I had taken my car to one of the independent shop in Pasadena and was told it will cost me $3000. As heard from friend, I went to AAMCO and they rebuilt it less than half the price!

The Manager looks like a crack addict with his yellow teeth and bad breath. They over charged me from the original price they quoted and they got very ugly as i was trying to leave the place. Please dont go to this business and save your time and effort.

I took my car in for a free diagnostic, since that's what Aamco advertises. I had a squeaky belt...I took it in first thing in the morning. Robert said he'd have it looked at within an hour or two, and assured me that the diagnostic wouldn't cost me anything. Five hours later, I still hadn't heard anything back, so I called, and he informed me that he had taken it to a shop across the road, without my consent. The mechanic at that shop charged me a $150 diagnostic fee and refused to release me my car until I paid it. I contested, and he finally called Robert at Aamco, who told him that he was right, and not to give me my car until I paid him.
I tried to talk to the owner, Sadu, who because of his accent is hard to understand anyways, and he gave me some big story about telling Robert I had a problem with my smog system and that I consented to them taking my car elsewhere. These people are bad people, scam artists, and should not be in business.

I had the transmission rebuilt, it worked pretty much, a little rough, but within a couple of weeks it started to jump into gear and shift roughly. I brought it back twice and was told that it needed other new parts, motor mounts, for another $250. Strange, they hadn't been a problem. It didn't add up to me so I declined.
The warranty expired since then. I recently looked at the tranny fluid level, it had bubbles in it. Internet articles indicated this meant too much automatic transmission fluid (ATF), bad for the transmission and causes rough shifting. Aha.
After taking it to another place they told they drained THREE EXTRA QUARTS more than the specified maximum. After this drain-and-fill (to the proper level) it ran almost perfectly, the best since the rebuild.
Do you think it was intentional (penny-ante scam to get another $250) or just a mistake because it's difficult for them to read ATF fluid levels? I certainly don't have any more problem with my motor mounts.
You decide.
I won't be giving them any more business.

P.S. danny c. (reviwer) gave them five stars, but it looks like he meant to put 2 or 3. It sound like he had a similar experience.

my car ran for about 5 minutes that began to slip a lot. i thought it was the fluid but it was full, did not smell burned either. i am a certified mechanic but i admit i dont know a thing about transmissions. i searched online and through phone books looking for a shop and i fed in to the free diagnostic. they recomended a rebuild as best solution. rob did a good job no denying that. he got my civic back on the road within a week, 3 days i think. at $1800 buck they better do a good job, and they did. the only thing is that my 02 civic specified z1 fluid, but was filled with dexron3. i asked why they put that in instead of z1, i was given the answer it works fine, i use it all the time. i thought, hey he would know right? except i noticed the trans would slip and shift slowly when cold, once warm it was no problem, althought slow to shift when putting pedal to medal on highway passing, it also vibrated a lot. after changing the fluid myself at the tone of $ 80 buck to flush vibration was gone and there was no slip. after spending $1800 i wonder why they skimped on the fluid. i would still recomend them but suggest buyer be ware and check the report they give you afterward, make sure they are not putting in the wrong fluid as it can damage the trans.