ComplaintsforCottman Transmission & Total Auto Care

• Initial Complaint

  02/06/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On December 11, we had our car towed to Cottman Transmission at 4047 Taylorsville Rd, Louisville, Ky. The owner stated he would be able to look the issue on 12/13/2023. After many calls (and given me the run around), he did not get to look at car until 12/21/2023. ***** *****l (owner) then stated it was a transmission issue and gave us the options of rebuild, new or used transmission. This was the weekend before Christmas, so we called back on 12/26/2023 and advised that we wanted to go with a rebuilt transmission. He stated on 12/26 that the part would take 3 days to come in. We called on 12/29 which he replied that it did not come in but would be in on 1/2/2024. We called on 1/11/2024 to get updates, the owner stated that the place he was dealing with sent him the wrong part and that a reorder would be in on 1/15/2024. We called back on 1/17th to get a status, which the owner stated that he had part in and he would test it and be finished by 1/19/2024. We called back on 1/22 which the car still had not be touched. The owner calls us back on 1/26 saying that the second transmission was the wrong part, then he proceeded to say he would rebuild the transmission and would not charge us any additional money. I was very upset and advised him I would need to discuss with my son. We called back on 1/29 and advised ***** that we would allow him to rebuild the transmission, if no further cost and delays would occur. He completed the work on 2/2/2024. After paying the remaining balance of $2495, before even getting off the repair business lot, the low pressure oil light/shut engine light was on. We proceeded to tell the owner *****, in which he stated that the light had not been on, and it probably needed oil. He basically refused to look at it. We took our car down the street to a car repair shop to add oil and do an oil change, they stated that oil was leaking from where the transmission meets the engine. I called the owner back for a refund at this point. Which ***** *****l stated he would not give me a refund and he would need to take the transmission off. To say the least, this has been a total nightmare. ***** *****l and Cottman Transmission services here in Louisville Ky, is given Cottman Transmission a bad name. ***** had our car for nearly 2 months and the problem has still not be fixed, and possibly has made the original issue worse as now we have an oil leak.

  

  Business response

  02/19/2024

  Her Son's 2008 Chevrolet Avalanche with 177,140 miles was towed into our lot with the complaint "Won't go into gear". We are a busy shop, and try to look at vehicles within 2 to 3 days. We tried, but could not push this vehicle into our bay for diagnosis. We had to crawl underneath the truck to disconnect the drive shaft at the transmission just to push it inside. There was snow and ice on the ground delaying this for a few days. We discovered it needed a replacement transmission. It had two pages of problem codes scanned from our diagnostic computer. A sign of a lack of maintenance. Most vehicles would only have one to three codes when they come in here for problems. We quoted our standard remanufactured transmission with a 3 year, 100,000 mile warranty. They wanted to "think it over". At this point we had to move onto other peoples vehicles that were waiting on approved repairs. After about a week, I called to ask their decision. They didn't want to spend that much money on it. I offered to rebuild their same transmission in the truck for a few hundred dollars less, but they still didn't want to spend that much. They requested other cheaper options. I offered to shop around for a used transmission. I normally don't like to sell used transmissions, but I knew it was her Son's truck, and that she would be paying for it. I was trying to help out the best I could. I called the customer back after a couple of days with 3 used transmission options. After two more additional weeks later of them deciding which used option they wanted, they called and chose the absolute cheapest used transmission that I could find. I told the customer that this had to be shipped from out of state. Because of the ice and snow storms across the country, trucking shipments were delayed. All the customer's decision making delays pushed their repair schedule back. We had other customers needing repairs and waiting. Unfortunately we received the wrong transmission. It was no fault of mine. The vendor told me that it was labeled wrong! That's when the customer asked for a discount for the delay. I tried to bring up their lengthy decision making process, but she wouldn't allow me to bring that point up. They never bothered to be in a hurry until a mistake happened. Then all of the sudden they made a big deal of a few extra days after their 3 week decision process! The vendor had to ship a replacement, and for some reason it was also wrong through no fault of mine. At that point I offered to have their transmission rebuilt at my expense with no extra cost to them. Worth approximately $1,000 more! They had to take a few days to decide to let me do this or not! Her complaint about the time frame to get it done should not even be an issue for her to bring up here! Seeing all the other vehicle problems, broken door handles, their choice of the cheapest transmission available, neglected maintenance, and trying to get a discount, I didn't see the point in trying to sell other repairs like engine oil leaks, etc. The oil change was past due, and a quart low because of the numerous leaks. It was very clear that they were not wanting to spend more than they had to get the vehicle moving again. That is exactly what we did at the most economical price. The engine had leaks all over it, as many engines with 177,000 miles will have. We are transmission specialist replacing transmissions every day. A transmission replacement does not make the engine leak oil. The customers called back shortly after they left claiming to have taken it somewhere to be looked at. They never asked us to look at it. They claimed the "mechanic" stated it was leaking engine oil from where we connected the transmission. This would be impossible to see without removing the transmission. A non-transmission specialist mechanic could possibly mistake the engine oil leaks as coming from the engine where the transmission connects. But the leaking engine oil is running down onto the transmission, not from where it is connected to the transmission. I asked her to bring it back. I wanted to show her all the leaks that her Son's truck engine already had. She refused. She said she just wanted a refund. Why wouldn't someone let me prove to them that we did nothing wrong? We did our job correctly. The truck transmission works fine and does not leak. We drove this truck after the transmission replacement, then got it back up on a lift to reinspect our work as we always do. There were no transmission leaks, or any engine leak that we caused. Only the numerous pre-existing engine oil leaks. She wasn't interested in us proving we did nothing wrong or showing her the condition of the engine and how it was already leaking. She just wants her money back. That is not fair to our business. We are still willing to lift the truck up for her to show her all the leaks her Son's truck engine has. She was probably unaware of the engine oil leaks because it is her Son's truck. We worked on the transmission, not the engine. We did our work correctly. 

  Customer response

  02/20/2024

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because: These statements are false
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******* ******

  Customer response

  02/21/2024

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because: 

  I reject Cottman statements as they are false.

   

  When the Chevrolet Avalanche was towed to Cottman Transmission on December 11th, ***** *****l stated that he would be able to look at the truck on December 13th. After, receiving no call about the diagnosis, I called Cottman Transmission on December 14 (Please see call records attached). Cottman Transmission had not done any work as of December 14th, 2024. I complained to the receptionist that we needed to know what was going on with the truck, so that we could make a decision, as we were renting a car to get back and forth to work. She promised that the Avalanche would be looked at by the end of the day. I received a callback stating that they were not able to move the Avalanche into the bay, so I gave permission after Cottman stated that they needed to remove the axle, to get the truck to move into the bay. I called back on December 19th (Please see call records attached) and no work still had been done.  At this point I became upset and stated why would they tell me that they would look at my car within 2 to 3 days after first towing it there, and now it had been 8 days. ***** *****l proceeds to tell me that he had a lot of cars to fix on his lot. I explained that he could have told me that before I towed my car there, I would have went elsewhere. On December 21st, ***** *****l calls stating that the Avalanche would need a transmission and gave us three options, rebuild new or used transmission. ***** *****l quoted that the best way to go was a new transmission at about $4500 to $5000 dollars. We could not afford that option, we wanted to go with a used transmission. ***** *****l offered to research prices and to get back with us. ***** *****l called back in approximately a day or two with 3 used transmission quotes. This was the weekend of Christmas, so we asked to for a few days to decide. At no point did our decision take 3 weeks, as stated in ***** *****l’s reply. I called back on December 26 (Please see call records attached), to say that we wanted to go with the used transmission with a 1 year warranty and a certain amount of miles. ***** *****l stated that the transmission would take 3 days to arrive, at no point did ***** *****l say that the part was coming out state and it was delayed to snow storms. We called on 12/29 which he replied that it did not come in but would be in on 1/2/2024. We called on 1/11/2024 to get updates, the owner stated that the place he was dealing with sent him the wrong part and that a reorder would be in on 1/15/2024. We called back on 1/17th to get a status, which the owner stated that he had part in and he would test it and be finished by 1/19/2024. We called back on 1/22 which the car still had not be touched. The owner calls us back on 1/26 saying that the second transmission was the wrong part, then he proceeded to say he would rebuild the transmission and would not charge us any additional money. At this point I was very upset and felt that I had been given the run around and untrue stories. I asked for a discount for the time that he had our car there. No discount was offered, I told ***** that he really inconvenienced us and I could not believe that this was happening. (How could two parts be wrong, ***** said that he dealt with this vendor before, and they made mistakes and that he would not be using them again). I was distrustful of Cottman and ***** *****l at this point, so I told ***** *****l, I would need to discuss, with my son, and that I may tow off his lot and wanted the $1000 refund back from the initial deposit. Afer, calling around to other transmission shops, no one could see for about two to three weeks. We called back on 1/29 and advised ***** that we would allow him to rebuild the transmission if no further cost and delays would occur. He completed the work on 2/2/2024. After paying the remaining balance of $2495, before even getting off the repair business lot, the low pressure oil light/shut engine light was on. We proceeded to tell the owner *****, in which he stated that the light had not been on, and it probably needed oil. ***** was correct, the low pressure oil light/shut engine light had not been on by his on admission, (Please see the diagnose codes that Cottman had done on 12/13/2023, there was no oil leaks/or low oil pressure lights, when the Avalanche was towed there. There has never been an oil leak until after Cottman’s work was done.  ***** *****l basically refused to look at it. We took our car down the street to a car repair shop to add oil and do an oil change, they stated that oil was leaking from where the transmission meets the engine. (Please see attachment notated as Exhibit 3). Please note the day and time from Cottman receipt and date and time on Exhibit 3 to show that car was taken immediately to another car shop and comments listed showing that oil pressure light was on and that it has a major oil leak. In closing I feel that I have been more than patient with ***** *****l and Cottman Transmission. ***** *****l and Cottman Transmission has made the original issue worse as now we have an oil leak, I can not take the truck back to ***** *****l and Cottman as I do not trust them. ***** *****l is being unethical with his false statements and does not deserve the Better Business Bureau stamp of approval. I am asking for a full refund as I now must get oil leak work done on the Avalanche and the transmission is slipping again.

  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******* ******

  

  Business response

  02/22/2024

  Here is the computer diagnosis of the vehicle with a date stamp the day we started diagnosing the vehicle. Dated the next day or two after arrival. A poorly neglected vehicle to have so many codes. A longer reply to follow. 

  Customer response

  02/23/2024

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because: The owner (***** ******) keeps harping on the Pre Scan Vehicle System Report. This vehicle was purchased used 7 months ago, so it is not due to neglect on our part. Most of the codes are pertaining to the outside body of the Avalanche. Also, the codes do not show there was an oil leak/ oil low pressure/turn off engine light was on when the vehicle arrived at his business. This business owner is trying to deflect from the real issue at hand and being very unethical, with his falsehoods.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******* ******

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩