AAMCO Transmissions & Total Car Care – Metuchen

The AAMCO in Metuchen is one of the most trusted shop that I ever encountered. I have been to other AAMCO within the area and their honesty and workmanship is subpar compare to this shop. I took my Audi to this shop because of a leaking transmission and the mechanic found other leaks, but they fixed all leaks at no charge to me. My car was covered under AAMCO’s transmission warranty from NC and Craig made this transaction go as smooth as possible by contacting NC’s shop and honoring my warranty. Other AAMCO within the area were giving me trouble because it was not repaired at their shop, but not this AAMCO. I’m extremely satisfied with this AAMCO’s customer service, honesty, loyalty, and their respect for the military. I highly recommend this AAMCO, especially for all military members because this is a military friendly shop that provides military discounts for all repairs.

These guys act extremely nice, respectful and friendly, but that’s just because they have it down to an art. From the moment you walk in they are priming you for a large rebuild project.
Step 1: When you drop the car off they are extremely friendly, and tell you many times that they are a family-​run business and have an A rating from the BBB. While being friendly and joking around with you, they mention things like «A transmission rebuild is cheaper than buying a new car» and «Is this a car you’d be prone to fix?» to plant the seed in your mind that this isn’t going to be a small undertaking. They offer to run diagnostic testing for Free, explaining how the testing involves the process of elimination to narrow down the issue. You leave thinking about how lucky you were to find them!
Step 2: After you drop your car off for testing, their first follow-​up call is to let you know that «it is not looking good.» When asked what is wrong and what they found with their tests, they give no details about what they think is wrong or what they checked and ruled out (what happened to that process of elimination?). They say they still have more tests to run but just wanted to give you a heads up that it’s «not looking good» and will probably need a complete rebuild. At first you think how nice it is for them to give you this «courtesy» call to keep you updated, but then you wonder why they’re talking about a rebuild if the testing isn’t complete and they can’t tell you what they ruled out…
Step 3: At the suggestion of a friend, you decide to drive by the place just for good measure, and find that your car’s still sitting in the parking lot, in the same spot where you left it – untouched!!! Shocked, you go in and ask for your keys back. They say their «rebuild guy» won’t be in until later to look at it and «finish» the testing.
To be fair, they May do quality work when hired to do a transmission rebuild — I really don’t know. But personally, I wouldn’t trust them. They lied to me about testing my car and tried to sell me on a complete rebuild without ever having looked at it.
Suffice it to say, the «free testing» they perform is overpriced!

Recently when my 2008 Acura TL started having transmission issues (right after warranty was out. ugghhh) – I was referred to this place by my local trusted auto mechanic. Right from the moment I arrived, they were on point & I knew I was at the right place. They talked to me about options to fix the problem with the cost and even discussed pros/​cons of putting that kind of money in a 6 year old car with 100k miles on it. The owner ‘Howard’ was very professional, knowledgeable and honest which is tough to find in the car garage business. They kept me inform periodically for the week long job and even offered me ride to the car rental place when I dropped off the car. When I went back for a follow-​up, Howard thanked me for the business and asked to stop by anytime if I had any other problems. I was thoroughly impressed with how he runs/​manages his business. I would highly recommend this place to anyone and I will be sure to return for all my car fixing needs.