Keith's Transmission

I have had transmissions replaced before and it’s usually about 3 days. Day 1 to diagnose and order part, Day 2 to receive part and pull-out old transmission and start replacement, Day 3 to finish up and pick up vehicle. Below is my experience with Keith’s Transmissions. On March 20, I called Keiths Transmission shop to determine if they had room for my daughters Ford Explorer Sport Trac. I specifically mentioned she is in Oklahoma City by herself at school and she was too young to rent a car so she would have to Uber anywhere she needed to go. As such, I would need a fairly quick turnaround. He said he could get a look at it within a day, but it would take about a week to complete after waiting on parts, etc. I was disappointed at the timing but agreed to have it towed on the same day. I didn’t hear from the shop and called 2 days later (Wednesday morning) to find out what they knew. They mentioned they didn’t know anything about it and in fact a ticket hadn’t even been started. I asked them to please do their best to get it looked at it right away reminding them that my daughter is having to Uber everywhere. I didn’t hear from them again and called the next day (Thursday morning) to find out the status, at which time I was told that it did indeed need a transmission and was asked if I wanted to get the work done and the cost would be $3250. I agreed and again explained as soon as possible as my daughter still didn’t have a vehicle. I didn’t hear from them and called them 2 days later, late on Monday to see how was going and what day they thought it would be ready. I was told he would call me when it was done. I probed harder to get a better answer – was it close, would it be Tuesday, would it be Wednesday, or general idea. He again said he would call me when it was ready. I didn’t hear from them and called them the following Wednesday close to closing time and was told it was still not ready and I would be called when it was done. I didn’t hear from them and called late Thursday. He said it would be done tomorrow (March 31 or 9 business days). I feel like it could have been done earlier had they realized they had the vehicle, but at least it was done. Note – that EACH time I called he acted like I shouldn’t be calling him, that it would take what it takes with no regard to the idea that my daughter needed the vehicle back. Me calling him was apparently a nuisance. My daughter picked the vehicle up and noticed right away something was wrong and that she couldn’t get the truck up to highway speeds. We called to let him know but because it was late on Friday she would have to drop it off next week. Unfortunately, she could not get it back there until April 11. We called about it on Wednesday, and he said he hadn’t looked at it yet. Again, I reminded him she doesn’t have another vehicle. He said he would call when it’s ready. My daughter called Friday morning April 14 and they said it was ready. The person she talked to said they needed to flush the transmission fluid as it had particles in it. This trip was 3.5 days. Fast forward and my daughter says it still doesn’t seem right and it jerks. She decides she just wants to buy something else. We buy her another vehicle here at home (11 hours away in Nashville). We let the truck sit for almost a month as we had vacations etc. In late July I finally decide its time to sell it and stop paying insurance on a vehicle sitting around. The buyer has it taken to a shop to inspect, and they report back that its leaking transmission fluid. I take it to an oil change place for second opinion as it would be easy for them to look at it under the vehicle. They confirm and say it looks like it’s a 6/10 bad (so not a tiny drip). I then took it to my own mechanic for an inspection and they confirm. Note the vehicle has only had 3K miles added to it since the original repair date. I called the shop to ask about warranties and again he sounds aggravated and says its only warrantied at his shop – which I understand. This means we need to drive it 11 hours back and make arrangements to stay with my daughter. The following week on Wednesday August 23, I call him to try to schedule it mentioning to him that we will be on a time crunch since we don’t live there. Aggravated, he says he would get it on the rack as soon as he could. I call on Friday August 25 afternoon to confirm that my wife is driving 11 hours and would be dropping it off on Sunday and asked if the shop have a drop box for keys. Aggravated, he says no she has to bring it in Monday. My wife drops it off on Monday morning (August 28) and she says the guy that took it seemed very confused and that I should call. I call in to confirm he has the truck and he says (again annoyed) that he will get it up as soon as he can. I didn’t hear from the shop, so I called Wednesday and he explains he put it up on the rack wiped it off drove it around then put it up again and only see one drop of trans fluid. I explain that’s not what the other mechanics claimed and he got aggravated again and talked about how they didn’t wipe it off and inspect it like he did. I ask, when will he be done with it as I need to give my wife some expectation of when she can come home and it would be good if she could pick it up Friday. Again, no time estimate, but stated that he will call me when its done, he was trying for Friday but felt like I was putting him on the spot. I didn’t hear from the shop so I called Tuesday September 5th mid morning. Irritated, he explains its 2 hours after a holiday and why would I call this early. I explain, last I talked to him was Wednesday and he was “trying” for Friday so I am just calling for a status update. Again I am told he will call me when its ready. I didn’t hear from the shop so my wife drives there with daughter on Thursday September 7 to check on it as I suspected it wasn’t being worked on. The truck was outside in the lot. My wife went in to check on the status while my daughter made small talk with a technician (who incidentally stated that most of the repairs he had been doing were repairs that were under warranty). He blew up on my wife basically tossing the key to her and saying take it. She said he went from 0 to 100 on the mad scale for her even being there. My 23 y/o, 5 foot nothing little daughter goes in after her mom to find out what happened and he starts yelling at her saying that my wife was cussing him (which did not happen) and they can take the truck, followed by a barrage of excuses about his technicians which he claimed he was firing that night, as well as was upset that my daughter made small talk with the technicians. In response, my daughter explains he has had it almost 2 weeks AGAIN and she wants him to test drive it and take a look and make sure it’s fixed. He claims he replaced gaskets and did a lot of work to it. She gives him the key back and says verify it’s drivable and that it’s not leaking, and they will be back on Friday. My wife and daughter pick up the vehicle up next day without incident and he says he hasn’t put it back on the rack yet. She immediately drives it to the nearest oil change place and they confirm it has quite a bit of fluid leaking. Further, Keith’s never bolted the drive shaft back on the vehicle which could have led to a serious deadly crash. They took pictures and showed her. At this point it has been 2 weeks since he had it and we can’t wait anymore. We will have to sell it at a decent loss of value due to the transmission not being right. Pictures included in upload. The shop doesn’t communicate, doesn’t provide any idea of completion dates, is consistently rude, disrespectful and aggravated. He says he inspected it and changed several gaskets, but I have my doubts that anything was done. I don’t know if this was a good shop at one time or not, but I can tell you that you need to take your car somewhere else. Between the terrible customer service, extreme lack of communication, and extended times of repairs, there are plenty of better places to take your car to. If I could give fewer than 1 star, I would. Paid $3260 and its still broken. On 9/9/2023 I filed a Better Business Bureau complaint and followed all documentation processes. The BBB had no response from the business. Complaint included in upload. I also have left a Google Review attempting to get a response. Google Review included in upload. I have also left a YELP review attempting to get a response. Yelp review included in upload