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I really need to know. The total payment came out to be $2,906. It was done on a 2008 Mazda Tribute. It has a 2.3 Liter 4-cylinder engine with front wheel drive. It’s not the hybrid. It has the CD4E model automatic transmission.
A week before the transmission rebuild. I took it to another shop and went with the mechanic on a drive. He noticed the big delay on it catching the gear. He told the transmission fluid was black and he drained and refilled it twice. This was not the same shop that did my transmission.
The day of when it turned for the worst. It was driving erratically. I turned to the right but it went straight. I was very lucky there were no other cars on the road I was traveling on. Most of the time it wouldn’t catch the gears. It only drove at VERY slow speeds and if I went faster the engine would just shut off by itself. You had to start it up again. Then it would do it all over again. I’m glad there was not any grinding noises.
I picked up my wife and luckily a general repair shop was right across from her work. We stopped there. Later on they told me they have a contract with a heavy duty transmission shop and will be taking my vehicle there. They told me the price before the work was completed.
I asked them what the transmission shop did in detail. They didn’t know. On the invoice they did receive from the transmission shop said “REMAN Transmission” and that’s pretty much it. I went back to the transmission shop to ask what they did in detail. They couldn’t tell me either. They said the mechanics use work order sheets that list the details. But since they get so dirty from the mechanics that they are thrown away right after a job is done.
The labor rate for the transmission shop is $89 an hour and they said it took 16-18 of labor to do the transmission rebuild on my vehicle. They weren’t sure on exactly my vehicle because the work order was gone. They were just giving me the ballpark figure on what is typical (according to them) on similar engines like the Mazda 626 and the Ford Escape.
Long story short. Got a big amount owed on the invoice. No details on what was done to my vehicle or the time it took from start to finish from either the general repair shop or the transmission shop.
By the way the warranty is a 2-year or 36,000 miles warranty.
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I went to a small shop once to get an estimate to install a remote car starter back when I was younger. It was a $300 estimate. I went back 2 weeks later and another guy wrote up an estimate for $800. The charges on the invoice were very vague. I hope this is not you.
I will forgo less expensive options you could have pursued because it appears that you are interested in getting new or almost new parts and performance. I believe that with the amount of money that you dropped you could have installed a rebuilt transmission. I believe the amount that you paid is commensurate with someone with that level of experience to perform a repair that either no one likes to do, or most technicians avoid because of the high failure rate. I myself would have charged at least $2,000 for this repair because it requires a lot experience and special tools… and it’s something that cannot be tested; I wouldn’t know if the transmission would work until it’s actually installed. Therefore, I’d have to eat the cost of having to dive in for a possible second overhaul. 🙂
The price could be about right for a total, by the book rebuild on the transmission.
What I don’t like is that bit about not having a clean, legible copy of the repair order showing what is what.
That flat stinks and is pathetically inexcuseable.A transmission should be kept near surgical room clean during a rebuild and those guys can’t even keep a copy of the repair order clean? Ridiculous.
[quote=”Bluesnut” post=69277]The price could be about right for a total, by the book rebuild on the transmission.
What I don’t like is that bit about not having a clean, legible copy of the repair order showing what is what.
That flat stinks and is pathetically inexcuseable.A transmission should be kept near surgical room clean during a rebuild and those guys can’t even keep a copy of the repair order clean? Ridiculous.[/quote]
It is ridiculous!!! My wife was with me at the time and she is a witness to what the manager said. He even showed me a blank work order form. He told me they list the details of the job here. He did try looking for my vehicle’s information in the back storage area and in the file cabinets. He couldn’t find anything on my vehicle besides the invoice.
All I wanted was a document stating what parts they replaced and the repairs done on my vehicle’s transmission. That’s it. If I will spend that kind of money on my vehicle I feel I have the right to know what was done to my car in detail. My wife and I don’t make that much money. I’m a warehouse worker and she is a childcare teacher. Both college students as well. So a $3,000 bill a very BIG deal to us. I’m glad we had that kind of money saved up though.
My plan is to call around different transmission shops to see what they would charge me on my 2008 Mazda Tribute. Also will file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. Not sure if that will do me any good though.
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