don't are the ones that fail a lot sooner.
If a shop is bad, tell the world. Mention all you can to those who'll listen how bad they treated you. They'll soon be gone. OTOH, do the same, in reverse, for the shops that do a good job, take care of their customers, and are pleasant to deal with. They deserve the praise and any work you can throw their way. IMO.
tom