PA Transmission

This is going to be a long reply, but worth the read if you plan on dealing with Performance Automatics...

I was in the middle of a full restoration on my '86 Capri and wouldn't be ready for a tranny for about another 10 months, but saw the price on the Super Streeter AOD in Late Model Restoration was creeping higher and higher. I decided to buy one before the price went too much higher because it came with a 1 yr warranty and I knew I'd be able to install it and make sure it was a good piece before the warranty ran out.

Well, got the tranny, let it sit in the box, installed it 11 months later only to find out it was defective. (Second gear was out, it had a loud metal on metal rattle sound and clunked when it shifted into the only 2 operating gears it had... oh, and it leaked out the rear seal also) Even though I bought it through LMR, I called PA direct because THEY were the ones who built the piece of junk. Dealing with them was a headache from the very first phone call. They like to place you on hold for looooong periods of time and then when they do come back on, they rush through the conversation and only hear about half of what you say about your problem.

Well, they told me I had to pay for shipping to get the tranny back to them and they'd look it over. I drove 4 hours to drop it off myself so I could talk with them in person because of the uncomfortable feeling I was getting doing business with them over the phone. My impression when I got there was it's a small unorganized operation that appeared to be understaffed and overwhelmed with orders. Talking with the guy at the desk didn't go any better than it did on the phone... very rushed and I didn't feel like he was listening to my explanation of what was wrong with the tranny. When I went around back to drop off the junk tranny, I got a look at the shop area. It was cluttered with half-built trannys laying all over the place and everyone running around like chickens with their heads cut off. My already bad impression of them was getting worse. So I put my tranny on the floor and left.

Didn't hear anything from them for 2 weeks, so I called them. They said it wasn't ready and they'd give me a call when they knew something. Side story: I used to manage a Pizza Hut and if we messed up someones pizza order (dine in or carry out) it got remade RIGHT AWAY not after we got all the current order tickets that were hanging there made. It was re-cooked correctly RIGHT FREAKING NOW. Well, I found out that my repair was going to be made when they got around to it, no rush on their part at all.

2 more weeks go by and now my warranty has expired, so I call them again. I get put on hold twice, get the run around and they say the shifting problem is fixed. I ask him about the clunking and rattling noises.... he pauses and says, "You never said anything about any noises." I was steamed because I said it MANY times and I freaking KNEW he wasn't paying attention because he was in such a hurry when we'd talk.

I told them I wanted a replacement tranny RIGHT NOW and wanted to talk to the owner. He wouldn't put the owner on the phone and said I wasn't getting a different tranny, that they were going to tear mine apart again because my warrany was expired. I tried to explain that it was under warranty when I brought it in over a month ago and it expired because they were taking so long to fix it. I wasn't getting anywhere with this guy and told him I'd be there on Monday.

So I drove another 4 hours and walked in and demanded to see the owner. The guy at the desk went to an office literally 10 feet down the hall and when he came out said, "He doesn't want to talk to you." The kept hid in the office like a little baby and wouldn't come out to face me. I then said I ordered the tranny through LMR and have spent over $20,000.00 with them in the past 5 years and I was going to get them involved.

I called LMR and talked to the manager. Told him how PA was treating me. Well, they got on the phone and threatened PA that if they didn't take care of me and if this is how they are going to treat customers, then LMR didn't want to sell their product anymore. LMR is the source of about 80% of PA's orders and this shook the hell out of PA, because they were about to loose a HUGE contract with LMR. You'd think they would snap out of it, man up and take care of things, but they still told LMR they weren't going to give me a replacement tranny and still going to fix mine. I told LMR this was not acceptable.

So the cool guys at LMR took my tranny back... OUT OF WARRANTY and returned it to PA. Then LMR placed a new order with PA and had a new tranny sent to me in 3 days. LMR took care of the problem in under a week while I couldn't get anything done through PA in over a MONTH.

Everyone at PA is a complete moron, rude, cowardly and VERY unprofessional. I wrote all this just so ya' know what kind of crap to expect if you ever have to deal with PA.

Oh, and the new tranny they sent me clunks going into drive and it leaks out of the rear seal also. Hahahaha.... what a bunch of idiots at PA. They are just throwing tranny's together as fast as they can to get the orders done with no concern for quality.

wow Capri that's a crappy story indeed, but thanks for sharing. That pisses me off to no tomorrow how these people have no problem taking you money and then screw you over. At least LMR made it right for you!

That's the one major benefit of getting something through one of the big well known retailers.
Leverage.
For the record, i know of very few stories with built aods used on the street that end well.