Client Review
Athena Kupchella — Akron OH

We had a very interesting experience with two transmission repair specialists in our county this week; They were so vastly different, I thought I would share.

We took our Ford Explorer to our trusted mechanic who informed us that we had an axle seal leak on the passenger side. He referred us to Jim and Sons transmissions, so I booked an appointment, they were pretty full, so I booked a little over a week out.

We realized about the same time that we had a significant house problem that needed dealt with, I have pretty severe allergies so my husband recommended we stay with family for the week while he did the repairs (he is the Best!).

Hoping to kill two birds with one stone, he reached out to Waterloo Transmissions to see if we would be able to get the car fixed that week so that our three daughters and myself would not be left without a vehicle when we returned.

Waterloo transmission was able to get us in immediately and stated they would give my husband a call with the quote prior to doing any repairs. We made arrangements and dropped the car off before leaving town. Waterloo transmissions called my husband, and told him we would be looking at around $1200 to replace the seals and replace fluid and they could begin work on Wednesday. (Invoices attached)

When I had initially talked with our mechanic, he had mentioned a price more akin to around $500 from Jim and Sons transmission to do the same replacement.

My husband called me with this information and that night (Tuesday) we decided to decline Waterloo Transmission’s services and would take our vehicle to Jim and Sons when I returned (thankfully I had not yet canceled this appointment!). My husband called Waterloo transmissions Tuesday evening, left a message, telling them not to begin service on our vehicle, that he would pick it up tomorrow (Wednesday).

My husband called in again as soon as they opened Wednesday morning and spoke with Waterloo Transmission, they then informed him that they had already begun work (disassembled), and would have to re-assemble our vehicle.

Waterloo transmissions charged us $192.95 to run a diagnostic check and “disassemble/reassemble” our vehicle, even though they were not supposed to start this until Wednesday.

I kept my appointment with Jim and sons Transmissions, Tiffany called me within a day to inform me that the seal was indeed leaking, and we also needed a new mount. She also realized that we needed the rear differential cleaned. The rear differential was not quoted in the original estimate and was an additional $122.

With the rear differential included, we paid a total of $677.20 to Jim and Sons Transmissions to do the exact same repairs that Waterloo transmissions had quoted us $1200 (without the differential) to do.

All in all, even with the nearly $200 that we paid to Waterloo Transmission (lesson learned!) we still saved over $300 by taking our vehicle to Jim and Sons Transmissions instead of Waterloo Transmissions.

I share this because, I know all too well how easy it is for SOME auto repair companies to rake you over the coals financially. Jim and Sons Transmissions, did the exact same repairs Waterloo Transmissions had quoted for less than half the price. I am incredibly pleased with Jim and Sons Transmissions, and will continue to take our vehicles there. I also thought it was necessary to share this experience about Waterloo Transmissions to hopefully save any other unsuspecting customer the displeasure of unnecessarily hemorrhaging money.

Please note that this is my own personal experience, and the only experience I have had with Waterloo Transmission and only 2 interactions with Jim & Sons (my husband recently took his truck to Jim and sons, and they quoted him a little over $100 to assess the problem… Assuring him that that money would be added to the final cost of repair. They ended up realizing it was his drive shaft, not the transmission, and did not charge us anything!) of these transmission repair companies.

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