Warranty not honored on workmanship, charged more than expected, no written upfront estimate .
Flexplate broke due to bolts coming loose caused my small motorhome to be stranded on I 95. The flexplate externally connects the transmission to the engine but is not a part of the transmission. The bolts that normally hold the flexplate on were found in the pan and the flexplate had been bent and broken, likely from the bolts backing out. The transmission had been fine. Action was very helpful in arranging the tow, however they quoted $ 150.00 for the tow but charged me $254.00. They were friendly, letting us stay in the motorhome while the repair was taking place. They went to work on it promptly but damaged the bumper pushing the vehicle onto the lift. The motorhome had the original gas engine replaced with a diesel retrofit kit 55000 miles ago that used the original flexplate to connect the engine to the transmission.
This is the part that broke, the flexplate, either from being to old and weak or the bolts that hold it on coming loose. That was the only thing that was actually broken, a $ 20.00 part. The transmission had just been opened up and repaired as necessary 800 miles ago and had nothing wrong, however Action recommended another full overhaul that we agreed to for piece of mind. No written estimate was provided at that point just some verbal information about the cost to be about $ 1200.00 total. The flexplate was replaced with an identical, inexpensive ($ 20.00) plate and the bolts holding it on were installed without lock washers or loctite and not torqued with a torque wrench.
Total repair cost was $ 2169.00, a lot more than expected.
We were not told that they would exclude any warranty on the flexplate or the installation of it until the repair was done, then I was handed the bill with the warranty exclusion for exactly the one part that was broken. No attempt was made to find a stronger part (if indeed the part had failed which is doubtful since it had held up for 55000 miles before).
300 miles and 7 days later the same problem occurred again, the bolts backed out again, leaving us stranded once again on I 95. This time, we arranged our own tow for $ 75.00 and the repair was $ 407.75 consisted of removing the transmission and tightening the bolts properly with loctite. Just for good measure we replaced the flexplate with a stronger design from Summit Racing, since the transmission was out it was easy. This stronger plate was $ 75.00 instead of $ 20.00 for the lightweight original one. Total cost of repair second time around $ 482.75 including tow.
The overhaul at Action came with a 12 month, 12000 miles warranty for parts and labor but was denied, Action excluded the flex plate from their regular warranty. We were not provided with written warranty details. When I asked to get the repair cost for properly securing the flexplate bolts reimbursed they denied. The original cause of the problem was not properly repaired with improper workmanship by not using lock washers or loctite on the bolts in question. This is what the mechanic stated during the second repair and he must have done it properly since the bolts didn't come loose again and all has been well now. Action should have honored the warranty as we were quite happy with the way we were treated, we were overcharged but they helped us promptly but we had the same problem again because of Actions improper workmanship so we got stranded again with all the unpleasant effects like waiting for a tow, renting a hotel room, renting a car and so on.
Actions website says "Nationwide warranty on all transmission repair"
Action Transmission Specialists Reviews
Warranty not honored on workmanship, charged more than expected, no written upfront estimate .
Flexplate broke due to bolts coming loose caused my small motorhome to be stranded on I 95. The flexplate externally connects the transmission to the engine but is not a part of the transmission. The bolts that normally hold the flexplate on were found in the pan and the flexplate had been bent and broken, likely from the bolts backing out. The transmission had been fine. Action was very helpful in arranging the tow, however they quoted $ 150.00 for the tow but charged me $254.00. They were friendly, letting us stay in the motorhome while the repair was taking place. They went to work on it promptly but damaged the bumper pushing the vehicle onto the lift. The motorhome had the original gas engine replaced with a diesel retrofit kit 55000 miles ago that used the original flexplate to connect the engine to the transmission.
This is the part that broke, the flexplate, either from being to old and weak or the bolts that hold it on coming loose. That was the only thing that was actually broken, a $ 20.00 part. The transmission had just been opened up and repaired as necessary 800 miles ago and had nothing wrong, however Action recommended another full overhaul that we agreed to for piece of mind. No written estimate was provided at that point just some verbal information about the cost to be about $ 1200.00 total. The flexplate was replaced with an identical, inexpensive ($ 20.00) plate and the bolts holding it on were installed without lock washers or loctite and not torqued with a torque wrench.
Total repair cost was $ 2169.00, a lot more than expected.
We were not told that they would exclude any warranty on the flexplate or the installation of it until the repair was done, then I was handed the bill with the warranty exclusion for exactly the one part that was broken. No attempt was made to find a stronger part (if indeed the part had failed which is doubtful since it had held up for 55000 miles before).
300 miles and 7 days later the same problem occurred again, the bolts backed out again, leaving us stranded once again on I 95. This time, we arranged our own tow for $ 75.00 and the repair was $ 407.75 consisted of removing the transmission and tightening the bolts properly with loctite. Just for good measure we replaced the flexplate with a stronger design from Summit Racing, since the transmission was out it was easy. This stronger plate was $ 75.00 instead of $ 20.00 for the lightweight original one. Total cost of repair second time around $ 482.75 including tow.
The overhaul at Action came with a 12 month, 12000 miles warranty for parts and labor but was denied, Action excluded the flex plate from their regular warranty. We were not provided with written warranty details. When I asked to get the repair cost for properly securing the flexplate bolts reimbursed they denied. The original cause of the problem was not properly repaired with improper workmanship by not using lock washers or loctite on the bolts in question. This is what the mechanic stated during the second repair and he must have done it properly since the bolts didn't come loose again and all has been well now. Action should have honored the warranty as we were quite happy with the way we were treated, we were overcharged but they helped us promptly but we had the same problem again because of Actions improper workmanship so we got stranded again with all the unpleasant effects like waiting for a tow, renting a hotel room, renting a car and so on.
Actions website says "Nationwide warranty on all transmission repair"