Mike Mahaffey at AAM competition scammed me out of my $80,000 GTR, $25,000 cash, and destroyed my engine. I dropped my GTR off at AAM on October 24, 2023. It's been almost 2 years and I'm now entangled in a legal battle against AAM. This business is 100% fraudulent. I'm currently in the process of suing them to recover my vehicle, engine, and money. AVOID. read more

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This company's owner Mike sells you on services, takes a lots of money for his services and them you are left with a fuckin!!! Why? Because you can get any assistance after you pay your bill!! He won't return,care or even consider any further assistance. He put his mother or mother in law in office to answer phone an she is a liar and tells callers any ole lie or whatever she feels especially if you are preceived as Black cause then you are really fucked.. I payed a lot of money as he requested an it's been a year or 2 an he has not as of yet cared to address my request for assistance for his work an monies I lost as a result of his work! I have called an called but he don't give a rats ass to reach out an respond read more

4 days ago They will screw you over if they can! They half ass a lot of there products and work and when I went to return a poorly made product and they blocked me from their website, and didn't return any emails, to just unblock me from their website and think nothing of it, they have a F rating on better business buero for a reason. Reading reveiws it seems maily for repairs and read that that take a lot longer than other shops would take to repair them. The valve is decent for what you get but for the work put into their product really represent their price. I spoke with a Josh from aam and he seemed very respectful till he would answer for help on a return since I did not get anything after sending the return form in read more

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despicable work ethic, make sure to take your car here if you like a company that files for bankruptcy to get out of lawsuits and avoid paying their customers what is owed, oh and your car won't even get finished or done correctly, disgusting. read more

Bait and switch. Paid extra for an engine tune that they did not finish. They refuse to answer my emails or phone calls. They robbed me.

HORRIBLE COMPANY. DO NOT USE. Around Halloween i was gifted some aam lower downpipes. the pipes had horrible welds and they didn't include all the hardware!! After all that bs, I emailed them to get my money back and it took about 3 weeks to get one damn reply from mike or his team. Once he replied we agreed i'd send them back for a whole refund. the downpipes have now been delivered for 2 WEEKS now and not a single reply from mike or a refund started. I've started a dispute with my bank cuz these clowns can't get it together. Please go to any other company. I HIGHLY recommend Boosted 6. read more

AAM Competition - Auto Parts & Supplies Near Me - Odenton, Maryland

Absolutely Avoid AAM Competition - Incompetent and Untrustworthy If you value your time, money, and car -- stay far away from AAM Competition in Odenton, MD. My experience with Mike Mahaffey and his shop was nothing short of a disaster, and I'm writing this review to help others avoid the same costly mistake. In Fall 2023, I had an issue with my 1995 Nissan Skyline GTR (R33, RB26DETT, completely stock). It began stuttering, blowing black smoke, and I limped it home. I searched for a reputable shop in the DMV area with actual experience working on these cars. AAM was one of the few that claimed to be experienced with Skylines, and owner Mike Mahaffey assured me they had the diagnostic tools and knowledge to figure it out. I met Mike in December 2023 and he gave me a tour of the shop, showing off R35 GTRs and touting his engine-building skills. Based on his confidence, I paid to have my car towed an hour away to AAM for diagnosis. That's where the nightmare began. After the car was dropped off, there were no updates -- not for weeks, then months. I gave them grace through the holidays, but by early 2024 I had to chase Mike down for updates. He told me there were issues with the coil packs and harness, and they were working on sourcing parts and building a custom harness. I understood these cars can be tricky, so I remained patient. Big mistake. By May 2024, I was calling and emailing constantly with no response. Their phone system is a joke -- endless ringing or straight to voicemail. Eventually, I got an email from Mike saying the injectors were bad. I personally sourced and delivered OEM injectors (another $600 out of pocket). After that, the alternator was blamed, and I authorized them to replace it too. Then out of the blue, Mike tells me they never invoiced me for anything and hits me with a $4,800 bill, which I paid the same day. Still, the car didn't run. Mike's explanation was that the car would start, run for a bit, then shut down due to going into "open loop fueling." I'm not a mechanic -- that's why I hired them. Fast forward to 2025: again, zero communication. Dozens of unanswered emails and hundreds of failed calls later, Mike finally calls in April 2025 to tell me AAM is going out of business due to EPA fines and he's trying to find another shop to take over the work. I didn't trust anything from AAM at this point, so I arranged for the car to be transported across the country to UP Garage USA in Washington State. The owner, Doug, called me within 10 minutes of the car arriving to say he found the issue -- a simple intercooler coupler had popped off. That was it. Ten minutes. Fixed. Running perfectly. After nearly 2 years, thousands of dollars, and endless frustration -- AAM couldn't diagnose what a qualified shop figured out in 10 minutes. Their incompetence is beyond comprehension. Summary: Zero mechanical skill in diagnosing basic issues Non-existent customer service Dishonest or disorganized billing Months of radio silence and delays Ultimately, a complete waste of time and money AAM Competition is incompetent at best and negligent at worst. I wouldn't trust them with a lawn mower, let alone a rare and valuable JDM car. Save yourself the stress -- stay away from AAM. read more

Beware when doing buisness here. They lack answering calls or emails. We paid for a engine $10,300 & turbos $11,000 in Jan 23'. Told they would have the engine by April 23'. That date came and went. Hounding them, with evasive and calls. I was getting nervous of fraud. Told them i was going to dispute the charges on my card that got them to answer. But i should have gone with my gut. I had that feeling that even when we finally got the engine from then it would be a lemon. By June they finally thought they were close to getting it completed. Nope. July came and recieved an email with picture of a wrapped up engine ready to ship. Waited another week, nothing. So drove from Illinois to MD to pick it up July 10th. Got back the next day to start install. Engine was completely in by August but would not turn over. Loaded car to take to mechanic to troubleshoot, check everything out over a months time. In October the 2 mechanics who had been worrying in engine. Pulling it out checking all the wiring and hoses, put engine back in. Everything Looked good they tried to start up and engine was froze up. Bad machining. I have Video of shavings from New engine cant post. Also pics of the crank shafts and more metal shavings. Owner refuses to call me back or settle. Will not answer BBB. So onto filing a lawsuit. Many bad reviews about bad buisness. Buyer beware. Don't trust Mike or Brandon. Mike just a used car salesman and Brandon is the escape goat when Mike doesn't want to talk to anyone. I would have been happy with taking the car to them and they getting a functioning engine in car. Or take your engine and refund me. They are choosing to not stand by their work or their buisness. read more

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I bought a resonated catless midpipe from AAM Competition about three weeks ago. After I put the midpipe on, it was found that it was defective. The flange that goes from the midpipe to the downpipe was not even and left too much of a gap. I didn't find out it was defective until my car threw code P2096 (which is a post-catalyst fuel trim code that indicates an exhaust leak). I took the car to the dealer, paid an hour of labor ($140), and was told it was just a code that gotten thrown because I drove 6 miles to the dealer without one of the midpipe to downpipe nuts (I lost one in the process. Don't ask how.). They cleared the code and I drove home. The next day, the code comes on again, and I drive the car to HG Performance where they let me know that it looks like someone took a belt sander to the flange and took off too much material. There was a definite exhaust leak due to the gap created by the uneven flange. They had to seal the gap with liquid gasket and I paid another hour of labor. I reached out to AAM Performance about this twice via e-mail (about a week and a half ago) and three more times via phone call. They haven't answered any of my e-mails, and every time I call, I get told "Oh you'll have to talk to Mike". Then they'll put me on hold for 10-18 minutes, then hang up on me. All I wanted was for them to pay the labor cost of the two hours that were spent due to their defective part, and they have been avoiding my calls, and not answering my e-mails. I was willing to even split the labor with them, but to not even respond to a customer who has been sent a defective part bugs the hell out of me. Don't buy from AAM. There are several more honest and reputable companies that will send you quality exhaust parts for your GT-R. read more

Very poor customer service, waited a month for the item I ordered that should had taken 10-15 days. I had to contact them several times to find out what what going on Since I was never informed of the delays i was informed there was a "hicccup"! hiccup or not, they should notify their customers and inform them of the delay and not leave people waiting. i would highly recommend shopping at one of their competitors. read more

I would recommend AAM competition to any nissan/infiniti that needs a tune or any labor done. Although it did take a little longer than expected the tune came out perfect with the option to switch through maps. Chase and the staff are great with quick detailed responses to answer any questions I had. Mike also was very helpful with teaching me about the different maps and how to drive in them. read more

If you are doing any research on this shop READ THIS . AAM competition was a great shop back in the day,now it's just a bunch of scammers and pathetic mechanics who work there went here for my turbo 370z I had took it here because I had blew my block with only 50,000 miles on it after a fresh re tune from mike(there main tuner ).I blew my block and I purchased a brand used motor with only 18,000 miles basically new for 3,000 .This is where things get really weird I ask for receipts and just simple info before buying just to check out the motor personal my self you know you spending 3,000 you want to see what the hell your buying .Mike would absolutely not let me see any information on where I got my engine who i got my engine etc,said it was against there "rules".Cool so I still brush this little problem off worst idea ever .So we ended doing the swap and I ended up paying over 12,000 for a turbo take off motor take out new motor installed and a re tune ....uhhh lol doesn't make sense mike he told me in the beginning only 5,000 I paid 5,000 up front at the end of the job he makes a new bill and says I owe another 8,000...At this point I see what type of guy he is I paid the money because money is nothing to me So I pay it .I blow my brand new motor 2 days later .You don't understand the frustration and anger I have .mike says he can't do anything for me and never replies to my text or calls again.that's AAM competition I'm currently pursuing a law suit against them and my lawyer has a lot of evidence these guys are smoked I hope I saved anyone before they made the mistake of choosing AAM . read more

It's sad that there's only a five star limit because they are a ten on a five star scale. All that a bag of chips and twelve Snapples to go! I have been a customer for the past 4 or five years. My engine bay strut bar bears the letters in gold- AAM. This company has both my loyalty and my trust. They did it the hard way. They earned it! Do not, I repeat do not go to AAM Competition unless you want the very best both in customer service and in the finished product. They are without a doubt in my humble opinion, the best on the East Coast. The best that ever did it for the Nissan line and truly are, the "Beast in the East"! I stand behind, alongside of and next to this review. You will be pleased as I have been over the many years and so will you. You will not be disappointed! read more

Being a long time client of AAM I had the chance to visit their shop a few years back. After meeting with Mike and the rest of the staff I found out they were looking for an R&D 350z with low miles for a Twin turbo build. Knowing their background in the car scene I quickly accepted the offer. Once the kit was fitted up and my car was complete with Dyno tune, it was time for a test drive. Insane is the first word that comes to mind when I first went WOT on my setup. I've had the car back for a few years and it's still running just as strong as day one. Hats off to Mike with an outstanding tune, and the rest of the crew for working so hard on the build. If you want the best, you have to go to the best. Reid read more

Bought just a short tail for my 370z and it sounds like a full cat back. I dont even understand it. I plant on getting the rest done eventually but very happy with the product i recieved. read more

I always have a excellent experience at AAM Competition. They did quality and superior work on my Nissan 370Z and all work was done right the first time. The dyno tune they did on my Nissan 370Z was perfect and spot on and just right for how I drive my Nissan 370Z. Jim have me an great deal on all work that was done and they were professional,very helpful,and knowledgeable. I highly recommend AAM Competition for all your performance car needs thank you again. read more

I had my twin turbo build there and they did an incredible job. They transformed the 370z to an absolute animal of a vehicle. They respond to emails quick. I never had any issues with the car after the turbo build and I been driving it for almost 2 years now. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR read more

Stay away! You have been warned! Do not waste your time with this company. On June 18th 2015 I dropped off my 2014 Infiniti Q50s to AAM to do R&D for a catback exhaust. I stated I did not want my CF rear diffuser removed because it sits flush with the exhaust holes and there is no need. They understood and promised they would not remove it. Patrick M. was leading this effort and promised it would only take 5-10 days for the R&D to be completed, for my car to be dynode to get baseline stock exhaust number vs the exhaust they fabricated. On the 5th day of them having my car I called to get a status and Patrick advised me that they got a late start on my car and stock exhaust is still on the vehicle. I clearly was annoyed with this as I have not had my car for 5 days and was renting a vehicle to be able to get to work. Zero progress was made in the 5 business days they had the vehicle and said it would be another 2-3 days and they should have everything situated. Fast forward 3 business days I contact them again trying to set up time to actually pick up my vehicle, keep in mind I live 2 hours away. Patrick says that they are in the process of mocking up a jig for the exhaust and sends me a picture of 1/4 of the custom AAM exhaust installed. At this point im pretty annoyed but understand that there was delays, they have had my car for 8 business days which is 11 calendar days and I am still paying for a rental. I called a few more times thought out another period of time and Patrick kept avoiding my calls and email. Fast forward to July 11th, they now have had my car for a total of 28 days and yes I continued to pay for the rental I had which you can only imagine what that cost me. At this point I am highly irate and call AAM office, no answer, I call Mike the Owner and no answer, I call Patrick and left him 3 voicemails and a few text msgs. Patrick finally calls me back the afternoon of July 11th and says that they are just wrapping up the R&D and are putting my Factory exhaust back on. I asked why is the factory exhaust going back on my car you have had my car for almost a month and now I am going to drive 2 hours without the product. I told him it was unprofessional and unacceptable, I told him I am not waiting any longer and I am going to pick up my car. He said I can pick it up on July 16th I said absolutely not I will be in on the 13th to pick up my car as I had work conflicts and needed to find someone to drive me to their site which was a 2 hour drive. The day I picked up my car I was in shock. My car was filthy inside and out, they removed my $850 Carbon Fiber diffuser from my car by prying it off my bumper and using a blade to cut off the adhesive. I opened my trunk and my CF rear diffuser was cracked throughout the entire thing, not useable and not repairable. You can only imagine the color my face turned. Patrick had nothing to say, he said it was part of R&D and it needed to be removed, even though I specifically told them NOT TO REMOVE IT. At this point I am seeking compensation for the damage not only to the rear diffuser but to my rear bumper. The rear bumper was cut because they used a blade to cut away at the 3M adhesive, scratched like there is no tomorrow and paint was missing from the bumper itself. I had to come out of pocket $398 to get my rear bumper repaired and repainted at a professional shop, in addition I lost $850 on my Access Evolution carbon fiber rear diffuser and not to mention the hundreds and hundreds of dollars on the rental. Mike Mahaffey, the owner of AAM refused to comment on my phone calls and emails. No answer, I called his personal cell phone and he refused to answer my call. To recap - AAM had my vehicle from June 18th - July 13th and I walked away without an exhaust. They originally wanted to charge me $970 for the R&D, after this debacle I told them there is no way I was paying that much if anything they should be compensating me for damages. A few weeks later Patrick emails me on Nov 14th and says that they can knock the price down to $500 and they can have it shipped to me for $66.42 ground. I caved and said "ok fine ship it to me" then I get an email back from him that states "$66.42 Ground Ship/Home Delivery (2 days transit time). Since you weren't able to bring the car back in for a final installation, we will need to find a car to perform the very last test-fit on prior to shipping the system out. Do you have any Q50 AWD contacts local to us who would be interested in having the exhaust tested on their vehicle?" at this point I am thinking to myself "you can't be serious" I caved again and instead of taking my Q50 back, I took my wife's Q50. I spent 7 hours at AAM on Dec. 4th getting this exhaust put on, 7 hours of my time gone. The final product - absolute garbage! My review of the exhaust they produced: the sound if muffled, the drone inside the cabin is unbearable. The quality of the work is trash, I will post p read more

I ordered the AAM Competition Stage 2 twin turbo kit for my 2010 370z with high hopes and high expectations. I have good feelings towards this kit as well as some not good. First off, the kit took nearly a month to arrive which wasn't terrible considering all the parts, labor, ect. However upon arrival I noticed that the tuning cable was not included as well as the entire software program was missing. I've tried for over a week to have both shipped to me immediately with no response which is extremely disappointing considering the nearly $12,000 price tag. Once those parts arrive and the car is tuned I'm sure I will be satisfied with the product however it is extremely unprofessional to leave out a major component of the kit. Car has been sitting since early August still waiting on a reply from AAM Comp. read more

If you are buying AAM parts such as a cat-back exhaust system and putting it on your car yourself, AAM is fine for this. However, I don't trust this place to work on my car based on my interactions with sales staff and the management. Their labor quotes to do work are unreasonable and I'm not sure that they know what they are doing in the first place. You have been warned! They spend a lot of money on marketing and promotions. Also, they have a fancy shop that impresses you when you walk in but don't be fooled by all of this. Stay away! read more

THIS IS A LONG REVIEW BUT PLEASE READ IT IF YOU ARE A NISSAN/INFINITI OWNER AND ARE PLANNING TO TAKE YOUR CAR TO AAM FOR ANY KIND OF WORK. In December 2014, the clutch on my Infiniti G37S one day refused to come up from the floor. The concentric slave cylinder had failed and a local Nissan dealer immediately quoted me $2000+ for a new clutch. However, I brought the car to AAM because of the recommendation of my friend who had good experiences with an AAM catback exhaust system on his 370Z. I also thought I would use this opportunity to upgrade my flywheel, clutch, etc. with stage 1 parts. I worked with Marken Smith at AAM who said that we could order the parts from Z1 Motorsports ourselves if we wanted. Marken said he was going to do the same thing himself anyway and just to make sure that the parts ship to the shop. I was never told that by purchasing the parts myself and having them shipped to the shop that AAM couldn't warranty their work on the car. The parts that were installed on my G37S included the following: 1) Z1 Motorsports 370Z/G37 performance street clutch and flywheel combo kit with braided SS hydraulic clutch line 2) Z1 Motorsports concentric slave cylinder elimination kit with fluid The total for the parts including shipping was around $1,200. AAM quoted the following for labor: 1) AAM shop supplies = $100 2) AAM clutch/flywheel/concentric slave cylinder elimination kit = $1,391.00 or 13 hours of labor at $107/hr. AAM total labor quote with tax was $1,580. This quote ended up being closer to $2,000 for labor when the final bill settled because AAM said they ran into some difficulties with the install. Why was I up-charged on my bill because AAM didn't know how to do their job? AAM said that they had never installed a concentric slave cylinder elimination kit before and so it would require some extra time. Today, I know that a clutch/flywheel job on a Nissan 370Z/G37 shouldn't take more than 5-6 hours. I was stupid and didn't do the research at the time. I didn't think to question the 8+ additional hours of labor to install the concentric slave cylinder elimination kit. After more than a month, I received the car back in mid-January 2015. The clutch pedal was extremely heavy to modulate. Again, I was stupid and didn't do the research so I thought this was normal for a stage 1 clutch's feel. The very next day I felt a grinding noise and I took it back to them. They said nothing was wrong. Over the next few months in 2015, I brought the car back to AAM a few times because it wasn't shifting right. It felt like the clutch wasn't disengaging and engaging the gears correctly all the time. For example, sometimes the shifter would pop out of gear into neutral. The clutch fluid reservoir in the engine bay was also not holding fluid and would become low after a few days. On each visit back to AAM, they would make small adjustments or say that this was normal for the kit blaming it on the parts which I bought. They never took responsibility. Finally in 2016, my car got to a point where the clutch hydraulics started showing signs of problems and eventual failure. If the car was left sitting for a few days and you wanted to move it, you would have to let it warm up and pump the clutch 20-30 times before it would let you put it into gear. With no recourse available from AAM, I did some research and learned about Hill's Garage in Elkridge, MD. I visited the shop a few times and spoke to Frank and Suzanne Hill who are good people. I explained to them my situation and they told me that there was something definitely wrong with my car. They also said that a lot of cheated AAM customers come to them to fix their now broken cars. Frank and Suzanne Hill were able to get my friend's car into the shop quickly. They pulled the transmission and immediately notice the sub-par work performed by the techs at AAM. A bolt was just resting freely inside the transmission bell housing and many of the parts were not lubricated as they should have been. This is probably why the clutch felt extremely stiff to modulate from day 1 of AAM's installation. I will never will take my car any where near this shop. I also later learned from Marken Smith that the tech who worked on my car got let go by AAM a few days after I got my car out of the shop. read more

I first heard of AAM through the 370z Community. They had a nice lineup of performance parts and while searching for a turbo kit for my z i noticed that they had a great kit. I spoke with a few employees over the phone a quickly notice how knowledgeable and friendly they were. Not only did they help me decide what rout to take to get the goal i was looking for but also the safest on my car. These guys know their cars and do A+ work. read more