AAMCO for Trannies?
AAMCO for Trannies?
Hi Gang!New here([piping in from Northern LA County) and I have a question for ya. I'm at 177K mi. on my trusty 93 J30,I'll be about due for a third transmission sooner than later. First one went out at about 93K,but since I was on a 100K extended warranty, I scored with a free one. This time,when it goes , and it WILL,I need to know where to take it in advance so that in desperation I don't have it towed somewhere that will charge an arm and a leg.Infiniti charges the most,and told me when I had the last one replaced years ago that it would have cost 3 grand THEN. I called AAMCO the other day out of curiosity--they quoted only about $1500-$2000 for a transmission on my J.They say that at Infiniti and other hi-end shops, that while many customers assume that it's a new trans they're paying for, it's really just a rebuild--which is what AAMCO openly admits to when they do a transmission. So,Is AAMCO a good choice, has anyone on here used them,and what were the results?Thanks for any advice!
A lot of folks here here who have used an AAMCO rebuild have regretted it.The factory <remanufactured> one is much superior and if combined with regular ATF flushes and a $50 transmission cooler (crucial in CA!) will last a <very> long time.
You can get a factory reman from Joe, for a huge discount and have it installed locally.Joe is a member of this site who works at an Infinti parts dept,
His # is:1-888-216-5328
Call him at the # listed, be <sure> to ask for him specifically, and <be sure> to tell him you are a NICO member.
Fred..:thumbup
You can get a factory reman from Joe, for a huge discount and have it installed locally.Joe is a member of this site who works at an Infinti parts dept,
His # is:1-888-216-5328
Call him at the # listed, be <sure> to ask for him specifically, and <be sure> to tell him you are a NICO member.
Fred..:thumbup
-
SOCAL91Q45a
- Posts: 403
- Joined: Sat Aug 16, 2003 2:28 pm
- Contact:
Infiniti charges the most,and told me when I had the last one replaced years ago that it would have cost 3 grand THEN. I called AAMCO the other day out of curiosity--they quoted only about $1500-$2000
For a bit over $2k @ rebuilt you could go bullet proof :-)
Level 10
http://www.levelten.com/store/...s.htm
But ...... Should we really trust a transmission from a shop that mispells infiniti?
Import TransmissionsHonda - Nissan - Lexus - Acura - MazdaInfinity - Mitsubishi - Jaguar - Toyota
For a bit over $2k @ rebuilt you could go bullet proof :-)
Level 10
http://www.levelten.com/store/...s.htm
But ...... Should we really trust a transmission from a shop that mispells infiniti?
Import TransmissionsHonda - Nissan - Lexus - Acura - MazdaInfinity - Mitsubishi - Jaguar - Toyota
-
QuickSilver
- Posts: 144
- Joined: Tue Feb 11, 2003 10:25 am
I'm going to need my first transmission replacement on my 5sp 1990 Maxima SE soon. Does it have the same trannies as the early J30?
Because its going to be my spare car for the Q, I was thinking of having a used Nissan parts shop ("salvage yard") rebuild it. They have quoted me $600 for the rebuild and claim to rebuild several Nissan trannies a month. I assumed their low price comes from low overhead and efficient work from extensive experience with the car.
If my objective is to get another 50-75k of low maintance miles over the next 5 to 8 years from the Maxima, does anybody see a reason to spend more money on a transmission rebuild?
There is currently about 142k miles on the car and I can't see myself having the car much pass 200-225k miles over next several years. I would have a hard time justifying spending over $2k on a factory reman to try to get another 150k miles on 13 year old car. But I'm open to hearing some opinions.
Because its going to be my spare car for the Q, I was thinking of having a used Nissan parts shop ("salvage yard") rebuild it. They have quoted me $600 for the rebuild and claim to rebuild several Nissan trannies a month. I assumed their low price comes from low overhead and efficient work from extensive experience with the car.
If my objective is to get another 50-75k of low maintance miles over the next 5 to 8 years from the Maxima, does anybody see a reason to spend more money on a transmission rebuild?
There is currently about 142k miles on the car and I can't see myself having the car much pass 200-225k miles over next several years. I would have a hard time justifying spending over $2k on a factory reman to try to get another 150k miles on 13 year old car. But I'm open to hearing some opinions.
-
Q45tech
- Moderator
- Posts: 14296
- Joined: Tue Apr 30, 2002 3:19 am
- Car: 1990 Q45 342,400 miles 22 years ownership with original engine
1995 G20t 5 speed 334,000 miles 16" 2002 wheels - 205/50/16 Sr20ve vvl
You seem to be confusing manual trannies with automatics [J30].
For automatics, JATCO has built an entire factory in Tennessee devoted to nothing but renewing Nissan transmissions. They do not rebuild the valve bodies in US, they are swapped with units remanned in Japan.
Anybody can buy a $160-300 [quality grades] soft part and gasket rebuild kit, the problem is the hard part and gear cost plus where to get a valve body......these are $2,000 items.
Only the JATCO factory is likely to change every part that needs changing as they average their prices over tens of thousands of units and you automatically get a renewed valve body.
For automatics, JATCO has built an entire factory in Tennessee devoted to nothing but renewing Nissan transmissions. They do not rebuild the valve bodies in US, they are swapped with units remanned in Japan.
Anybody can buy a $160-300 [quality grades] soft part and gasket rebuild kit, the problem is the hard part and gear cost plus where to get a valve body......these are $2,000 items.
Only the JATCO factory is likely to change every part that needs changing as they average their prices over tens of thousands of units and you automatically get a renewed valve body.
-
QuickSilver
- Posts: 144
- Joined: Tue Feb 11, 2003 10:25 am
Yes, l overlooked the differences. Just too eager to chime in and get a chance to pick up some advice on a personal situation.
I'm still a novice when it comes to knowledge about cars. The great thing is its not held against me here at NICO. Invaluable and unique knownledge is shared here and that why I've become a willing addict. Thanks guys.
I'm still a novice when it comes to knowledge about cars. The great thing is its not held against me here at NICO. Invaluable and unique knownledge is shared here and that why I've become a willing addict. Thanks guys.
-
Mayhem_J30
- Posts: 2643
- Joined: Tue Apr 30, 2002 2:00 am
- Car: Ummm...My Car
- Location: Louisville, KY
When the transmission failed on my J30 I ended up going with Cottman transmission. I thought about going with the factory transmission from one of our sponsors, but it only came with a 1 year warranty. Plus I was having troubles finding a shop that would install someone elses transmission. Matter of fact I didn't find anybody. Even Infiniti wouldn't install an infiniti transmission unless they purchased it themselves at twice the price. Booo!Anyway, with Cottman I recieved a rebuilt transmission with a 3 year warranty! They put Mobil1 synthetic ATF for me and I was on my way. I'm very satisfied. I can't remember the total cost but it was worth the transmission/labor/warranty/piece of mind.Good luck!
-
BadQ45t
- Posts: 3255
- Joined: Fri Jul 26, 2002 7:54 am
- Car: '21 Nissan Leaf SL Plus (wife's car)
'05 Nissan X-Terra S 4x4
'97 Infiniti Q45t SOLD! Miss the old girl
'84 Nissan 300ZX (Original Owner)
'16 Mercedes Benz S550e V8 Power & 35 MPG - Location: Half Moon Bay, CA
I had my Maxima transmission go out at 255k, I am up in NoCal (I live in Half Moon Bay) and ended up going to AAMCO since it was too far to get down to LA with a car that woudn't shift out of 2nd gear. Anyhow, it ended up at 2,300 bucks!!! So, they quoted 1500, and than took me up the ladder after that. So now I figure I've got a brand new transmission, with 1 year warranty. 11 months into it the car fails, turns out to be a governor, I ask the guy, "gee isn't it weird that this part failed after 11 months" He tells me that parts judged to be good were just cleaned and replaced.
Long story short, I gave the 600 more and now the transmission is theres. They do not have any charges if the transmission fails on the lifetime warranty (I read the contract) since I figure that something else will fail eventually. If you can get the car down toe LA I can recommend a place that will take good care of you, it will be worth it. If I had it to over again, my Maxima would have gone on a car carrier down to LA where cars are worked on for reasonable prices. The bay area SUCKS big time for getting cars worked on, where 115 per hour is the rate at Infiniti and 85 bucks an hour at small mechanics....welcome to the most expensive place this side of Manhatten or Tokoyo, but man is it a nice place to live...
Long story short, I gave the 600 more and now the transmission is theres. They do not have any charges if the transmission fails on the lifetime warranty (I read the contract) since I figure that something else will fail eventually. If you can get the car down toe LA I can recommend a place that will take good care of you, it will be worth it. If I had it to over again, my Maxima would have gone on a car carrier down to LA where cars are worked on for reasonable prices. The bay area SUCKS big time for getting cars worked on, where 115 per hour is the rate at Infiniti and 85 bucks an hour at small mechanics....welcome to the most expensive place this side of Manhatten or Tokoyo, but man is it a nice place to live...
J30 Q45 transmission... Recently, I crashed another transmission in my Q. I sent off for the manual on it and found something interesting. The transmission has poor pressure (planetary failiure and repeated failure) and there are several modifications for the transmission to prevent failure. The number one mod is a cooler which I've had since the first Q in 92. The second is a modification ot the case, the third is a high volume pump. So, it seems that when/if your getting a new/ebuilt transmission you should perform the mods on it ..