Known Mel for well over 20 years. Before he passed in 2008, my father was friends with him, and the body shop he worked at even sponsored his racecar. At my recommendation, many of my law enforcement friends and family used him over the years. So naturally when my son recently had an issue with his truck, a 2004 Silverado, we took it to Mel.... And to our absolute shock we got screwed. Badly. The cost was outrageous and it took forever to what amounted to simply replacing a flywheel. Got it back and subsequently learned that many of my friends and family and their business and families also had recent bad experiences with Mel. Guess he really went down hill. However, a few days after we got the truck back we discovered a leak in the transmission that we didn't have before. We didn't have a leak. To avoid Mel, we decided to first look into it ourselves and with a simple visual observation it was clear that when the flywheel was installed the front seal must have been damaged. Reluctantly we took it back to Mel. Feeling like I disappointed my son by recommending Mel to begin with, I hoped that Mel would be responsible and reasonable as the leak was obviously a result of his work. A front seal is nothing and should have been done when he had it apart. Poor workmanship. Transmission work 101. We left the truck for him to inspect the leak. He had the truck for another three weeks. We waited and got the call and instead of just replacing the $15 seal and accepting that he should have caught that, or even just working with us a little , he said it would be over 4800 to rebuild. A rebuild? It doesn't need that, just a front seal, Mel. I explained that the leak was a result of their initial work and their reply wasn't to deny that fact, but rather to say that the truck was driven 1000 miles since their repair. Obscene. Absolutely obscene. I have since learned of many other ppl who were once friendly with Mel and relied on his work also got screwed. I have the names, Mel. Try me. Mel, you were once a good guy, reputable and honest. You are now nothing more than a crook. DO NOT USE ACADEMY TRANSMISSIONS. Almost 30 years of local law enforcement and I have only seen this type of disgusting behavior from the lowest of the low. Mel and Academy Transmission is absolutely the lowest of the low. You should be ashamed of yourselves. read more

These guys are the best! Totally trust their experience and knowledge regarding transmission issues.

I Should have taken it to a professional tranny shop..not Mel. Rotten service. Tranny shits the bed 2 weeks after he rebuilt it then wants another 2 thousand to "fix" it. Rolled it outta there with hopefully my original tranny I hope. Great job Mel. read more

Highly recommend them! Very honest and friendly! And professional! Mention to friends where I was going and no one had a bad word to say about them! read more

AT YOUR OWN RISK! Very unprofessional. 'Family' drama. Owner threw a disrespectful temper tantrum in front of team completely unprovoked. Worst auto-shop experience in my life. Had plenty. I don't know what happened here. Shop is exclusive. Nearly closed to the public by select schedule. Perhaps they might consider closing to the public for real. Better off not treating honest customers like this. Maybe they don't need any because they're fine serving friends or regular patrons. I wish I knew so I could have avoided this shop! Brought my truck over, transmission was slipping. Received reference from high school friend of owner, said I was in good hands. We're thinking twice now. Phone lines were closed all day after this. His friend tried to get through, hear what happened to me. Day after I dropped my truck off, they said they'd get to it next week. I returned and asked the technician if I could use my truck for a 1hr errand. He gave me my keys, didn't say I couldn't come back, went to the truck, fired it up, noticed check engine light was on, didn't know I had any codes, went to the shop, asked. The wife of the owner who just came through the door and also works there respectfully tried to answer my questions about the codes. She told me to hold so she can get the owner. In hindsight, I realize the wife didn't know I wanted to grab my truck for an errand. Maybe she thought I came by to start trouble. Here we go. Owner/husband Mel comes comes out, unleashes a defensive tirade on me, the codes were always there, they're not [his] fault, he's been in the biz for 'x' years, etc. Very defensive, I was taken aback, wasn't sure what to say, said nothing to be safe. Mel was done! Walked back into the garage, slams the door, and I hear him blast-off: "f*'n a*hole, don't f*'n come back then". Owner probably didn't know I could hear him. What a freak show! I ask the lady, what happened? She explains that I was insinuating the shop caused my engine codes and that I offended the owner. Nope! I wanted to use my truck for an hour, saw them, then asked, just bought the truck, didn't know I had any. Never blamed anyone! Unprofessional! Mel comes back out, doubles down on the defensive. He's been in the 'biz' forever, and I'm playing blame games with my truck, he's been around the block and knows all games. Veins bulging out of his neck, shaved head, spit flying out when yelling. Orange County's finest. Real. Try and get this guy to breathe. Speaking with a calm voice I tell him it's a misunderstanding, explain how I wanted to use the truck for an hour, I was given the keys, saw the CEL, asked about codes that I didn't see before. He tells me, well you shouldn't taken it out and driven it then! No words of reason worked. I don't know what happened before my shop visit, but clearly it was being taken out a customer! I respect his right to pick and choose who they want to do biz with for whatever reason. But NOT disrespecting people. What a shame! If he took a breath, he'd realize the truck never left the shop, never went in drive gear, and I was asking whether it was safe to take the truck out. Mel insists that I was going to get half price until I angered him. Oops, $2500 for stock overhaul of a 47RE is NOT half price. That's only half price if I was mislead into buying a new core! Blah! Eventually he realized it was a misunderstanding, but he insisted it didn't matter what it was, I was OFF his schedule, I needed to GTFO. He tells his tech to pull the truck around, the tech apologizes repeatedly, I ask the tech what gives, I didn't do anything wrong here, couldn't look me in the eyes, sorry, sorry, sorry. Shuffles away. I bet this shop puts out great work, but I just got the 'drunk dad' customer service experience I won't soon forget! Do you want yours? Visit Academy. Cash/bank-check only. Shady. Imagine you want your transmission warranty honored and you get: 'Shop owner is right when wrong, questions? How dare you! you're on your own, GTFO'. Visit AAMCO instead. Better warranty. Better schedule. No drama. read more

Had my 54 gmc pickups transmission that needed to be rebuilt was a 700r4, he told me exactly what was wrong charged me a good price had it back in record time and was very nice . Would def go back and recommend . Not one single problem . read more

So my 2008 Mazda 3 was having transmission problems. My car would only let me go through gears 1-3. So I take it to the Dealership. Dealership took a few days to look into it and perform a repair. The dealership ended up making the issue even worse. After the dealership performed their "repair" my car would now only go through gears 4-5. The dealership said the only step after that would be to replace the transmission. After feeling screwed by the dealership I went to Academy Tranmissions. What a difference! Friendly owners and an attitude which felt like they truly cared about me and my car. Academy Transmissions was quick and accurate in finding out the true issue with my car. Academy Transmission successfully resolved an issue with my wiring harness and saved my car from a very costly transmission replacement. Don't get screwed by the dealership! Go to Academy Transmissions! They will absolutely take care of you. The knowledge and skill of Academy's crew is unbeatable! I am an extremely satisfied customer. read more

My car was barely running, the transmission was barely going into gear,revving real high and then slamming into first gear. I was afraid this was the end for my beloved 1999 BMW . I took a chance and limped it over to Academy Transmissions. Mel, the owner dropped what he was doing, took my car for a ride and told me "I don't think there is anything Major wrong" WHEN is the last time you heard THAT from a transmission shop ? It turned out that when my mechanic had changed the transmission coolant lines he had not added the correct amount of trans fluid back. Mel,filled it up,the problem was fixed,and Mel would not take a nickel from me ! This is a wonderful shop run by a totally honest crew ! Were they dishonest, I could have been taken for Thousands, I love that car and was prepared to pay for a rebuild ! This is an amazing operation,I will be telling ALL friends and family that have any transmission problems to go Straight to Academy !! read more