AAMCO Transmissions & Total Car Care

I wanted to Say Thank you for helping my wife. Last week I hit some ice from the snow storm and my bumper was out of place. My wife went to the only place I’ve taken my car to, the AAMCO in Elmhurst. The guys went out and placed my bumper back on it clips and aligned it for no charge. That is customer service, for this reasonIi will continue to give you my business. Thanks again

I originally went to AAMCO because of an A/​C special they were running. Since then I’ve been back multiple times. Phil the manager gives you choices and explains the pros and cons of each option. In general I find them to be thorough and honest, not so usual in the car repair business.

I had my first and last service at this location in queens on February 17, 2014 because my car needs to check for the engine light. They adjusted the belt and the engine light was still on so they told me to come back next time for the replacement of new solenoid set for Nissan Sentra 1.8S 2004. Then on February 19^th, I went back to them and they had the solenoid set for my car. The first charges of solenoid set was $ 845. The price does not included the cost of drop down resistor $ 68.60, the labor cost, and the fluid cost $ 29.70. The price of the solenoid was questionable to me. Cut the story short, he ripped off the first bill. The second bill charges was $ 481.56, take note that is only the solenoid set and does not included the labor cost, the drop down resistor cost and the fluid cost. Well of course, the bill was ripped off again for the second time. Finally without ripping the last invoice, he came up with the price of solenoid set for $ 385.25 which I believed is the right cost for the solenoid set. The labor cost me a lot too because according to them it was 2.3 hours of labor just for that. I came in there before they open their shop and I got the car in good condition after 2pm… imagined that. Don’t forget to ask the old solenoid set because we never know if a set was all defective or it was just one part of a set.

very bad services. Don’t go there.

After seeing the disappointing reviews, I decided to write my own, because Marty and his crew has been taking care of my car for a few years now and we have never had a problem! From rebuilding the transmission to changing the oil! He even helps with a rental car if our car has to be there for a few days! I honestly cannot give them anything other than 5 stars because they are super efficient and professional!

I had a great experience so far at AAMCO. I went in because my gear shifter was stuck. They called me constantly to give me updates about my vehicle and did a free examination of my vehicle. He went over what needed to be done on my car and gave me a reasonable estimate to get my car fixed and running properly. I think I might use them again when I need to get my car fixed again.

This place is TERRIBLE.
I purchased a living social deal for 3 oil changes.
I first tried to use it, and they told me the next available appointment i can make for an oil change is 5 weeks. 5 WEEKS FOR OIL CHANGE??? since i already bought this voucher and it was not refundable.

I reluctantly, tried to use it for the 2^nd time so i called and made an appointment at 8:00am on tuesday. I show up and he tells me i have to leave the car and it was going to take 3 – 4 hours. what was the point of making an appointment?
it’s an oil change, it takes 15 mins…
i’m just gonna rip my left over vouchers, than to deal with these people again.
I’m certain that they are doing this on purpose so that they don’t have to honor the vouchers that are already paid for.
AVOID AT ALL COST.

Since there are two AAMCOs on Unilocal for the very same location, I will copy my review here also.
I will never come to this AAMCO again and will probably we wary to go to any other AAMCO because of this DISORGANIZED and DISHONORABLE service.
The reason I say this is because I am giving them two strikes and will be very reluctant for a third. See the first strike was when my car made a sucking noise when I start the engine, the issue was a pump had to be replaced. I am always seeing their commercials on television, with the ones where drivers bring their car in and mimic a noise, then the mechanic at AAMCO immediately understands the problem. Yes it’s advertisement, I don’t take it literally. But, there has to be a reason why they are a chain. So I drive my car to them for a diagnosis. I did not get a resolution from this shop or even a diagnosis. I called and was told to come in the next morning at 9am. I kept my appointment, 10 minutes early. When I got there I was told by the same gentleman answering the phone, I believe either Greg or Marty, that they could not take any more cars for the day. There were already two cars ahead of me and the shop was full. Why make the appointment? So I ask can I come back later, I was told the day was full. It annoyed me a little but no biggie, there are millions of mechanics out there, so I took my business elsewhere. By the way, this garage only has room in the shop for about 4 cars and very limited parking spots.
Strike two: I sign up for LivingSocial (by the way, I stopped my subscription to their mailings) and got spammed everyday with their deals, finally I bit on one and it was for the Oil Change Deal where for about $ 30 you not get one oil change but three I believe it was, for $ 30, that is an awesome deal. Just as an extra note: I know these deals use cheap oil but I was willing to upgrade for an extra cost (the terms stated this) or, if still, cheap oil go with it once for it’s value. The deal gave a choice of three locations to do it, I did not choose this location, I chose another but they mailed me the voucher specifying this AAMCO because it’s the closes location to me. I read all the fine print about activating, time frame and duration it could be used and all the Terms and Conditions, because I know about these bait and switch marketing stuff. That wasn’t the issue, I was in full adherence of the Terms of usage. AAMCO said oil changes are only done at 8am in the morning. No problem, but who has time on a weekday to drive there and wait? I do not, so I postpone it for a few weeks, only a few weeks past and I now have room in my schedule for the 8am appointment, when I call back they said they are no longer accepting the voucher. The deal did not expire or violate any terms of contract. They said to call LivingSocial for a refund. Whether I got the refund or not does not matter. It’s AAMCO’s bad service.

They are disgusting and lie through their teeth. Marty, the owner, is the worst offender. I know that sometimes mechanics ‘bend the truth’ because they want you to fix things prematurely, but Marty deemed my car unsafe to drive, and told me that my car would fail inspection the next time I had to go. It was all an absolute lie. My brakes were fine — I have 6,000 or 7,000 miles to go on them! My right tie rod had absolutely no play in it. They also did this the last time I went in for an oil change. Marty is obviously hungry for new customers, and judging by the way he raised his voice at me and lied, he doesn’t deserve a single one.

Well, here I am again! I thought I would give it another try! Why waste my money when I already paid for the service.
I made an appointment about a month ago, spoke with Greg, to have oil changed in my car.
Yesterday, I called to re-​confirm my 8:00 am appointment.
I arrived at exactly 8:01 am, to see the gates down and no one has showed up.
I waited, and waited and waited. I was very patient. I thought, I’d give them another couple of minutes due to the fact that we just went thru Hurricane Sandy and the traffic maybe bad. I mean, this is Queens. I looked around the traffic on Queens Blvd. There is traffic to Manhattan, not to Queens!
I LEFT THE PLACE AT 8:55 AM WITH GATES STILL DOWN AND NO ONE SHOWED UP FOR BUSINESS!!!
This business is a joke, that does not care about customers and their satisfaction!
I will be demanding my money back and will be reporting them. It is disgusting to have wasted my time and still did not have a simple oil change.
Yuck! this place is disgusting!!!

Marty is hands-​down one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met. We dropped off our Budget Truck at his place, and he was so helpful and flexible — I drove all the way from our apartment in morning rush hour and forgot the paperwork, and he was totally willing to work with us.
Super nice guy, and really reasonable to work with — hard to find that in NYC! If I ever get a car in the city, this is where I’m taking it for service.