Just want to vent and forget about it..... $3800 for trans rebuild

If some of you forgot by now, I have had terrible problems with my VX since March 2007. When I went on a competition to Estonia I dropped my VX off at the Isuzu dealership to:
-tune up
-trans fluid flush and replace
-diff fluid change
-brake job
-oil change
-timing belt change
All in all around $2500 in work done. I had just gone over 100k and wanted to get all the maintenance done at once while I was out of the country. When I got back I drove the VX for a couple of weeks then the transmission started acting up. I took it back to the dealership and they told me that they did not put enough fluid in because they did not run it through the gears, so they refilled and I was on my way. Then problems started to happen again so I took it back three times in the next 3 months with them telling me it must be electrical and they charged me $700 to fix an electrical problem that never existed. Eventually in early July they decided that it was indeed an internal problem and took the transmission apart, they replaced the pump (that I had to order myself on eBay because they could not find it) and solenoid, and then put it back together. It did not fix the problem when I finally got it back in September. So I told them I was going to Aamco and getting it fixed and I would send them the bill and they said they would "try" to get me reimbursed. Aamco starts out telling me it will be $2200 for rebuild then they say there is $1000 in additional parts and then they say they have to get another solenoid and that is another $200 so now I am looking at a $3400 trans rebuild cost or $3800 with their 3 year warranty on the trans job. Putting $4k in the trans seems ridiculous but I had no choice and they knew it. Now I guess I will pick the VX up pay the $3800 and hope and pray that the Isuzu dealership owns up to breaking my VX.

Sorry I just had to vent and get that out it really has been terrible going through this for the last 7 months. Thanks for this awesome site and the awesome unique people with the common bond of an awesome unique vehicle......

If your Vx tranny worked right before you took it to the dealership, they didn't put the proper amount of fluid in (and admited to doing so) and then your tranny aquired all the problems...I would say they better do more than just "try" to reimberse you!
I find it kind of funny how the dealerships can't find the parts but a tranny shop can.
Good luck! Hope they make it right for you.
P.S. how 'bout an update on how your season has been going!:thumbup:

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Originally Posted by Triathlete

If your Vx tranny worked right before you took it to the dealership, they didn't put the proper amount of fluid in (and admited to doing so) and then your tranny aquired all the problems...I would say they better do more than just "try" to reimberse you!
I find it kind of funny how the dealerships can't find the parts but a tranny shop can.
Good luck! Hope they make it right for you.
P.S. how 'bout an update on how your season has been going!:thumbup:

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I ditto what Tri said! I would be pissed! I hope everything works out, I wonder if Aamco would have been able to find the problem sooner than the dealership did.....and maybe before it was too far gone....

Get all the documentation you can at AAMCO to help you prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the dealership not adding the adequate amount of fluid the first time is what caused the subsequent trans failure. That's what it takes sometimes as some car dealerships these days seem to want to claim plausible deniability almost as much as those covert government bad guys in the movies.

Do what you can now to prevent it from leading to this :_brickwal later.

It sounds like you may have a legal case against them if they don't pay you. Let them know that and I imagine they will try a lot harder to reimburse you. Get everything you can in writing or record conversations just to protect your case. If they know your intentions from the beginning, it should be easier to get them to pay you what they owe when it is time. From my understanding, if you take it to court, and if the dealer loses the case against them, they will owe you more than the bill if you notified them about possibly taking them to court and they still failed to pay. There is an interest rate of sorts for money owed when you take steps like that. You should do some research and plan ahead to get as much money out of them as you can. Don't go down without a fight and good luck with everything!

When one shop FUBAR'd a repair on my SeaDoo ($1000), the second shop actually put on the repair invoice the part number and details about the improper installation. The first shop wasted no time in reimbursing me for the first repair. It doesn't have to go legal and it doesn't even have to get nasty but keep those options open.

Aamco is working with me to clarify on the bill that the physical damage inside the transmission was due to lack of fluid. I really would like to avoid any legal action, because the service manager at the Isuzu dealership is a great guy and has helped me out a lot, but I do not mind given the higher ups a hard time about it if they refuse to reimburse me. Oh and side note that Isuzu delaership will be closed down at the end of October.

Wow...anybody know what a crated brand new tranny costs from Isuzu ??...I'll bet its not $3800. But I betcha it does not include a torque converter and then + labor and then a 90 day guarantee...

I owned an Aamco shop back in the mid 70's....we used to have a Car Ownership guarantee back then, our most expensive job was on those Cadillac and Oldmobile FWD turbo 425's @ around $400 bucks...times sure do change:mad:

So I went and paid the $3800 this morning and as soon as I went out of the parking lot I noticed the shift between 1st and 2nd was harder and quicker than stock. As I kept going (straight to a gas station to refuel) I noticed that the power side mirrors were not working and the cruise control would not come on!!!!! Then I decided to try to see how the downshift into 1st would feel and once again it is alot harder and almost jolting and quicker than it was stock. So clearly I went back to the Aamco to discuss all these concerns and I noticed a HUGE I MEAN HUGE DEEP THICK scratch going the entire length of the passenger side front fender!!!!! I wash and wax the VX regularly and I know every inch of it and this was not there when I dropped it off!!!!! Service manager was no help, guy that went on the test drive with me was no help, they claimed the harder shift into 2nd and back down into 1st was because they had put a shift kit on it to protect from ovrheating and it quickens up the shift and produces a harder 1-2 shift, but I still felt like I had just paid and got a 3 year warranty on an unfinshed job.

But the owner just called me back and he said he will have a body shop fix the scratch, see if a different spring and program will soften the 1st 2nd shift and he wants me to bring up the service manual (I have the CD) to try and fix the cruise control and power mirrors and such. Owner made me feel a lot better about the situation and said he will personally make sure the receipt will say that internal damages were due to lack of fluid. I thought this was over...... oh well..... It is times like these that I am reminded that I really am not in control of things after all.....

What about the mode switch? Any chance that is not hooked up/not working? That would explain the hard shift. If you have other electrical problems, that may also be the case here.

Im not an expert on this stuff, hopefully someone can back me up (or correct me if Im off target).

Hang in there- we'll get it figured out for you!

Damn, when it rains it pours, I guess... :( Sorry to hear about your new experiences. Hopefully, the body shop will know what they are doing...

hang in there buddy, it will get better. its a pain to go thru, but worth it once you get it back and running right.....
hope everything else going well with you.

david

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Originally Posted by creeg

What about the mode switch? Any chance that is not hooked up/not working? That would explain the hard shift. If you have other electrical problems, that may also be the case here.

Im not an expert on this stuff, hopefully someone can back me up (or correct me if Im off target).

Hang in there- we'll get it figured out for you!

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You are right on target actually, and part of the $700 that the dealership charged me one of the many times I was screwed over involved a new shifter selector lever, and a complete wiring harness swap. They tried every single electrical option possible because they did not want to admit they did something to the internals of the transmission. I did countless searches on this forum and other car forums that have the same transmission as ours and the only other occurances like mine were because of low fluid and the whole transmission was replaced in all the other sites. Our trans is actually shared with a ton of other vehicles. It is a GM 4L30E trans and has a 2 vavle pump inside of it and the valve body inside of the trans is terribly designed and was what first gave out due to low fluid and is very costly to service. I still have an extra mode selector switch (shifter lever) in the garage from Merlin at St Charles just in case this is a problem ever again.

Feel your pain, bought mine with bad front pump and got quoted some
insane prices. Went online to www.car-parts.com and found a rolled over
01 in a yard in Utah with only 4200 miles on it. Spent $950 and got what I needed to roll once again. I needed a flexplate also, it was bent and the vibration is what took out the front pump bushing. That upped the project another $215 plus $60 for all new bolts flown in to keep this job moving along. Do you sometimes get the idea that repair shops are out to get us?

When using Car-Parts.com, go through all the pages of the listings. It sorted the 01 Vehicross trans listing to the last of 12 pages and I would have missed this whole deal entirely if I would have settled for one of the low mile Trooper transmissions listed in the previous pages, for more money I might add. That website was a life saver for me. Hope it can be for all my fellow vx owners!

Aamco hosed a tranny in a pickup I had years ago. 1st and 3rd were slipping bad so I handed it over to them for a new clutch and gears. When I got it back, it ran fine for about 500 miles (drove back to school in NJ from MD) and the tranny just died as soon as I got to my dorm (luckily). Turns out, they didnt reseal it, the clutch was a lemon, and it just burned up because it was leaking juice. Needless to say, the battel went on and on for a few months while my truck sat in NJ until THEY paid to have it towed back to look at it. In the end, a Toyota dealer determioned what exactly happened and Aamco paid me a CASH refund and $1k for inconvenience.

Its not a pleasant fight sometimes, but most will fight you till you give up, even though they know they are wrong.

WOw! haven't heard of one this bad in awhile. Did you ever flush and/or change fluid before this? If not, this is what killed the tranny. It is a known issue on mostly Trooper related boards NOT to do this. Dont let them know about this issue. Of course they probably cant read, anyways. Dont feel bad- I did the same thing in my '98 Trooper. My VX, however, had several small changes over about 5,000 miles and no worries yet. THE FACT THAT THEY DIDNT TOP OFF THE TRANNY AS THEIR MANUAL STATES IS NEGLIGENCE AND THEY ARE LIABLE- FULLY. This didn't help the late flush/filled tranny out either if this is the case.

They are also liable for you scratches, and DO NOT let them do it, nor let them recommend who could do it for you. Find the best, and let them pay for the best repair. Also, I would never do business there again due to their negligence.

Can't find parts? Give me a break. How many years has the 4l30 been manufactured? How many vehicles use this thing? Lol. Their IQ dipsticks must be reading a little low as well. Dont forget you are dealing with the lowest common denominator. Plus, aren't all dealership owners millionaires? I think thats one of the reasons your costs are running a little high there.

I can guarantee you they did not install any kind of "shift kit" they are feeding you a line of Bull****. Maybe its not broken in fully? Maybe the Second tranny is not "topped off" either? Either way, they are pulling your chain. Does anyone on this forum know of a "shift kit"? This would be news to me. Unless they used an Interceptor, which we know they would never drop the money for, and no shift kit does "one gearchange". Also for future reference, under most circumstances, I would never have "guts" repaired in a modern auto tranny. Labor will kill you, and it probably won't last long anyways. Then you are paying twice. They know this as well. Its easier to drop/swap the unit, and usually costs the same- except you usually pay once instead of twice. I have had good luck with my salvage yard Trooper tranny that my step-son now drives( or did until he blew the motor after I told him to keep an eye on the "oil consumption issue" lol.

When dealing with any vehicle shops today, take any information with a grain of salt. On just about every transaction they do, they are screwing you. I have heard it time and time again from friends, family, coworkers, forum buddies, etc. Crystallized brake fluid, fluid for stuff that doesn't have fluid, shift kits that dont exist, etc.

Also, make sure that you use the phrase "BBB" in a conversation. This does not mean "Big Bad Bubba" taking your wallet for a ride. It is the Better Business Bureau. Also, arbitration, liability, and Attorneys General spoken alongside the phrase Consumer fraud are good ones to throw in when dealing with these types of businesses. You will be surprised how fast the smokescreen disapperas after that. Also, get everything in writing. Shift kit? is it on the invoice? What model? Who makes it? etc. How much of your bill is associated with this? I also second the motion of having the second shop list what they found negligent from the first shop.

I had a buddy one time try to say he knew more about automotive maintenance and repair than I did. He said, " I was a mechanic for eleven years." I replied, " And I was smart enough to NOT be a mechanic for eleven years." He caught on pretty quick after that. It sure felt good to say to a former mechanic as well. Im sure he ripped into a few wallets over that period of time.

Also if anyone knows of a decent tire shop in GA, let me know. Its the only thing I have to do frequently using said idiots. One time I took in my wife's Acura. I stated that I wanted the stuck on weights inside the wheel, not clamp on weights, and I preferred my wheels not all scratched up, with a torque wrench used instead of an air gun. What did I get back? Clamped on weights that werent balanced and had to return for a rebalance, scratched wheels (this happens EVERY time on EVERY vehicle- arrrrgghhhh), No equal torque across all nuts, oh yeah, and air pressure was different in every tire. "Honey, do you think we have room for tire changing equipment in the garage?" lololololol

This is one scary thread. I need to change my tranny fluid and filter soon I think. I did it about 28,000 miles ago, and I have been doing a lot of wheeling since.

What do you guys think? Last time it was done, it was done by me and a friend. It was difficult, messy and time consuming, and I did have to add fluid after the first day because it was shifting hard. But once I added fluid in until it trickled out, I have been shifting smooth and running happy.

Should I take the time to change the fluid again now that it has been almost another 30k? Or should I let it run for a while longer since things are still running ok???

Bart

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Originally Posted by nfpgasmask

This is one scary thread. I need to change my tranny fluid and filter soon I think. I did it about 28,000 miles ago, and I have been doing a lot of wheeling since....Bart

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Well, the severe duty interval is 20k miles, while the regular duty interval is about 30k, so either way yours would seem to be about due anyway. You could always take off the filler plug to get a sample of your fluid to see what it currently looks like, but that wouldn't really tell you the condition of the filter.

That was a lot of help wasn't it. You're welcome. I'll be here all week. ;)

I wouldnt worry too much- although obviously coming out of the summer months your tranny ran hotter than it does the rest of the year. The most tell-tale sign of "change it now!" would be brown tranny fluid. It it cherry red when new. I think 30,000 miles is reasonable time to change if you want insurance. I think- but may be wrong- 60,000 miles normal and 30,000 miles severe duty intervals? Of course having fooled with so many vehicles it gets jumbled in my brain. While youre at checking/ changing fluid. Might as well check/change transfer case as well. Besides, its alot easier to do than the tranny:)