AAMCO Transmissions & Total Car Care

My son a Cal Poly student was having auto transmission issues with his 1999 SUV. He took it to the SLO dealership for diagnosis; they gave an estimate of $ 3100 for a rebuilt transmission or $ 2700 for a partial repair. He paid the $ 175 for the check & took the car to Aamco for a second opinion. The dealership had neglected to replace the transmission fluid after the diagnosis; he drove it to Aamco dry. The guys at Aamco did their diagnosis & said all the codes checked out. They serviced the transmission for $ 170 and the car is fine. Honesty & integrity.

Giving this business 4 stars mostly because of their customer service. I went in today because my check engine light came on and they will give you the code (to help figure out the problem) for free. I called at least six other auto repair shops in SLO and they all wanted to charge me at least $ 50 just to get the code pulled. I was having an awful day and Greg was very kind and helpful with my questions. I will absolutely consider bringing my car here for future work.

I knew my 1998 Dodge Stratus had a very bad oil leak and my uncle who gave it to me said it had been leaking for yearssss. But it bothering me that I would have to add a new qt of oil every 3 – 4 weeks. I felt it was time to get it checked out and see WHY it was leaking oil. It was time to get the little bugger fixed! I called around and asked how much different shops charged for a evaluation and of course, no one could beat Aamco’s FREE one. So I took my car over.
Left me car there and the man at the desk and who I talked to on the phone (his name escapes me now) said it would be about two hours. WRONG, he definitely took almost four hours which annoyed me. It would of been find if he told me he needed my car for four hours, but for him to say it would be done in two hours… that was a no no.
When I finally got there, he said my oil pan, gaskets, and oil filter needed to be replaced. And he said since he was going to do all that stuff I might as well have my old thermometer swapped out for a new one too. All this came out to be a grand total of about $ 1900.
WAS HE OUT OF HIS MIND? My car was barely worth that much! Long story short, he took me for a fool and was selling me parts and services that I did NOT need. Just because I’m a girl and know nothing about cars, does not make me an idiot!
I ended up taking my car back home for winter break and had another FABULOUS shop look at my car for 2 days and did a BETTER no charge evaluation AND fixed my car for $ 190. And no, he did not do ANYTHING Aamco suggested I «NEEDED» done. The other shop sealed and tightened my gaskets and that was that.
$ 1900 versus $ 190? Unless you poo money, I don’t suggest you take you car to Aamco. Trust me, even with their oh-​so generous «student discount», they are a rip off.

This place is terrible. Car mechanics are always sketchy, but the least they can do is return to you a car that runs right after you’ve paid through the teeth for the work. When I brought in my car the first time, the guy, Doc (who, by the way, can’t even spell the word accelerate– and he works with cars for a living!!) told me I needed a new transmission. After all the work and thousands of dollars the check engine light is still on. Don’t go here. They don’t deserve your business.

The world of auto mechanics is a sketchy place. Luckily I found Aamco. The guys who work there are great. Of course it’s outrageously expensive, but so is every other place. At least these guys are honest. They checked out my car and told me I needed some belts replaced, but when I admitted I couldn’t afford it, they in turn admitted that I could probably get by on the ones I had for a while yet. I feel that at any other shop they would have pressured me into getting it done right away. They even replaced my transmission fluid for free. Very cool.