How to Get Ripped-Off on Transmission Repairs
Let’s face it, the Automotive Repair industry does not have the best reputation. As a consumer, you need to protect yourself from both the unscrupulous and incompetent shops. We take many calls each week asking about transmission and other repairs and most callers simply do not know enough about the technology of their cars to ask the ‘right’ questions. Even without knowing how your car or transmission works, you can evaluate a shop so you make the best choice possible. Here are most of the ways you can get taken on repairs and how to avoid them.
- Shop for price before you have a professional
diagnostic
Most of the calls we get about transmission issues start with the caller asking how much a rebuild will cost for their transmission. This is probably the worst thing you can start with but I understand that most consumers simply do not know what else to ask. I can help.
Let’s start with looking at why this is a bad question to lead with. First, unless you have had a professional diagnostic, the chances are that you do not even need a rebuild. Over 50% of the cars we see in our shops for transmission troubles simply do not need a rebuild – they need something far less expensive such as a sensor or other external part. So by beginning with the rebuild price, you have asked for the price of the thing you are not most likely to need. It is like calling a Doctor and asking the price of a Coronary Bypass when you have a burning sensation in your chest.
But more importantly, if you select the shop based on the rebuild price, you have set yourself up to be taken advantage of. The lowest price shops are the ones most likely to cut corners. If they are also unscrupulous, then when you arrive, they KNOW you came because of the rebuild price. They understand that you have arrived with the expectation of spending $1500 or whatever they quickly quoted. So if all your car needs is a $100 sensor, what do you think might happen? You are set to spend $1500 so they may well tell you that is what you need to spend. You got the cheapest price but the most expensive repair.
If you are shopping around, don’t ask for the rebuild price, tell the shop you THINK you are having transmission issues. Ask what they are going to do to diagnose your car. Ask how much that step costs. Ask exactly what they check to ensure that any minor problems are found before they recommend major surgery for your car.
They key question is not how much it will cost to repair, the key question is how much will it cost to find out what repair is needed. Then you can probe the actual repair costs and quality.
- Go for the shop that advertises the lowest prices
As mentioned above, when you go to the shop that advertises themselves as the cheapest, you are set up to pay their rebuild price, even if you don’t need a rebuild. A Doctor does not advertise cheap prices and you would not want to subject your physical health to ‘cheap and dirty’. Transmission repairs can be expensive and you should demand the same professionalism when it comes to your financial health.
- Use a general repair shop for specialty repairs
General repair shops are great for (you guessed it) general repairs. They are trained in that area and experienced in that area as well. When it comes to transmissions, that is a different story. Transmissions are complex – they typically have 300-500 moving parts, increasing with each model year. They are computer controlled, relying on 50-100 sensors and data items to make decisions. The data is carried through miles of wiring to multiple computers which actuate hydraulic controls to actually make your transmission shift correctly. For any given transmission symptom, there are many potential causes (making good diagnostics very important).
It takes experience to understand the symptoms and correctly identify the causes of any given problem. A typical general repair shop will work on 3 or 4 transmissions per year. A very busy one may do as many as 10 or 12 – probably not even seeing the same type of transmission twice in the same year. At AAMCO each center sees hundreds each year. But it goes much further – each AAMCO center has access to the wealth of knowledge that comes from the fact that AAMCO repairs about 250,000 transmissions each year. Very simply, we know more about transmissions, the weak spots in any given model and how to properly repair them, than anyone else in the world. On top of that, we stand behind our work with warranties that are unheard of in this industry.
- Ok the repair even though you don’t understand what
they are going to do
Does the shop make sense? Yes, transmissions are complex but if a shop really knows what they are doing, they can identify and explain the problem in clear, concise terms. Beware of a shop that tries to bury you in transmission terms that they won’t explain. If you do have an internal problem, then the transmission will have to be removed and inspected. After the inspection, you should be able to get a clear description of what failed and a pretty good idea whether it was just wear and tear or if a particular part failed.
- Do not check with the Better Business Bureau
Your best source for impartial information about a shop is your local Better Business Bureau. The best result is to find that there are no complaints about a business. But things do not always go right, and anyone can complain – so the next best is to see that the shop addressed the complaint. Watch out for a shop with any complaints that they failed to respond to – that would appear to be a business that simply doesn’t care about customer service