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Just wondering what every one thinks of AAMCO.
I will give my opinion after I hear back from some of you

Bob  

It depends what you want to know. How it is to work there? No different than any other shop it depends who owns it and who else works there. Aamcos are usually busy most probably average about $20,000 a week but they are doing everything now not just transmissions. And an Aamco is more likely to have the latest diagnostic equipment. Also being able to call the tech hotline for a tough problem comes in handy.And they will usually send you to the seminars which help a little. The overhead is pretty steep in those shops though. In my opinion the best way to do this business is small. Keep your overhead low and do most of the work yourself.  

We don't have an AAMCO franchise in this area but I can't say that I've heard anything bad about them.  

They used to be a very sought after franchise. But that was back when transmissions was a great business to be in. Now you can barely give an Aamco franchise away.  

I worked at 2 AAMCO shops
First one was a central rebuilding center
Since they were working on nothing but transmissions from AAMCO shops they did complete
rebuilds.
The AAMCO I worked at next did complete rebuilds also, including the jobs that only needid something like a neutral switch.
I worked on a fair amount that needid nothing.

Bob  

That kind of stuff happens and its not exclusive to Aamco's it all depends on what kind of person owns the particular franchise. In their defense it's hard to resist when you have a weekly break even of $10,000 - $12,000. And sometimes being a nice guy can backfire on you too.  

Yes, what you said are right completely.  
I heart which I could not help him

I have to agree with 440

They can't be all bad or all good

I hope my next job is with an honest owner  

But only half the cars that come into aamco actually need a transmission....

is their slogan...


funny how they leave off the second half of the statement..

every  car gets one ...

and i worked in one early in my auto repair life..   the staff was congratulated by the owner that is was a perfect week...  every car got a transmission...  i thought that was odd.. as one of them only needed a modulator hose..  the fluid was as clean as new.. not a spot of dirt in the filter..    $768. for TH350 in a 76 camaro.. in 1980 when i took a look at the sales that week. 2 days later after being lectured for 20 minutes on why asking for a 3/8-16 nut was cutting into the owners profit margin i quit.

i went to work at a has a blimp tire company owned store after that.. it was a mad house.. but making money hand over fist. 6 mechanics working 5 day weeks.. but open 7 days a week..  3 week waiting list for the $14.55 oil change..  every car got an estimate when the oil was changed.. including a wheels off brake inspection.. if little was wrong.. it was estimated and sent to the parking lot to free rack space..  if it was a major estimate the customer was called in..  there were a lot of 4 wheel disc drum overhauls.. $211.55.. new pads.. turn and repack bearings.. new seals.. rebuild the calipers. new caliper hardware. . reman rear shoes. turn drums  new wheel cylinders.. new hardware kits..bleed brakes... 24 month 24K warrantee..  man we were buzy... we also did wheel alignments..

we did not have time to sell shocks on cars that did not need them.. or springs on cars that we not sagging and broken...  it was a 7 am till 6 pm jam..  and a union shop..  i was low man on the totem pole.. i got all the oil changes on the new cars.. wrote estimates on what i could.. but back then.. there were dozens of brand new cars coming through for their first oil change..  less than 6K on the speedo..  our manager who just sat and looked out the window at us.. left us alone ended up being promoted to zone manager.. a low producing manager got sent in.. he took me aside and said he did not want another car leaving the shop without at least 100 bucks on the invoice or he would write me up...  i showed him the stack of invoices he was working from.. that the cars in question are all 3K to 6K on the speedo.. and there were estimates..  next one that went through.. he wrote me up and fired me..   he actually sent a notice of termination to my home address..  with that fact..

mom had it framed..

  at that point in 1980 or early 81.. that shop was cranking out 70K a month.. not including any tires batteries or belts and hoses..  there were 3 guys just installing tires all day.. 7 days a week..

just my personal opinion..  

Out of the 7 tranmision shops I worked for I would say 2 or maybe 3 were honest shops
The first place I worked at was a famisy business.
I worked with an uncle and some cousins
The shop location was what ended up as a low income area
We were the honest shop.
If the trans needid a vaccuum hose that is what it got
Seems to me the dishonest shop does well and the honest shop closes.
We would give an estimate after a road test with the customer knowing if there was hidden damage he would pay for the added parts
If we has a used part we would not charge list price


Bob  

I worked for a Lee Myles that got busted for cheating by a spot inspector. If I remember right it was a car that came in with a blown fuse and my boss replaced the fuse and billed them for a computer. Heres the funny part. The fine was $10,000 and they told him if you pay the fine without a fuss we will keep it out of the newspaper and the public will never find out. If you try to appeal it then they will go public with the incident. So it's really just a source of revenue for the state they aren't trying to protect any consumers. But I have to say that out of all the shops I have worked for the Aamco put in the most new parts and gave the customer the most for their money. A lot of shop owners want you to use the bare minimum parts wise.Used solenoid blocks used clutches I even worked for a guy who would have me tear down a core to get an overdrive band for an AOD. But again it depends on the owner. The name on the building doesn't matter too much.  

When you art uninployed you work for who ever you can
One place I worked nothing got rebuilt unless it is so bad you have no choice
Every job was just fix it
It's hard to just fix it when you are used to complete rebuilds
Seemed like every 3rd job was from a previous builder
It was realy bad
Think I lost this job because of a 2-3 flair on a 5R55n
Think the problem was valve body but we only had one other valve bodies to try  

Could have been a worn servo bore too. If the guy was cheap he probably didn't have the sleeving tool.  

I think it was sleeved but can't say for sure
You could be right  

i am taking that you personally were not tearing down the valve bodies.. that was done in a different department..

i think i know who you were working for..  they are rather large and have a lot of accounts..

did that place have a transmission dyno to test them before they went out??


did they have a valve body dyno to test the Vb for internal leaks???

sorry you lost your job ...

time to buy some 4l60E cores and start selling them as finished units on ***

or call the local junk yards...   a few yards here in so cal have rebuilders working to have decent product to sell...  they are cheep though...