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Aamco Transmissions
Category: Automotive Auto Repair Auto Repair [Edit]
2621 Pico BlvdSte C
Santa Monica, CA 90405
Neighborhood: Santa Monica
(310) 829-6786
- Hours:
Mon-Fri 7:30 am - 5:30 pm
Burt J. said: "LOL at some of these reviews... its obvious to me that people giving the negative reviews are not "car people" and do not like spending money on their cars just to keep it safe or in good working order... Their "negative experience"…" read more »
13 reviews for Aamco Transmissions
13 reviews in English
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Review from Chrissy T.
Santa Monica, CA
3/2/2011
have you ever left a place like this and NOT felt completely taken advantage of? HOW REFRESHING!!!
as someone who doesn't understand cars but who DOES very ACUTELY understand how auto professionals use the disparity of knowledge between themselves and the layperson to their advantage in driving up cost... i really appreciated the treatment i got here! after calling around to about 5 different shops- and getting jerked around by one after another about something as simple as an oil change- the guy i talked to here was patient and forthcoming about the pricing and specifics of an oil change for my car. his charge was almost 1/3 the price estimates i received at the other shops.
on top of that, he went ahead and diagnosed the problem behind my engine warning light at no charge (unprompted by me)- detailing the problem IN EXPLICIT TERMS, explaining EXACTLY what would need to be done to fix it and what it might cost, and FURTHER EXPLAINING that there would be absolutely no consequences to my engine if i decided not to ever have these services performed! so despite not directly giving me a reason to dole out more cash for my car, this shop has earned my business for the foreseeable future.
five stars for now- because only time will tell if these guys treated me as wonderfully as they appeared to!! -
Review from Tim D.
Glendale, CA
3/13/2012
(Part 2 of 2) - POSTED FOR JAIME S.
Day #3, we did not receive any word from Aamco Santa Monica, so by 11:30 we gave them a call. We were told that they had just determined that problem was actually the water pump. Really, you just determined that? Because that was one of the two things we told you it was when we dropped the car off the first day. Does that mean that the original repairs they made to the thermostat, the coolant temperature sensor and the serpentine belt were unnecessary? We will never know. Kyle cheerfully told us they would have to keep the car another day, which resulted in me having to get a rental car.
Day #4 we heard nothing until the afternoon when Kyle called to tell us the car was ready. I think I should mention that twice during this four day fiasco, Kyle called and immediately asked to speak to my boyfriend. About MY car. He didn't want to tell me what was wrong with my car, he preferred to speak to a man. Very strange. Total bill was close to $900. On the way home from picking up my car I discovered that the stereo no longer works. It will not even turn on. After arriving home, I decided to take a look at their work. That's when I noticed that the hood of my car now requires a fair amount of force to close it, otherwise it will pop back open. There was no way I was going to let them touch my car ever again, so I will have our guy at the Glendale Aamco (the amazing Sam) take a look at those problems.
Based upon the original $1400 quote I received from Kyle, the quotes I heard him give two different customers over the phone while I was standing in the lobby, and the quotes I see in other reviews on this page, I assume this company will try to get $1300-1500 dollars out of every single customer who walks through their door. If the requested repairs do not total an amount in that range, they will add in "necessary repairs" and outrageous labor fees (5 1/2 hours for a tune up?!), until they reach the amount they prefer to steal from unsuspecting customers. Do not let anyone at this establishment touch your vehicle. You would be better off letting a homeless schizophrenic work on your vehicle. -
Review from Jaime S.
Los Angeles, CA
3/13/2012
(Part 1 of 2) All Aamco's are not created equal. Do not visit this establishment unless you want to fork over large amounts of money to assholes, for services that your car does not need. I live in Glendale, and had the misfortune to break down in Santa Monica last week. We have a wonderful and trustworthy Aamco near our home that we usually go to for all our auto needs and repairs. After phoning our guy Sam at Aamco in Glendale for advice, we decided to get my car to the nearby Santa Monica Aamco rather than tow it back to Glendale for repairs. Upon arriving, we were greeted by Kyle, who has people skills comparable to a rabid honey badger. He seemed genuinely unhappy that we were there. My boyfriend has an OBD II reader, so we were already aware that the problem with my car had something to do with either the coolant getting to the engine, or possibly the water pump needing to be replaced. We mentioned our OBD II reader, and told him the two things we suspected were causing the problem. He mostly grunted in reply. I know many of you have mentioned the friendliness of the women working at this establishment, and their offering of refreshments. I don't know if the woman there was trying to overcompensate for Kyle treating everyone horribly, but she offered me green tea three times. I said no each time, but she must not have liked my answer because she brought me a cup of green tea and cookies anyway. No means no, lady. I was told I would receive a call later that day with their findings.
Around four that afternoon the lovely Kyle called me with a quote of repairs. His quote was for over $1400. He proceeded to list over ten "necessary" repairs for my vehicle, plus labor. His quote included two sections, the first being repairs to the thermostat, thermostat sensors and serpentine belt, and a new belt tensioner. Plus labor. The second section was a "necessary" tune-up that included five and a half hours of labor. Five and a half hours of labor for a tune up?! Yeah right, you must be smoking some good stuff Kyle. He also said my car was in desperate need of an oil change (really...that's interesting, as the last oil change I had was only 3-4 months ago.), which they were having a special on for $67.82 after taxes. ...$67.82...for an oil change. Hmm, I wonder where I could get a cheaper oil change? Oh yeah, every other car establishment in the United States. I asked Kyle if he would please fax or e-mail me the quote so I could look at his list of "necessary" repairs in more detail. His response was "...*grunt*....I don't really have any way of doing that here." Well Kyle, maybe you could use that COM-PU-TER in front of you? Kyle seemed to have an issue being polite while having conversations with females, so my boyfriend called him back to let him know that we only wanted repairs made to the thermostat, the coolant temperature sensor and the serpentine belt. Apparently people do not tell Kyle no very often, because he got extremely flustered, claimed his computer was crashing and that he would have to call us back. He called back a few minutes later to tell us our new quote was now around $350. Much better. Fine. We were told the car would be ready the next day.
The next day, Day #2 of Aamco Santa Monica being in possession of my vehicle, I did not receive any calls on the status of my vehicle by the afternoon, so I called about one and was told that they were still working on the car. My ride was only available for a small portion of the afternoon to drive me out to Santa Monica, so I called again around three and was told by Kyle to come on down, the car would be ready soon. It took over an hour in traffic to get to Aamco Santa Monica, and upon arriving was greeted by Kyle who asked "May I help you?" and obviously could not remember who I was or what I was doing there. When I explained that I was there to pick up my vehicle he grunted and walked into his office slamming the door. A few minutes later, he returned to the lobby and began furiously typing on the computer and not looking at me or acknowledging my presence. Eventually, I spoke up and asked if the car would be ready as my ride had to leave soon and I did not want to be stranded so far from my home. In response, Kyle yelled "I DON'T KNOW WHEN IT'S GOING TO BE READY!" and walked into the office again slamming the door. Why did he tell me to come then?! A few minutes later, Kyle returned, leaned on the counter and told me in a much sweeter tone of voice that my ride probably shouldn't leave me there as they close at 5 and the car likely won't be ready. So we ended up leaving without the car, again, and sitting in two hours of traffic to get back.
To be continued in Part 2!
SEE AAMCO SANTA MONICA PAGE FOR PART 2 -
Review from Paul S.
Los Angeles, CA
2/18/2012
I got screwed big time at Aamco. I took my car in for a noise/vibration that was happening whenever I took it above ~40 mph. I asked them to drive the car around and let me know if they could see what the problem was, and they had me leave it so they could do so.
They said the problem was in the brakes and transmission and charged me $1300 to replace the brake pads, hub bearings, machine the front and rear rotors, and replace the transmission filter and gasket and replace the fluid.
I got the car back already thinking I'd spent too much to get it fixed, just to get on the freeway and find the problem hadn't been fixed at all. In fact, not only had the problem not changed a bit, but now the AC has a bad smell coming from it, like there's moisture somewhere in the pipes (this wasn't happening before I took it in). I haven't gotten this problem fixed yet and will update when I do..
Anyway - I took the car back into Aamco and told them they hadn't fixed the problem I took it in for. THEN the guy took it for a drive to see what the problem is (I don't think they did so when I first took it in). When he got back he said it was clearly a tire problem, not the brakes (gee, THANKS). He said to take it in to a tire shop. When I complained they hadn't fixed my problem, their only answer was that they fixed something else that would've caused noises anyway. They made no effort to accomodate or make it right that they didn't solve my problem, and acted like they had done me a huge favor.
I took it down the road to a great tire place and they fixed the issue within about an hour by replacing my tires - my rear tires had bulges that were causing vibration. This cost about $300 and they cut the price because they agreed I got screwed by Aamco.
I would NOT go back here, for anything, and wouldn't recommend it either. -
Review from Ben W.
Santa Monica, CA
11/27/2011
Jen was extremely nice (even gave me a slice of pumpkin pie) and Arlene was super on top of it.
They replaced my clutch, belts, brakes, etc. All was done efficiently and with a smile. Highly recommend.
They even gave me 10% off because they had a coupon I didn't know about running. -
Review from LaNease A.
Los Angeles, CA
Updated - 2/14/2012
I'm updating! I took my car back to this location and the mechanic that was there told me that a noise that was coming from my 2004 car is a part that is now "extinct" and he'd have to blah..blah..blah.. and then blah..blah..blah. He wanted to charge me $800 to go find a replacement part from the junk yard. Turns out, all the car needed was some WD40 and my old mechanic said that no parts on my car are "extinct", as it's not THAT old. I felt this guy at AAMCO tried to take advantage of me.. and it sucks because I had given them such a rad review. I won't be going here again. I'll just continue to go to Lancer's Automotive.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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10/9/2011
My BMW's check engine light came on. AAMCO gave me the lowest estimate for a Tune-up and they also… Read more »
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Review from Inside Q.
Los Angeles, CA
1/23/2009
I had some problems that I needed to check out, not being close to my home garage and tools I decided to bring it here to make sure it wasn't dangerous to drive (both for myself and others).... What a mistake that was!
**Edited since it was too long**
Summary: don't go here, they play with your car and ruin it then overcharge you to fix it. -
Review from Dina B.
Santa Monica, CA
12/16/2011
My husband took his car in about a year ago and was treated really well so when my car wouldn't start, I decided to call them and get an estimate on what it would cost to replace the starter, if that was indeed the problem. The woman on the phone didn't want to give me a price and seemed to just argue with me. I explained to her that I have limited funds for this repair and that I cannot just tow it up and then tow it elsewhere, that I need a quote, but she refused. I called back again and told her that I had received a quote from another place and if AAMCO's would be about in the same range. My problem was, that she said they charge $105 per hour labor. So I asked her how long it takes to replace a starter, she just kept insisting that they go by the book and just bring it in. I asked her if the book says the average time to install a starter is 3 hours, but the mechanic only takes 2 hours, will they charge me by the book time or the actual labor. She insisted on arguing, told me to bring it in and hung up on me. So she calls in the afternoon on the next day, realizing that I did not bring the car in. She argues with me because she looked in the system and I was not there. I tried to explain to her that my husband had taken his vehicle in, it was not under my name. She then tries to tell me that she has a quote for me. I advised her that I did not like her arguing and took the vehicle elsewhere. This was the strangest experience for me.
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Review from Ben B.
Los Angeles, CA
1/17/2011
I can't speak for the others that commented before me but I felt that I should give this Aamco credit since I had a good experience. I had a leak in the slave cylinder on my truck. This effected the hydraulic clutch and prevented me from shifting gears. These guys found the leak quickly, replaced the slave cylinder and the clutch, and bled out the air in my hydraulic clutch. They charged $105 per hour for labor. My roommate claims this is too high, citing his mechanic's rates ($65 per hour), but that's for automatic transmission work for his European car. I know automatic transmissions tend to be more expensive so he may be right about that. However, it wouldn't surprise me if mechanics charge different labor rates for different types of cars and/or jobs. When I called around to several reputable shops, with good yelp reviews, they said that the total Aamco price was about right. I ended up paying $1043 (with tax). It was a big job as it was labor intensive so I don't think my roommate knows what he's talking about.
Keith, the counter guy was pretty good. The total project took a few days but much of that was due to my delay in trying to come up with the cash. The only negative thing that I can say is that Keith said he would call me at various points during the repair work. I preempted that promise slightly when I grew impatient and didn't hear from him when I thought I should have. I can't fault him much for that as I had nothing else to do except wait so I probably followed up sooner than I should have.
Overall, I had a good experience and would give these guys more credit than they received on yelp previously. Hence my 4 star rating. They also replaced one part for free that could only be replaced when the they had the transmission disassembled. Apparently this part was not cheap and was allowing oil to leak. So for that I also commend them. Dave, the mechanic, did all the work on my truck and was very cool. I returned the next day so that he could attach another part (also for free) from his personal tool box at home. This was a necessary part for the job but still they went out of their way to save me money on this part and the other.
Bravo. -
Review from Lisa P.
Los Angeles, CA
11/8/2007
I went to this location to have my transmission checked. I had recently had it rebuilt by another company. I wanted to double check everything was Ok with it. The manager was very helpful. I would go back again.
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Review from Gilbert L.
Santa Monica, CA
Updated - 5/5/2010
Well, I ended up needing an O2 sensor replaced, so I guess AAMCO was wrong! hah
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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2/1/2010
Todd & Dave were both so helpful diagnosing my check engine light for free. They treated me like… Read more »
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Review from joy k.
Santa Monica, CA
3/18/2008
super nice. WAY cheaper than anywhere else - at least $500 less. they even took me to work in culver city and when i had to get a ride back at the end of the day, they stayed late to wait for me. the free inspection was awesome and they told me a few things that needed to be done down the line and offered to refer me. same day service.
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Review from Venus K.
Los Angeles, CA
6/17/2010
AAMCO is not just for transmissions anymore they say. They do all repairs. So I went in to get my brakes done - they were squealing. After I left the brakes still squealed, so I went back in and they took a look and gave me a song and dance about how it was not the brakes but the frame dampeners (?) that were making the squealing and that it was not dangerous but just annoying. Hmmm I thought. That's weird. Because the car is making the exact same noise it was before. I lived with this noise for nearly a year (I'm a procrastinator) before I went back to AAMCO and this time talked to manager. He said he'd warranty whatever work was done - this is the one good thing they did! He re-did the brake job. It still squealed. I took the car to the Subaru dealership. They did the brake job perfectly and no more squealing. They told me that AAMCO used some crappy brake pads that never really fit the car and so were always making noise. Unfortunately I wasted $500 at AAMCO before getting the job done right at Santa Monica Subaru - for another $500. It was an expensive lesson to learn - not everyone can fix a Subaru - and especially not AAMCO.
