I had a really unsatisfying interaction with Cordray’s Continental Auto Repair and Transmission in Albany, Oregon this week. Normally, I don’t see much point in anonymous negative reviews but I feel some community here so if I can help any of you guys in Oregon sidestep trouble, I’d like to.
I made an appointment 3 weeks ago to have Cordray’s look at my ATS Allison swapped ‘08 Dodge. I live about 2 hours away in southern Oregon, but they were the closest ATS dealer. I’ve had numerous issues with the transmission since the ATS shop in Denver did the swap for me last November. They also did several other engine and drivetrain things which didn’t all play well together. Ultimately, I addressed those issues myself after not getting a ton of support from ATS.
The rest of the truck is pretty well sorted now but the Allison continues to have a bunch of issues which include: failed shifts (ends up in the same gear repeatedly after attempted auto upshifts), approximately 120 hertz shuddering on decel from any speed in any gear which happens often but not every time, whining noise, occasional slow engagements when put into gear right after startup (especially if the truck has been parked for a while). Also, the shifts are intermittently quite jarringly hard. The issues seem mechanical rather than electronic to me (perhaps the torque converter is involved?) but I don’t know enough about autos to have an intelligent opinion. All of the problems are intermittent of course and generally are worse under load. Despite everything, it is driveable and I have hauled 7-8K loads 200-1000 miles multiple times in the last nine months. And occasionally, it will even make a series of shifts that feel really good but, overall, it sucks and the 1 year ATS warranty is a few months from being up.
So, at the suggestion of ATS, I took it to Cordray’s. I took an afternoon off work and drove 120 miles to their shop in Albany, OR. My wife followed in her car so I could get a ride home. I had told the service manager when I scheduled the appointment that I wanted to go over the situation with the mechanic at the drop off because of unusual transmission in my Dodge and the multitude of issues. I hoped the info would help them help me. I got there at 4 and was told they were busy at the moment. My wife and I waited until 5:15 and then were told we needed to leave because they were closing. I tried to be patient and pleasant and explain why I thought it was important to have a conversation with the person who would be working on my rig to no avail. At this point, it was pretty obvious that this wasn’t a place I wanted to do anything to my truck, so asked for truck back. They waited another 15 minutes and finally drove it out. The older gentleman didn’t introduce himself but his shirt said “Mike”. I think he was one of the owners, Mike Thorpe. I said politely that I was sorry they weren’t able to take the time to talk to me. The guy then snapped “that’s what I pay my service manager for” and “don’t you think I have other customers?” My wife later said she was shocked at his unprovoked aggression and since she is well aware of my ability to be impolite when necessary was worried about my response. I certainly wasn’t happy to be barked at or to have wasted my time and the fuel to drive 2 vehicles over 200 miles but I saw no point in a confrontation, so I said “have a good evening” and we left. The good news is the shop and I figured out our incompatibility before my truck was in pieces all over their floor at which time I could no longer simply walk away.
Maybe working on automatic transmissions is something else I need to learn about? Before I do that though, there is another ATS dealer about the same distance in the other direction. I had a really good phone discussion with them yesterday so I’m trying to be optimistic about a better outcome when I go see them in a couple of weeks
.
I made an appointment 3 weeks ago to have Cordray’s look at my ATS Allison swapped ‘08 Dodge. I live about 2 hours away in southern Oregon, but they were the closest ATS dealer. I’ve had numerous issues with the transmission since the ATS shop in Denver did the swap for me last November. They also did several other engine and drivetrain things which didn’t all play well together. Ultimately, I addressed those issues myself after not getting a ton of support from ATS.
The rest of the truck is pretty well sorted now but the Allison continues to have a bunch of issues which include: failed shifts (ends up in the same gear repeatedly after attempted auto upshifts), approximately 120 hertz shuddering on decel from any speed in any gear which happens often but not every time, whining noise, occasional slow engagements when put into gear right after startup (especially if the truck has been parked for a while). Also, the shifts are intermittently quite jarringly hard. The issues seem mechanical rather than electronic to me (perhaps the torque converter is involved?) but I don’t know enough about autos to have an intelligent opinion. All of the problems are intermittent of course and generally are worse under load. Despite everything, it is driveable and I have hauled 7-8K loads 200-1000 miles multiple times in the last nine months. And occasionally, it will even make a series of shifts that feel really good but, overall, it sucks and the 1 year ATS warranty is a few months from being up.
So, at the suggestion of ATS, I took it to Cordray’s. I took an afternoon off work and drove 120 miles to their shop in Albany, OR. My wife followed in her car so I could get a ride home. I had told the service manager when I scheduled the appointment that I wanted to go over the situation with the mechanic at the drop off because of unusual transmission in my Dodge and the multitude of issues. I hoped the info would help them help me. I got there at 4 and was told they were busy at the moment. My wife and I waited until 5:15 and then were told we needed to leave because they were closing. I tried to be patient and pleasant and explain why I thought it was important to have a conversation with the person who would be working on my rig to no avail. At this point, it was pretty obvious that this wasn’t a place I wanted to do anything to my truck, so asked for truck back. They waited another 15 minutes and finally drove it out. The older gentleman didn’t introduce himself but his shirt said “Mike”. I think he was one of the owners, Mike Thorpe. I said politely that I was sorry they weren’t able to take the time to talk to me. The guy then snapped “that’s what I pay my service manager for” and “don’t you think I have other customers?” My wife later said she was shocked at his unprovoked aggression and since she is well aware of my ability to be impolite when necessary was worried about my response. I certainly wasn’t happy to be barked at or to have wasted my time and the fuel to drive 2 vehicles over 200 miles but I saw no point in a confrontation, so I said “have a good evening” and we left. The good news is the shop and I figured out our incompatibility before my truck was in pieces all over their floor at which time I could no longer simply walk away.
Maybe working on automatic transmissions is something else I need to learn about? Before I do that though, there is another ATS dealer about the same distance in the other direction. I had a really good phone discussion with them yesterday so I’m trying to be optimistic about a better outcome when I go see them in a couple of weeks
.
Last edited:
