Complaint Review: AAMCO - Lake Forest California

On Monday, September 4, 2017 I had my car towed from my home to AAMCO.

I spoke to the shop manager David Garcia over the phone and explained that my car had stalled and there was an error code on my gauge indicating "CHECK VSC" with an exclamation mark diagram. The check engine light and the airbag light were also lit up.

After speaking to David briefly the next day, he assured me that his technician was running a diagnostic of the problem and they have determined the problem to be the alternator and battery and that needed to be replaced. (Alternator: $350 and Battery: $150 plus Labor: $100)

After 3 days of not hearing from David, I called him back only to find out that all parts were replaced but the car was still throwing error codes. The bill is now going to be $1500 to repair the transmission. I said if that was the total bill then I go ahead with the necessary repairs. He also reassured me that it would be no more than $1500 which included the labor, towing, alternator and battery replacement. He spoke rapidly and used a lot of mechanical jargons that conflicted with his original diagnostic but I was already committed to the replacement of battery and alternator. So I told him to go ahead with the repairs of the transmission if this was indeed the root cause of the problem. He said it would be completed in four days.

It is now two weeks into the repair and several phone call attempts, I was finally able to speak briefly to David. He explained that a rebuilt transmission and a rebuilt torque converter were replaced but the check engine light and error codes were still present even after several attempts to reset these codes. There are now layers after layers of unnecessary repairs completed on my car but we still have error codes.

 He then explained to me that he believes the error codes were due to a faulty ECU. He said he knows an expert in Santa Ana who works on these types of problem and that he would make arrangements to with John at Autotech to run a complete diagnostic of my car and that John can and will fix everything.

It is now 3.5 weeks into the repairs. A refurbished ECU, a valve body assembly installed and labor to remove, rebuild and to reinstall amounted to $3050.69. Mind you, I’ve only agreed to the $1500 transmission repairs. At this point all I wanted was my car to be returned. David said if I wanted my car back then I can come in and pay for it. I went to the shop to pick up my car. The minute I drove off his lot, all warning lights were turned on.

Enough was enough! I drove immediately to Lexus of South County. I spoke to the service advisor about all the replacement and work done on my car with AAMCO and my car is still unsafe and inoperable to drive. I had my car at AAMCO for a month now and they have done nothing to repair my car except for unnecessary repairs with surmounted to nothing but a higher bill.

It only took Lexus two days to identify that the mass air flow sensor was not calibrating with the gas mixture causing the check engine light to go on and thus shutting down the electrical system of the vehicle. The mass air sensor was replaced and the car operates flawlessly. 

Lexus technician also found out that AAMCO shorted out a 150 watt amp and tried to unsuccessfully solder the amp back to the fuse box. Which ended up costing me and additional $700 to replace? My total bill came out to $1478.24 which I personally believe should be covered by AAMCO and the bill that I paid for the unnecessary repairs and service at AAMCO should be fully refunded.