Cottman Transmission and Total Auto Care

I was referred to this business by Brandon Bosserman of Firestone to have a check on my 7 y. o transmission. They got me in at the last minute before closing and then called me the next morning promptly with an idea of what was going on. My car did need a new transmission and was quoted a price that discounted the initial cost of having to open it up to check it out. I crosschecked the price given with a couple of other shops and they agreed that it was a normal rate. The work was done fast and other work I needed done was included for of course an additional price. A follow up appointment is scheduled to make sure the work done is still doing well. So far, the car drives better overall and have found no new problems. Cindy in the front office is professional and eager to work with you and keeps up to date with notifying you of the work progress.

I have a ’04 Ford Explorer. If you have one, you will have transmission problems. I brought it to Cottman and Steve explained everything to me. It needed a complete rebuild and Steve explained what they would do and even showed me the parts that had worn out. I’m satisfied with their work. This transmission has some serious design flaws and they went above and beyond to fix it. I recommend Cottman Transmission.

When looking at service companies there’s only a couple of standards to go by, I got my clutch fixed and have to say it was an enjoyable process.
Price: They had a great price. I was able to replace my clutch and a couple of other parts associated with the transmission (no labor charge) while they were replacing the clutch for the same price as other mechanic shops wanted to replace just the clutch for. Warranty included so I know the job was done right.
Time to finish: Were very fast dropped my car off in the morning Thursday it was ready by lunch time Friday.
Customer Care: I was aware of what was occurring during the entire time and did not feel any pressure (huge turn off from other places I’ve been to). They called me as soon as the car was ready and I was driving before I expected.
At this point I will be using Cottman for my future repairs.

I was extremely unhappy with this shop. It took a day and a half for them to tell me the vehicle had ‘no codes’, and required more than $ 500 to pull the engine and transmission just to diagnose. I quickly got the impression that I was being lead down the sales process to having a full replacement. No mention of fluids, filters, metal shavings, etc. I genuinely felt that no matter what was actually wrong with my transmission, I was going to pay for a new one.
I made other arrangements to have my vehicle repaired, and let them know I was sending a truck out to pick up my car. They called back, ½ an hour before closing for the day, to let me know that they would not release my car because of the towing fee, and refused to take a credit card over the phone. I was out of town, but could have had a family member come by, but then they refused to tell me the amount, and that this could not be resolved before they closed for the day. I had asked for the manager to call me, but never heard from him.
Five days after having them handle my car, and a $ 90 towing charge to drag my car 5 miles away, I knew nothing more than I did when it was stuck in my driveway. I could have told them «there was no codes» before they even picked it up. I had several more days without my car, and had to continue to rent one.
My mechanic, who had come in on a Saturday to work my car, and had to go home when Cottman refused to release it, finally received my car, wires were disconnected, and various plates and covers were off. It took a fair amount of work just to get the engine running again.
I can tell you this — I’m paying $ 700 for a replacement transmission with a year warranty, and $ 300 to remove and replace. Why pay more than $ 500 «just to see»? It’s not a diagnostic fee, it’s a way to finagle a $ 500 nonrefundable down payment on a new one.