AAMCO Transmissions & Total Car Care

I would like to say that it“s nice to find an honest mechanic! Mike the office dude laid it all out for me and said, «This is what, we think, is the problem cost $xxx and will take xx hrs.» The estimate was within $ 30 and it took a little more time than expected, because of order errors on the parts. When the problem was discovered I received a phone call to notify me of the delay. What more can a guy ask? Good work Mike, John and the rest of your team! THANKS!

Hey rounder guy at the front desk… typically people say hello first before saying, «What do you need?». Especially when the customer says hello how’s it going first. If you have zero basic customer service skills… Or I don’t know even common courtesy, you probably shouldn’t be the face of the business. Anyways, redemption was when one of the workers came from behind his desk out of the side office promptly. I almost felt it was as if he knew the guy in the front was a mess. Anyways I believe it was Mike who efficiently came out to read my engine codes. He was helpful and informative. Unfortunately I won’t be going back there for my diagnosis because the guy in the front rubbed me the wrong way, i.e. my money can be spent better elsewhere.

Super helpful, my engine light came on and he checked it or free just as advertised. The code came up and he said it would be one of two things. It was totally no pressure and helpful. When I came back because my dad wanted to know what the code, he said he understood cause he is a dad and did it again. Super cool.

I am going to try and just write what happened and try to leave most of my opinion to myself (if I can, that’s hard for me Ha ha) and let people judge it on the facts. First let me say that the owner was generous to give a free oil change as a raffle prize at the El Cerrito, Eagles. I won it awhile ago and just decided to use it. I went in with My BF (in 2 different vehicles) Thursday. .I do go to a great garage usually, that I don’t feel the need to have someone (a man) go with me so I get treated fairly and honestly. I didn’t know this place at all. I usually go to Foreign Auto Clinic in El Cerrito. Leo, the owner, is very good. Understandably Aamco was busy as i didn’t make an appointment. He suggested I come back Monday and I asked for an appointment, which he gave me for 10 AM. although I had an appointment they couldn’t take me at 10 and suggested we go have breakfast or something or make another appointment. This time we had just come in one vehicle, my car. Since appointments don’t seem to mean anything there, it would have made no sense to make another appointment (and have the same thing happen) we drove back to my BF’s house, and got his truck and we both drove back. Since they said it might take 1 – 3 hours, we didn’t want not to have a car and didn’t really want to go out to eat. The guy (owner) was complaining why everyone was in such a hurry. Since another guy was there getting his wife’s car serviced. It’s one thing to say to bring your car at a certain time or time frame and say I will get to it when I can, another to make an appointment. The other place I go to usually, not always (sometimes they make real appointments, I think) that they open at 8 and bring the car in when you can. If they know they are real busy they will tell you to come another day, before you come. This place didn’t say that, they gave me an appointment. Anyway we left,& they called a few hours later and said it was done, they also filled my tires up, since I asked and they were really low, that was good and nice of them. They said on the phone, they could top off the fluids for $ 20.or he offered me a deal. giving me one price, then said but he would give it to me at a discount price to change my transmission fluid, since it was very dirty and old. I let him talk to my BF because to be honest I didn’t understand what he was offering, just that it was over $ 100.We declined, and just told him to top off the fluids as he had said. Since he had offered us the deal, one would assume that the transmission fluid was included in the $
us it was obvious that was what he was saying, since he said top off the fluids, not top off the fluids except the transmission fluids. When we got there the other guy said that my transmission fluid was very dirty, old and it looked like I hadn’t changed it for a long time. I probably never did. He said that it should be changed every 2 years. Later my BF and my brother said they never heard of that or was ever told that. My BF had wanted to be there for the oil change so he could see what they did. Actually see them change it, put in new filter etc. since I didn’t know or trust them yet. Later on, my brother also agreed, that would have been the thing to do. But they didn’t not want us to wait there. Then the next day, yesterday, I got a call from the owner, he left a message on my cell, that I better put in transmission fluid or have it changed (serviced) since it was so low, I could hurt my transmission, then he repeated it saying he was concerned, So for $ 20 he never topped off the transmission. fluid like he had indicated, he would do if I didn’t go for his deal. It is a transmission place. We were not told that, when I picked it up, that they didn’t put transmission fluid in, just that I should change it soon or get it serviced and it should be changed every 2 years. It probably is old and dirty and might need changing but I believe they way it is usually done doesn’t cost that much (my brother mentioned siphoning it) and not every 2 years, especially that I don’t drive that much. My brother thought the $ 20 was a rip-​off especially since they didn’t do everything and we could have done it all for less, most likely. And we didn’t see what they actually did and put in. So we got transmission fluid from the store and filled it up. It was low. We will check it in a month or so to make sure, it’s not leaking out. So the oil is changed for free, which was nice.

These guys are GREAT! They open at 8am and I was here by 7:30am; needless to say, they were already helping customers and more people kept flowing in. Everyone was super polite and more importantly, knowledgeable! Prices were extremely fair and this is the FIRST time that I haven’t had anxiety about people trying to scam me with unneeded services! Couldn’t be happier with the overall experience. Thank you!

Fast service! Talk to Mike and he won’t bs u! If u need a ride, they provide that as well.

WHY DIDN’T I Unilocal before going to these lying scamming theives? They get 5+ Stars for marketing and TV promos. I was a believer in ethics in the marketplace. I won’t get suckered in again. They charged $ 95 for the ‘free’ brakelight check, $ 400 for tranny service that put my car in the same if not worse situation, $ 95 for a test drive. I was told by someone I trust that I was charged $ 900 to change a $ 1 fuse! I’m in my late 60s and a teacher. I should have been more careful and not so trusting. I believed Aamco would be an ethical business due to them being around such a long time. This location has sullied the Aamco name. I will scream long and loud about what they did to me.

I stopped by while taking my car on a test drive with an interested buyer. The guys looked over the car for a good price, gave an accurate review (and told my buyer they were getting a great deal), and even helped me to get the correct paperwork needed to sell. They are very friendly. I would definitely stop by again!

I was shopping for a used car to buy and brought the car to this AAMCO auto shop for inspection. There were two people who helped inspected the car and both of them were very helpful and went the extra miles. Besides letting me know what was wrong with the car, they explained to me how to manage the problems associated with the car if I did not want to spend any money on repairs since I was buying an old used car. In addition, I happened to need a car title transfer form and one of the guys searched for the form on the internet and printed it for me. I was very happy with their services and the extra help they provided. I would definitely go back to their auto shop in the future.

I have to admit I was a little uneasy about taking my car here after reading these reviews, but a good friend recommended them so I gave it a try and I’m glad I did. My car broke down and I had it towed to a small shop looking and hoping to get a cheap fix. After days of nothing but the run-​around and problems I was happy to try anywhere else! Once my car got to Aamco, John the owner called. He was very nice, helpful and had a great sense of humor! Turns out my car just needed a minor service whereas the other place was trying to sell me a transmissions and more for 5 grand!!! Like they say its best to pay a little more and know its getting done right then having it done cheap and getting it done twice

Please do not take your car here if you have problems with your transmission. I paid over $ 4000 for a rebuild and it broke down in a little over 6 months. When Richmond AAMCO finally told me to pick it up, I arrived to find my battery was dead and my check engine & 4 wheel drive light are now on (they were not on before the trannie went out). When I asked why these new dash lights were on, they treated me like an idiot and were absolutely no help, not mention to rude. They made it sound like they had done everything they could and just walked away. I cannot stress this enough… do not give these guys your money because they do not deserve it. Never again will I set foot in AAMCO.

John is a good man. I went in with a check engine light and he read my on-​board diagnostics instantly to figure out what the problem was.

Right now I am contacting the county and state consumer affairs agencies, and Better Business Bureau. They made our car worse, and keep «taking stabs» at possible problems. They have had our car for 2 months and $ 5,000, a new transmission, and a new computer later, they literally shug their shoulders and tell me they don’t know what to say. DO NOT GO HERE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!

I have NEVER written a Unilocal review before, but i signed up. JUST FOR YOU. Unfortunately, I did the thing wives ARENT supposed to do and let my husband take his vehicle to any shop without checking it out myself. We bought a truck from RIGOS AUTO SALES In october (4 mos ago) and the transmission turned out to be garbage.(this is an ’06 with around 80k) My husband took it here for 2 different diagnostics (@ about 95 $ each) the FIRST «repair» they did was for around 800 dollars. JUST TO SEE IF «THAT WOULD DO IT», within 2 days the transmission slips again. We had to take the truck a second time. another FOUR THOUSAND DOLLARS and almost a week later. we have a «rebuilt transmission» «should be good as new» «should last you AT LEAST another TEN YEARS». We picked up the truck YESTERDAY. Today, as of right now. the truck has been marooned IN SAN FRANCISCO BECAUSE THE «NEW» TRANSMISSION TOOK A SHIT!!! I am outraged! I am upset that my husband made the bad choice of getting an overpriced fucked up truck, and for doing business with a company that gets such bad reviews. but most importantly, I’m upset that the people of this shop continue to almost purposely do a shitty job just to get more money. I’m sorry mike, but you guys have drained us of almost 5k in less than 30 days… you will be hearing from us again on monday. you gave us a one year/​12k mile warantee, and it barely made it across the bridge. You really need to re-​think who you chose to work for you and the business practices you use or you just might not be in business much longer!

I would give them 0 star, if it would be possible. Rude, disrespetctfull to customer, cheap «service». Never ever I go even close to ALL AAMCO. I paid 29.95 for the «free check engine» — a technician performed in 1 minute — I made me wait for another 30 minutes to wait to tell me code.

I was suckered in by the free «check engine light» special advertised on TV. They ran a free diagnostic and said the code told them where the problem was but an additional test had to be taken in order to fix it.
$ 500 later I took my car home and in less than 24 hours the check engine light pops back on. I take it back to them only seeking a partial refund for whatever incorrect test they ran. He refused! He claims something new broke within that 24 hour period so if I want that fixed I’d have to pay again.
He then «cleared» my check engine light and said it shouldn’t come on again but it did. Needless to say I will be paying him another visit and taking this up with the Bureau of Auto Repair and Better Business Bureau where they’ve apparently already made a name for themselves.

I came in for a clutch fix on a hydraulic clutch. The clutch was a bit spongy, and would make contact with the flywheel when the clutch was too low. Anyways enough about my probs —
So they changed the master and slave cylinders because there was a crack in the master cylinder. I dropped it off in the morning, and they said it could be done that day. Well, they didn’t finish it that day, or the next. Apparently they had too much trouble draining the clutch fluid, cause of bubbles, or so they say. Then it sat there over the weekend and I finally got it on monday. Except that when I got my car, the clutch still felt crappy and spongy. Oops, they took my car back saying that the clutch fluid still wasn’t completely drained. Finally got it back tuesday with an oil change to compensate — but who would want an oil change from them after all that? And overcharged. I went with a big name company cause even though it might cost more, I wanted the job done well and quickly — I would’ve took the time to do it myself like most everything else if I wanted it to take 5 days. Now I call them SHAAMCO. Automasters in Oakland finally righted their wrong and did it quickly among a whole punchlist of tune-​up items my car needed, and charged a lot less.