1) Cheree was told she needed a transmission on a late model Pontiac and was ready to pay us to rebuild it.  When we went through our normal procedure of verification we found it to be almost 3 + qts low on transmission fluid, we topped it off and it seemed to work great! We did a rack inspection and found the right axle seal was leaking from what seemed like damage due to an axle installation done prior. We repaired the seal and while on the road test — verifying all was still good — I decided to call her. When she answered, I explained to her that her car was in need of a leak repair that was only $225 instead of the $1500 she was expecting to spend.  She hesitated for a moment and then gleefully shouted “Yes! Are you kidding me?” I explained what was found and she said she knew that this was the right place to have the repairs done.

-Tony Demoro, Tony’s 5 Star Transmission

2) When we first started up in this location after being a few miles away on Grand Avenue for 33 years, a customer pulled up in front of the shop to drop off his Honda Civic for transmission work. When he described the issue he was having I asked him to take a ride with me, and upon returning, I had a feeling his issue was not as bad as he had expected. The late hard upshift condition was a common mechanical problem for this year of his Honda Civic. So we popped the hood, and the detent cable (the component that is responsible for communicating to the transmission how much throttle is being commanded) was out of the bracket and stuck in a high throttle position. I played with it a bit and it popped back into place. Confident that this was the issue, I told him to go take a drive….with a strange look on his face, he took the keys and drove off. Within a few moments he drove up with a huge smile on his face and said “How did you do that?” I explained how the cable operated and the problems while inspecting the car, and also explained if it happened once, it could happen again; but it felt great right now and the cable is free so I can’t justify any repairs at this time. Again somewhat startled he and his ride did not know how to respond except to say, “How much do we owe you for what you’ve done?” I told them no charge and to just remember that they can refer us to friends and family and know they will get the honest truth from us. Once again, that oh so familiar gaze, a sincere hand shake, warm thank you, and away they went.

-Tony Demoro, Tony’s 5 Star Transmission

3) A customer was referred to us by one of our many automotive friends and brought in his early 2000 Dodge 1500 with a manual transmission. The shifter was acting very strange and was erratic in the way it behaved. My first inkling was to check the oil level in the transmission, because it definitely would not clutch and when it did it was full but metallic. I told the customer that the only hope of it being something on the minor side would be if it were something in the shifter assembly, and I would be more than glad to remove it for inspection.  If I was wrong, then I would have to go internal. He was hesitant for some reason and decided to come and get his truck. About two days later he called me to tell me a story of woe….he went on to tell me he went to a very well-named transmission franchise who convinced him to let them remove and dismantle the transmission shop for a nominal fee.  As usual, when people quote small prices to take the transmission apart, its a hook, and once its apart the real numbers come out and now your stuck! He then went on to tell me that this $500 charge for taking it apart has turned into $3500 to fix it. I felt awful for the gentleman but at that point he was stuck, and so often I hear these stories from people because I quote a real price to fix something, but they get sucked into what sounds like a cheaper price from a bigger name.  This is a horrible tactic, but many shops use it.  Why? Because it works! I hate this practice but there is nothing that I can do about it but try to warn people and hope they learn before its too late.

-Tony Demoro, Tony’s 5 Star Transmission