Why you shouldn’t choose a Transmission Shop in Charlotte, just because of their price! This is a must-read for anyone looking for a transmission repair or transmission rebuild in the Charlotte NC area.
Before we dive in about transmission repair pricing,
here are some basics you should know about your transmission:
– The transmission is one of the most important parts of your vehicle. Without your transmission working properly, your vehicle will not run.
– Inside of one transmission is literally hundreds of different parts – all of these parts work together in perfect harmony until something goes wrong.
– A transmission can fail due to a number of reasons – age, worn parts, improper shifting and even lack of maintenance. Just as you change the oil in your engine, you need to also change the transmission fluid inside your transmission — this is very commonly overlooked and the cause of many transmission problems!
– Every transmission has a specific amount of hours needed for a necessary repair or rebuild.
– All transmissions work the same way – but different vehicle make and models have different versions.
Why You Shouldn’t Choose Price over Warranty or Reputation
This is the best word of advice you may ever read. Although sometimes your budget may be a determining factor as to what you will buy, do not let price determine what transmission repair shop or repair shop you will take your vehicle to.
When a transmission rebuild is performed, there are more than several steps involved to complete the process. The transmission needs to be completely removed from your vehicle, every part needs to be disassembled from the transmission, every part needs to be inspected for damage, broken or worn parts must be replaced, every part must be cleaned, fluids must be drained, new fluid must be put back in the transmission and the transmission must be reassembled. This is a process that must take a certain amount of hours to complete (Hours determined per your transmission type).
Transmissions are complex and without your transmission running properly, your vehicle may not run at all or may cause additional damage to your car. When you need a transmission rebuild, you need to ensure that the mechanic performing the transmission repair knows what they are doing and will complete all steps to your transmission rebuild.
Say for example you call around for transmission rebuild prices and here is what you get:
Shop 1: $1795
Shop 2: $1595
Shop 3: $695
Whoa, hold on one second. The price between Shop 1 and Shop 3 is a pretty big difference. Before you get all excited that you have discovered the best price, you need to compare apples to apples first.
Lets dig deeper into each transmission shop by asking just a few questions:
1) What is the warranty on the rebuild?
2) How long have you been in business?
3) Do you perform all transmision work here at your shop?
4) Can you provide a testimional list of customers I may contact?
5) If I read your reviews online, what will I find?
Here are the answers:
Shop 1: $1795 – 1 Year Warranty, has been in business 3 years, may have to sub out the transmission work to another shop in town, 7 day transmission rebuild timeframe, no customer testimonial list, 4 good reviews online vs 1 bad review
Shop 2: $1595 – 3 Year Warranty, has over 30 years experience with transmissions, performs transmission rebuilds inside state of the art transmission shop, 3 – 4 day transmission rebuild time frame with rental vehicle options, 45 great five star reviews online vs 2 bad reviews, can provide customer testimonial list
Shop 3: $695 – 6 Month Warranty, has been in business a few years, performs transmission work either on site in your driveway or inside their shop, 2 – 10 days to rebuild your transmission (will let you know after they open up the transmission), no online listings but “great” customers, but no customer testimonial list
From the real life examples you can see here (honest, we called two shops in comparison to ourselves for prices and asked those specific questions mentioned above) you can see the differences between the 3 shops. The lowest price option does not give a specific time to rebuild your transmission, nor do they either have their own location to work out of or have any reviews you can read about their company online. The biggest problem with their shop is that they offer the LOWEST warranty timeframe possible, meaning you may have the same transmission problem just half a year later.
Lets says you choose Shop 3 anyway, because you only have $700 and $700 will have to do. Six months down the line, your car has issue’s shifting gears. You go back to Shop 3 and ask what the problem is. They explain you are outside your warranty timeframe but they can look at the vehicle and let you know. You let them look at the vehicle, they charge you a $300 diagnostic fee, and then inform you that a part has failed inside the transmission and you need another transmission rebuild. You pay the $300 and then you pay the $695 AGAIN — meaning you have now paid out $1690 for your transmission rebuild.
This is more than you would have spent if you had chosen the transmission shop with the longest warranty! And if you had chosen the shop with the longer warranty, you would not have had to pay again for the repair IF there was a problem. Now you are taking another risk that 6 months later, you may have the same issue or worse.
Price cannot be your only deciding factor when choosing your transmission repair or auto repair. We understand that a budget is a budget, but if we had a dollar for every time someone called us back after being burnt by the “lowest price” – well, we would have a lot of dollars! Stop wasting money by choosing the lowest price with the lowest warranty. We may not have the lowest price, but we have the best price for the best repair work possible.
With us, you are getting a quality transmission rebuild or repair. You are getting the best warranty in the Charlotte area, and the best service team to assist you with any repair question or need.
We are top voted in Charlotte, winner of several Angie’s List super service awards and have one of the best, state of the art transmission shops in Charlotte NC. Come by our shop for a nice cup of coffee, relax in our waiting area, speak to our staff and see for yourself the type of service and work we do. Just as our reviews state online, you will not be disappointed with the work or service you receive, and that is our #1 promise to each of our customers.
