About Our Editor
Our editor, Charles Hart, is a retired state licensed private detective. Since 2009, Mr. Hart has served Applied Litigation Investigations™ as its editor and senior investigator. He brings to ALI more than 20 years of extensive experience in the investigative industry and has obtained the highest class of state licensing certification for a private detective issued at the time and in the jurisdiction he served.
In past years, Mr. Hart has served as ALI’s liaison between consumers and federal and state law 
enforcement and regulatory agencies. He has worked extensively with nationally recognized media outlets and coordinated witness testimony in class-action litigations, as well as providing pre-trial investigative results that continue to serve the public to this day.
Among other capacities, Mr. Hart has expertise in corporate fraud, missing persons, forensic investigations and a wide variety of domestic investigative background.
In 2007, Applied Litigation Investigations™ sponsored an investigation regarding the target company profiled on this web site. The results of that investigation compelled the consumer advocacy programs found here and on other sites, of which Mr. Hart played a vital role.
Among other things, ALI has recovered long forgotten, concealed or deliberately suppressed information otherwise intended by federal and state authorities for the benefit, knowledge and protection of the general consuming public, including prospective franchisees, when dealing with some of our organization’s target companies.
While ALI makes available, at no charge, the results of this two year investigation, your comments are kindly requested and may help others from incurring abuse.
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Distinguished Visitor List
Aamco Lawsuit Investigation takes this time to acknowledge some of its most distinguished visitors over the years. Special Thanks go out to Mr. Jonathon Fortman and Ms. Kelly Spann of the law offices of Jonathon E. Fortman for their dedicated and devoted efforts on behalf of franchisees of Aamco Transmissions. ALI also extends Special Thanks and our deepest gratitude to the franchisee advocacy web site, Unhappy Franchisee, for its unwavering devotion and compassion for franchisees and the common concerns we share.
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AAMCO LAWSUIT INVESTIGATION 
November 1, 2009 at 8:09 pm
Sir
Again I want to thank you for your kindness in giving this most informative information, I probably would not have gotten all this infomation nor an attorney. I’m so glad Aamaco got your bad side also. I will be forwarding this info to all the sites I went to that has consumer complaints on Aamco because none of them provide this info. I am also in need to an attorney because I’ve already did the Demand letter thing with no results.
Again my God contiues to bless you and your!!
November 1, 2009 at 8:47 pm
Thank You Debra, Your kind words are inspirational to myself and many others. Remember to protect your interests and seek legal counsel as quickly as possible! May God Bless You and Your Family!
June 5, 2010 at 6:34 pm
i am an insider and have so many stories no one could imagine what i have seen. i would welcome this site’s author to email me i would love to seriously enlighten you about what really goes on inside an aamco.
December 23, 2010 at 1:43 am
Im writing this about what happened to my son. His car was acting a little funny and was slipping gears just a little, so he thought he would take it to aamco because they had been around for so long and he thought it would be the best place for the car to be fixed. He dropped it off and they told him they would look into what was the problem and get right back with him. The rest of the car ran perfect. This was the Renton Aamco in Seattle that it was taken to. They didn’t give him a ride he got a taxi. Days went by, almost a week. When they finally called him back they said that the car needed a transmission. They told him it would be 2500.00 to fix it. He didn’t have that kind of cash so he called mom and dad. We told him we would help. He is going to school and working at a emergency room in seattle. ( A good kid). Days and days went by, and no one called him or us. Next thing we hear is they called our son and said all these parts were bad and they all needed to be replaced. Our son told us it was now 4500.00. We didn’t know what we were going to do . None of us has that kind of money. They said well we will run credit on your son to finance it. That didn’t work. They run it on me and turned down ( even though we have two cars and own our home) Next sucker is my husband no go. Now over a week goes by. Now its like almost a month. They took days off for thanksgiving. We didn’t know what we were going to do. We said ok we will have it towed to another place that is cheaper. There response was its going to cost you 1500.00 to just put it back together . They told us it was against the law to send it out without putting it back together and thats what it would cost for nothing! We were put between a rock and a hard spot. They new they had us . (Edited) the manager or whatever he really is said well we can do sixty days , same as cash. So my son goes and quits school and gets another job to pay all this back. So now they get around 2000.00 in 6 months and we are going to have to wait for our money back. They told my son that the car needed strutts, bushings, of course a transmission, torque converter, balance bar, and i honestly can’t remember what else they were saying that this perfectly good suv acura, had all this stuff wrong with it.All we wanted was the nightmare to end. They would say the car was ready and then not call and couldn’t seem to get (edited) to return any calls. Oh by the way the minute we gave the card numbers to these rip offs they took the money out of our account before the car was done at all. We waited and now all this time of oh the parts arent here yet excuses its going on 6 7 weeks. or more. My son goes into the shop and overhears a ” technician” saying that they broke the balance bar. (Edited) tell the technician that to be quiet the guy who thats his car is in the building! Now we know that this is such a rip off that it unreal. The hole time my son is not getting a car provided by these folks and now is wearing out his shoes getting back and forth to two jobs! We had asked (edited) earlier how could all these part on the car be broken and messed up when it wasn’t a problem before we brought it to you. Oh yea also a motor mount was cracked! Forgot that one. They finally call and say the car is ready. My son gets in it and is going down the freeway and the car starts making noise like the engine is falling out. The steering is so bad its all he can do to keep it in his lane. My son calls me on the phone ( I am five hours away) yelling that hes going to wreck the car because he can’t steer it. The car was rocking back and forth ( apparently the strutts were broken also and not replaced) It was all he could do to keep it in his lane . He limped it back to the wonderful aamco in shoreline seattle. They said well we’ll take a look at it and see whats wrong. My son called who he thought was the boss of the aamco’s and he told my son that they would take the car to a different place and fix it right. Well by the time they call again its two months or longer. My son gets the car drives it for a couple hours thinking oh its finally fixed and all of a sudden all the panel lights come on. Now He just served them with papers for small claims court. I have been on the internet every day getting more information about these a holes. This where i will end this nightmare. Its not over yet and the car still is worse than before he took it to them. The horror stories I have heard on these sights are unreal. Why isn;t everyone getting together and sueing them as a large group. People are still getting their hard earned money taken away from these people and they are still in business. We gotta stop them.
March 31, 2011 at 6:18 pm
I am just in the beginning stages of my unfortunate first and last encounter and expecience with AAMCO. I am very frustarted about their practices and warranty plicies. I can not understand how they being doing this since 2007 and keep doing it for four years. They repair my transmission 15 days ago. First they said towing was free but forgot to tell me will charge me 150.00 if I decided not to repair with them. Second once the car was in the shop I repeated many times before and after they took the car to the shop that I did have financial challenges and can not inmediately pay for the repair. They assure to me they can work on a payment plan but did not explain to me I will receive calls from a loan agency to make a car repair loan and that payment plans was only a last resorce. Second they told me Opening and looking at the transmission will only be 495.00 and after they did the free diagnostic said it will be that amount and the parts. I was naive to believe that probably will be less than 2,000.00 because I did a search on refurbish transmission before going there and I thought the transmission will cost no more than 800.00 and the labor can not be more than 500.00. Now 3 days later the guy told me after they open the transmission and told me the torque was not working and needed probably to make more parts repairs because of the wear and tear. I understand all of that but he only gave me 2 options of repair that had nothing to do with parts. He offered me two packages one of over 2,500.00 and other of 3,ooo.00 based on warranty. I felt they mislead me to believe that was going to be less and on top of that when I tried to take the car they said will still charge me over 600.00 for the towing and opening the transmission. I was sured to tell him what I think about that after I shared with him my financial situation but against my husbands opinion I still let him work on the transmission because I was not gpoing to give away 600.00 to them for doing nothing. I sure made a mistake because when I picked the car the transmission did not sound write but we already new it was a waste of time to try to take it back to honor the warranty. A week after we notice O/D light is blinking and Odometer and Speedmeter are not working since we picked it up but still I was reluctant to take it back. 15 days later took it back the run a diagnostic. The diagnostic said the VSS sensor and connector may had a problem and the speed signal had a problem as well. I did a search about it and this connector is connected with the transmission. The VSS connects the odometer and the speedometer. He gave me an estimate today of 95.00 to replace it or look at it. I argue with the guy because if it was just a connection problem related to the instalation of the transmission it should be covered under warranty. OF COURSE, the guy told me was an external problem not related to the transmission, also that it could be the sensor that was not working before the car was repaired, and that could be another problem but anyway reassured me other person will charge me more for it. I do not trust them anymore do I demanded my keys and they ask me to sign a paper with the description of the problem. I demanded a copy of the diagnostic but he ask me to leave the place and of course trated me like a crazy person. In summary I paid for a transmission repair not even refurbish at a 2,500.00 for a nissan sentra 2001 that is worth in the blue book at 3,000.00. I accept I was naive to believe that there is some honest people in these world and I made a big mistake. With that money I could get a downpayment for another car where my 4 kids will fit. I will not make a mistake like that again.
May 18, 2011 at 6:07 pm
help-with aamco dispute-need all help in getting our money back-trans only lasted 22k-took under warranty and got no help from aamco-except wanting more money to fix car.
June 23, 2012 at 10:53 am
I am in what looks like the beginning of an AAMCO nightmare like many of you. I paid $3300 for a rebuild. Drove 50 miles to home and decided to have a knock sensor replaced (an engine part). During the engine work the mechanic found transmissions codes 39, 63, and 89 which did not initiate the dash “check engine ” light. The mechanic attempted to clear the codes 5 times but they persisted as “hard codes” which indicate trouble in trans. I had the repair shop include the codes they found on my repair bill. I called AAMCO and they said bring it in. I began to extensively research these codes with other trans shops including another AAMCO because it seems the AAMCO would have made a final check before delivering my vehicle. Yesterday, they told me it needed the computer replaced $275 for part plus labor before they could find out what the codes mean. This is very different then what the others told me. Here is my dilemma: They have the vehicle. I have to decide whether to let them proceed with something that sounds fishey, or just go get the vehicle and take it to another shop. If I do that will it void my 12,000 mile warranty??? Will I still have recourse to make them pay for what they should have done for $3300?
It seems to me, that if they had checked it before releasing it and found codes for additional repairs they should have told me then.
After all as a lay person I took it for repair, paid for it to be completely fixed and ready to go. It was only by accideent that the codes were discovered by the engine mechanic. What are my options? I need quick answere. HELP!!
November 4, 2012 at 11:11 pm
im in the same boat. had my 2004 mustang gt transmission repaired at my local Aamco, 7527 Liberty Lane Middletown Ohio in Feb 2012. it cost me approx 1600.00 for the internal repairs. i picked the car up and it seemed fine as rain. well my new wife martha and myself drove the car to Washington Dc on our honeymoon just this past month Oct 2012. drove fine to and on our way home on the highway 5th gear began to squeal and grind downshifting i found that all gears were doing same thing. i pulled off the highway immediately and found a Lowes parking lot close by. was fortunate that they allowed me to use thier phone book and looked up transmissions and there was a local Aamco. i called the phone number listed and was suprised that someone actually answerd. i told them i had had the repairs domne at my local Aamco and what it was doing. i was told to get the car there as soon as possible and that they would look at the transmission etc. i drove the car to the Aamco in Morgantown West Virginia. i talked to both the service mngr and the technician about what the car was doing and they got to me right away. i drove along with the tech and to my suprise the transmisson wouldnt even go into reverse. the car had to be pushed out of the parking spot. the car now in first gear we were on our way. we didnt travel far due to the tech hearing the squealing and grindigt thru every gear. the car was then pulled into the shop and placed on the lift for further investigation. once on the lift one tech sat in the drivers seat with the car running and another tech took a stethiscope to place on the transmission casing as the thech pressed on the gas and shifted thru the gears. the tech on the groud told the other tech to shut the car off. they both camt to talk to me and my suspisions were verified that it was an internal failure of some sort. they also had me walk into the shop to look at something they had discoverd while under the car. the 02 sensors had been broken off and the sensor wiring had been shoved up into the engine compartment to hide it. I had never been told of the damage to the sensors at time of original repair or at time of pickup. now the techs at the Morgantown West Virginia Aamco started looking closer to the transmission under carriage. the tech noticed something odd about one of the engine block transmission tabs. it looked cracked. getting a flashlight it was determined that it had been cracked and welded as a fix. i hadnt been told of this either. the service mngr was asked to look at these issuse and he was furious that such workmanship had been allowed by a fellow Aamco franchise. this attempt to weld the tab and bolt the transmission to this if rebroken could have been catostrophic. possible causing fatalities depending on the speed etc. we were driving along the West virginia mountains at speeds of 65mph. we could have been killed or seriously injured. (Edited) the service mngr of the Morgantown Aamco was more than willing to help us out with contacting the Ohio Aamco inorder to get our car fixed etc. his opinion was that the entire transmission has to be replaced along with the engine due to the block being damaged by the Ohio Aamco (7527 Liberty Lane Middletown Ohio) during all this i was under the impression the transmission was under a 12month/12000 mile warrenty .i was told i would be at time of repairs. with it being a Sunday (edited) could only leave msgs for the Ohio Aamco to repond to. my wife and now had another thing to worry about was where we were going to stay the night and how we were getting home the following day. we got a hotel locally and the next morning (edited) once again went to bat for us. talking to Enterprise car rental. gertting us a car to travel home in. getting home and talking to (edited) later in the week i was left mortified to find out that i was only given a 6 month/6000 mile warrenty. well the car having been hardly driven due to my work is from home driving a company van and the milage at time of repairs was 76,106 and the milage at time of breakdown 79,788 thats only 3,682 total mileds driven on Ohio’s Aamaco repairs. the Ohio Aamco wont cover any of the repairs due to the car is over the alloted monthly warrenty by 2 months but not even close to the milage allotment. so i short i paid them 1600.00 for 3600 miles worth of repairs. what happend to the repairs having to meet or exeed the manufacturers specifications. i dought if ford would consider 3600 miles meeting thier strict specs. wtf happened to integrity, professionalism etc. all i hear is how Aamco is the worlds largest transmission repair company. im sure some give a f%$k about thier customers as i found out (edited) and his crew did for my dilema. why cant they all. im going to take this complaint to the Aamco coorporate facility and from there to civil court. thks for listening. i can only hope others read these and take heed. im also a 22yr militart vet. CMON Aamco
March 18, 2014 at 10:38 pm
I’m an ex home office employee, how do I contace you?
March 20, 2014 at 11:29 am
Hello “I Do Not Want to Say”,
Thank you for your interest in ALI. I’ve sent you a message to the email address you provided.
Editor and Senior Investigator
ALI
December 27, 2022 at 1:12 pm
Greetings Ali,
May I ask if you are still assisting consumers with cases regarding predatory practices with AAMCO. I have been in contact with Corporate AAMCO and spoken with the shop. Upon taking my vehicle to determine if I had issues with my transmission or clutch they included a “diagnostic fee,” for $204. The shop is located in MD. They advised they checked the oil and looked under the hood. These are displayed as free services from the contact centers participating. Other charges are now being disputed and I am in the process of looking for legal representation. I am looking to gather evidence to show the these predatory practices are still going on and corporate is aware. I emailed the CEO and Consumer Support Division. I have some email responses back that are highly questionable but would appreciate speaking with you as I move forward.
Thank You!
December 28, 2022 at 12:53 am
Hello Andrea,
Thank you for your visit to ALI. This site is designed to provide support to legal counsel and law enforcement with respect to the most common torts alleged by consumers against Aamco Transmissions. Once you’ve retained counsel please feel free to direct their office to this site. Most attorneys find what they’re looking for within these pages. Hope this helps. Good luck.
ALI