AAMCO Transmissions & Total Car Care

Never bring your
Too bad I didn’t read the reviews for this place before bringing my car here. One mistake I will never make again. Do your homework, and check reviews. Still waiting to be reimbursed after this business was found by the BAR that I most definitely need to be reimbursed after having been «taken to the cleaners», AKA, RIPPED OFF!
You think you are safe from thieves and liars when you give your business to a national franchise, not true!!! They don’t even care about the people running their franchises. Give your business and hard earned money to the small, independent, hard working, business man who is trying to make an honest living. Aamco… never again!

THIS PLACE IS AWFUL! Don’t bring your car here at all. They are liars and have very bad business practices. Won’t go into detail, but take my word for it, there are MANY better auto repair shops than this one. Don’t waste your time or money on them.

Our experience here was really positive. We didn’t have anything wrong with the vehicle, just an oil change, but the staff went out of the way to honor our service plan from out of state so we didn’t have to pay anything out of pocket, even though they had to spend 15 minutes on the phone to make it work. Much appreciated.

Hello Unilocalers”
In June 25^th my wife our to dogs and my self left Vallejo on a trip to Pismo Beach in our sweet little 88 Jeep Sahara. We planed in driving up and down the beach with the top down and the dogs have a great time. We made it as far as San Jose in 95* heat and commute traffic when our clutch completely went south. Ending us up at AAMCO on Winchester BlVD in Campbell. We left the jeep in the middle of the night stuck the keys thru the key slot and caught a $ 240 cab ride home. On July Third I picked up the jeep” bill was $ 1,795.00 for a new clutch, flywheel and also they welded up a broken off piece to the muffler. So first thing was the clutch felt great” but my steering wheel was cockeyed 90%. When I told them they said there was no way it could have been them” even though I told them the tires, shocks and alinement were only three weeks old. Rick the Forman told me to get it checked out and it the tire shop would put it in writing how they were responsible then they would pay for repairs. I also noted to him that my temp gauge was not working’ again he said take it to an AAMCO up north and he would cover it if they could prove it was his fault. By now it’s 2:30 pm on July 3^rd And I have 80 miles of holiday traffic to face in the middle of a heat wave. The jeep had to be back in Vallejo for the 4^th of July Parade. It was the vehicle that the Knights Of Columbus used to drive the new Grand Knight, plus the Deputy Grand Knight and his wife in the parade.
The next day my wife and I went out to dinner we took the jeep with the windows up” the car filled with catalytic converter fumes. I made an appointment with AAMCO in vallejo and told them the problem. After Vallejo AAMCO had my jeep all day they told me that all my dash cluster had to be replaced, and the the fumes were from a broken exhaust manifold not the muffler. I got in the jeep and left.
Finally I called Concord AAMCO and talked to a gentleman names Steve Bustamante the shop Forman. He made an appointment for me to bring the jeep in to Concord AAMCO. When I got there I told him what I’d been going thru and he was not please with what he herd. I called AAMCO in San Jose and tried to get the Forman down there to talk to Steve on the phone” I handed my phone to Steve and the Forman in San Jose hung up on him. At this point Steve asked me to leave the jeep with him, he told me he was going to get to the bottom of this. I went to breakfast and when I returned the jeep was next door at West Coast Mufflers up on the lift” Steve had already photographed the terrible wielding job that the shop in San Jose had done, there were holes in the weld allowing pressurized exhaust to fill the cabin of the car. He gave the photos to his boss the owner of Concord AAMCO. The owner had West Coast Muffler check and repair everything. They also removed the shabby repaired section of muffler and replace it with all new stainless steal. He then had his electrical technician Jeff spend several hours sorting out my temp gauge plus the owner had Jeff go thru the rest of the electrical just to make sure it was right. Jeff also wanted my to see and hear the Bering that is going out on my water pump. If I grab the pulley it moves fore and aft on the shaft it moves just a little, but enough to no it’s on it’s way out. Thanks to him I’m having them replace it next Tuesday instead of trying to do it next to some road in the next month or two. So to sum it all up. San Jose charged a lot and sent me on my way with a bad repair knowing that I would never be back and that I would become someone else’s problem. Vallejo tried to sell me a whole new gauge cluster and a new exhaust manifold that wasn’t Broken in the first place. AAMCO CONCORD greeted me as a human being” treated me as a valued customer, went above and beyond making sure all the problems were fixed”, and apologized for the way the other stores had operated. AAMCO Concord is like a television commercial for good business. I will be brining my cars there for as long as I live in the bay area. And I will be bringing my my cars to West Coast Mufflers as well. You can honestly trust these shops to stand behind” in front and beside their work. I will be telling my friends about this Concord AAMCO located at 2096 Market St Concord Ca. If you have a problem and with your vehicle do yourself a favor” before you just except some shops repair estaminet bring your vehicle to Concord AAMCO for a second opinion. You just might be happily surprised.
Bryan S.
Vallejo CA.

DONT TAKE YOUR CAR HERE. They lie about what is wrong with your car, then pocket your money. They take advantage of people and its not right. I brought my car in to have my AC looked at they said there were all of these issues and it would cost $ 1400.00. I ended up taking it to the dealership where I originally purchased the vehicle and only paid $ 800.00. All of the issues AAMCO in concord said I had were lies. Also they were telling customers that they accept cash only. I got the strong feeling that they are pocketing money.

I went to Aamco because my car was feeling sluggish. They claim they can do diagnostics your car for free but that is never the case. This place completely over charges. I ended up paying for the diagnostics and taking my car from here to the DEALER to pay HALF THE COST they were going to charge me! Are u kidding the dealer is cheaper?! I was in total shock and even when I told them this they didn’t care. Break down of the parts and the cost they were going to charger vs the dealer see below. You can also Google these parts and see the prices for yourself. This place has really gone down hill over the last few years. I should have known since there was NO cars in there lot like there use to be!
2 ignition coils = $ 331.46
8 spark plugs = $ 82.32
1 PVC valve = $ 75.79
4.5 hours of labor = $ 545.00
Air filter = $ 25.06
Fuel filter = $ 28.98
Labor = $ 104.00
diagnostics $ 195.00
Had I got the work done there they would have given me a $ 64 credit on the diagnostics
Total at AAMCO = $ 1323.61
Since I didn’t want to pay over $ 1300 for the above they made me pay $ 195 to take my car back without any work being done on it.
I took it to the dealer who charges less for labor. Took 2 hours to fix and paid IN TOTAL $ 498.68
I SAVED $ 824.93 GOING TO THE DEALER! So save time and stress and NEVER GO HERE. I wouldn’t even give it one star but they make you!

My experience here was awful. I am having some issues with my transmission and made an appointment to come here. When I dropped my car off Rick asked what my concerns were and we agreed that we would do a diagnostic service. I had been told when I made the appointment that they had a courtesy drop off at work. Great I thought. No. There was no one to take me to work so I had to spend $ 20 on a cab ride.
I receive a call from Rick a few hours after I dropped my car off that the diagnostic tests had been finished. However they did not know exactly what was wrong. So they need to another test to figure out what is wrong. Meaning more money. Every time Rick called me it meant we want to charge you more money. By the end of the day Rick has now tried to nickel and dime me out of almost $ 800.00. Paying this amount will not even tell me exactly what is wrong with my car.
My car is older and I only paid $ 1000 for it. I had explained this to Rick previously and had said I am not looking to make this a $ 5000 dollar car. In the end I paid $ 260.00, and still do not know what is wrong with my car. Just a bunch of run around answers.
The day after I have picked up my car and have taken it home I notice a very large leak under my car. That’s odd because there was never a leak before. When I called AAMCO I spoke with Rick once again who was in my opinion very condescending and rude. I arranged to drop off my car to have it fixed and of course the AAMCO service tech immediately tried to say that it could not have possibly been something that they did. Did I receive a courtesy ride to work? No I did not because I had arranged for someone to take me to work because I was once again told by Rick that this was a «courtesy «and he was not sure it could be offered to me.
So now I have had to inconvenience someone else to take me to work and I don’t have my car. Oh and the leak was from your techs not properly sealing everything back up.
As I am standing in your lobby dropping my car off to fix this mysterious leak there is a couple standing in there speaking to Rick. He is literally repeating everything that he has said to me to them. Verbatim! I wanted to tell them to run! Is there a handbook on how to speak trickery language and nickel and dime customers? How to talk to them and condescend and belittle?
I promise that I will never be back and will never give a recommendation. Oh also on my way out Rick tells me that if I get a new car be sure to bring it in because they also offer other services and that they will take care of me. Lol!
I am so beyond disappointed.

DO NOT GO HERE! If I could give this place 0 stars I would give even less than that to the manager Rick I would. I brought my car in for a transmission fluid exchange a year ago it started leaking about 6 months ago I took it in they said they fixed it. The rest of the fluid leaked out the transmission is now barely working and they said they won’t do anything about it and I’ll have to pay full price to start from ground zero. The manager was also very abrasive aggressive and a unprofessional. This place doesn’t even fix the problem and makes your car running worse than when you brought it in and then won’t fix their mistake and wants to charge you $ 4 to start over from ground zero. Stay away from this place at all costs

You know when your car is having problems and life totally sucks because you never know how much the repair will cost? Besides, am I doing more damage by not getting it fixed right away?
I’ve brought my car here twice — 2011 and just last month, Aug 2014.
Both experiences were been great! They gave me the estimates and repair was done on time.
I read all these negative Unilocal reviews and I was really concerned about going back to Concord AAMCO.
So this time around, I went to Sears Auto at Sun Valley first. I’ve had some repairs/​maintenance done there before so it wasn’t new to me.
Sears misdiagnosed it TWICE. The first time, they said it was shocks & struts and second time (diff technician) said it was a transmission transfer box problem.
That’s how I ended up at AAMCO. I worked with Alex and Wesley. They were both so honest with me and gave me phone updates through the 2 days my car was there. The real problem was sway bar links and connectors.
Thanks guys!
I’ll come back here with my car again and again.

Wow, i have never seen a place on Unilocal with so many one star and complaints. I believe them. They are nothing like their commercial, this site should be closed down. They are making all Aamco’s look bad. I called them, let them know what was wrong with my truck and if i can bring it in for a check, they told me they are not allowed to work on my truck, or that they couldn’t fix the problem. Idiots !? I took it to another place, all it needed was a catalyctic converter. What kind of dummies run this Aamco?

I started going to this shop a year ago when I moved to Concord. The first time I went there was when my transmission went out on me. I didn’t have the money to fix it, but I needed to find out how much it would cost so I could get my vehicle back.
Long story short, they sent a tow truck to my house and didn’t charge me, ran diagnostics to see if they could repair it and even took it apart to find the lowest cost way to fix it and didn’t charge me a penny. I have a jeep and ended up replacing my transmission and it only cost $ 3000, which was a lot less than anywhere else said they could do it for.
My car is getting old and has needed quite a few repairs in the last few years and I ALWAYS take my car here. The staff is nice, the guy who is basically the manager always explains everything to me and they are fast too, which is always handy.
I don’t think the rest of the people who have reviewed this place are thinking of the right shop because I have never had issues and never feel ripped off in anyway when I go here. Oh, and the owner hardly ever comes in to the shop so I’m not sure who some of these other people spoke to, cause there’s also no one who is rude working there.

I took my car to Aamco instead of the dealer because Aamco said their diagnostic evaluation was free while the dealer said it would coust $ 165 right off the bat. Also because of the bad rep dealers have for allegedly charging so much more than other repair shops. I had not read the reviews because I had received a glowing recommendation from a trusted friend (who happens to live in another state though). I only went to the reviews once the ‘free’ diagnostic went up to $ 240.
First, let me say the office staff was indeed wonderful! Some of the best personal customer service around. They drove me to work after I dropped it off and picked me up the next day to retrieve my car! I had an appointment for 8am arrived about 8:15 but they still had to keep my car overnight to finish the testing because they were ‘so busy.’ Totally unanticipated and an inconvenience I had not expected.
Okay, so the recommendation was made to replace the valve body of the transmission at a cost of $ 2,500. I was warned though that there was a small chance that that would not completely address the issues and then I would need to replace the entire transmission.
I called my normal mechanic, the dealership where I purchased the car, and another transmission shop my detail person suggested. ALL three said that on a car with my mileage they would not replace only the valve but the whole tranny, two at less than the valve job. The dealer quoted $ 3,500.
So, mainly, my review may be more dissappointment in myself for believing that the diagnostic would be free as they initially said, and then the real deal comes out.

the reviews before me sums this place up. They suck and don’t go here. They will try to con you. They will lie to you to get your car in their shop and then will make up reasons to charge you more. Don’t trust these blood suckers.

This shop doesn’t even deserve a star! DO NOT USE THIS SHOP!
Words straight from Wesley, the GM, «your truck was a learning experience for us» Really your supposed to be a professional shop! And if that’s the case you don’t charge the costumer to teach your employees!
I dropped off my truck because my rear pinion seal was leaking. I FIRST dropped it off on 4÷23÷12. They repaired the seal and sent me on my way. 1 week later I’m driving home on 5÷3÷12 and the bearings fail do to being over tightened. They had me tow my truck in on my dollar from San Ramon to concord {$ 200} They tried to tell me it was my fault. Wesley, Finally worked with me to where I paid parts and he paid labor. This took place on 5÷3÷12. I finally got my truck back on 5÷9÷12. { At this point Im now out $ 862. for a $ 200 job and parts were over 3x what they should have been.}
Now i get my truck back for the 3^rd time on 5÷9÷12. I drive it to work on ⁵⁄₁₀ and I get to work and the rear end is again leaking oil bad. They paid this time to have it towed back.
Now Wesley tells me they put on the wrong seal and it will cost me another $ 210!
Are you completely stupid? Thats what i brought it in for! So, Another $ 210 to get it back! All I can say is «DO NOT USE THIS SHOP! THEY ARE THIEVES!
ALL SAID AND DONE I WOULD NOT REFER THIS SHOP TO ANYBODY!

Staff seems real friendly at first
Once you check your car in however they start giving off a very dishonest vibe.
Owners son runs the front office and he doesn’t really seem to have any idea of what is going on in the shop.
The owner called to tell me they found «metal contaminants» in the tranny oil which is not very uncommon but he made it sound disastrous. They found a transmission code on the check engine light but never went into detail on what the code number was or what it represented and quickly wanted to proceed with a $ 600.00 inspection. After hearing the son tell me that they have to be resilient in tough economic times I wasn’t about to go through with that.
Even the two truck driver who towed me out said how many people he tows in their lot and tows them right back out.
Very high chance you will get scammed here.

Reviews are pretty accurate, came in to get my check engine light to be checked, which I thought was free, tried to charge me 180. Seriously dont go here, they don’t know what they’re talking about. Exact words before I left ’ you need to get your car fixed, your car will get damaged and things of that nature’. What? Lol I went to honda dealership in concord instead, great service ended up just flushing tranny fluid and cel cleared

Horrible experience!!! Unnecessarily kept my car for 3 days to check an engine light when I already knew it was the sensor.

OMG… please stay away from this place! I was told at my dealership that my transmission is showing a first signs of going bad and re-​build transmission would cost $ 5000. I took my car to Aamco for a second opinion. When I called, Jeff told me it’ll be a free quote. I was in Mexico at the time and had my assistant drive my car (Range Rover) in. 3 days later we received a call that they need to take the car apart to properly diagnose what needs to be re-​built. They charged $ 880 for this. I agreed since I wanted to see if they will be cheaper than Range Rover dealership. Another 3 – 4 days went by and their price quote was $ 5600… really? Higher than a dealership??? I said NO! I asked them to put the car back together. The owner called me and lower the price to $ 4000. He wasn’t apologetic, he was blaming his manager (obviously the manager’s performance reflects owners ability to lead!!) and told me that he will eat the cost and give me a discounted price for my inconvenience. I said no, thank you, put the transmission back together and give me my car back. Owner hung up the phone and 5 days later we picked up the car.
I called few places and got quotes between $ 3300 — $ 3500. I drove the car for another 40 days and 1600 miles till it broke down completely. Walnut Creek transmissions fix the car for $ 3400 in 3 days. They had wonderful customer service and were priced well and got it done fast.

Wow! I just had the best experience i’ve had with a mechanic… who worked with me — for free and on a weekend — on my car’s issue (s). The free diagnostic was great. The transmission issue, for which i took it there, was diagnosed and addressed quickly while i waited.
Thanks to Jeff, the mechanic! I’ll be recommending you! I’m a ‘car guy’ — and really appreciated that they didn’t try to sell me on necessary work…
I’m not sure what’s up with these other Unilocal reviews, so i asked. The shop has had a change in ownership, and the a customer service guy is no longer with them…

This place is the worst, they damaged my ABS sensor and gave me a ridiculous reason why it wasn’t their fault, in addition to the damage they made every attempt to sell me every service that was not necessary.
I suggest you shop around, I guarantee you’ll find a more reasonable and honest shop elsewhere.