3D Transmissions
Ranked #88 of 127 in Berkshire
Services: Gearboxes, Clutches
16b Richfield Avenue
READING
RG1 8EQ
Call 0118 957 3104
Reviews
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"Terrible, get your vehicle checked afterwards"
By Anonymous, 22 August 2023
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I first heard about this garage from multiple co workers (in the motor trade), I was told their quality was amazing as reflected by the price (£1700 for reconditioned gear box new clutch and release bearing). However to my disappointment, several weeks after the repair my driveshaft came out as I was turning onto a main road. Thanks to the quick reactions of the driver in the oncoming lane a Headon collision was avoided. Although this was the fault of 3d transmissions not tightening the driveshaft bolts, I had the vehicle recovered back to them at my own expense. When they finally looked at it they tried to blame me for tampering with it. After multiple back and forth conversations and threatening to get invoices to prove that work had been done before it went to them they reluctantly fixed the issue free of charge and I had the vehicle back. Today I was changing my brakes and inspecting the work they had done only to find the oil filler plug was less than finger tight and leaking oil. Very unhappy with my experience with them wouldn't recommend to anyone and will not be returning.
Visited With
My vehicleVisited In
Aug 2023Cost
£1000 plusDuration
2 weeks plusVisited For
RepairsGood Points
First time it went in the customer service was great told me everything I needed to knowBad Points
Vehicle had to be returned a second time & almost caused myself and mother to br in a collisionExpertise
Quality of Service
Speed
Helpfulness
Value for Money
Recommended
"Good honest upfront advice, no extras added on after initial quote. "
By Anonymous, 3 September 2022
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My car lost drive one day whilst driving to town. The diagnostics suggested there was an issue with the DSG gearbox. I goggles thebissie and decided to let 3D Transmissions resolve the problem. On receiving a written quote, I signed the agreement and the car was back in work g order after 2 days. I was quoted 7 days to fix it. After 5 months the car was sent for an MOT, I was advised there was an oil leak not engine oil, I called 3D and they asked me to bring the car in next day. I took the car in and they looked at the issue, replaced a seal and topped up the gearbox fluid, took the car for a test drive and called me with 3 hours to tell me the car was repaired. I think this is great service. I used the restroom and it was spotlessly clean. I commented to the front desk and they thanked me telling me it was the clean g lady who looked after the room. I thanked her for a well kept room. Coffee, tea and water were available while I waited take delivery of the car. Thanks to all involved in the repair and correspondence.
Visited With
My vehicleVisited In
Aug 2022Cost
£1000 plusDuration
1-3 daysVisited For
RepairsAdditional Services
Work explained, Great customer serviceGood Points
They were able to help same week where others said 4 to 6 weeks before it could be looked at. When the car was collected for repairs, it was inspected, a formal email detailing the work that needed toBad Points
Nothing I can fault them on. The front of house staff Alex and Steve were friendly and helpful both telephonically and in person.Expertise
Quality of Service
Speed
Helpfulness
Value for Money
Recommended
"Good honest upfront advice, no extras added on after initial quote. "
By Anonymous, 21 August 2022
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My car lost drive one day whilst driving to town. The diagnostics suggested there was an issue with the DSG gearbox. I goggles thebissie and decided to let 3D Transmissions resolve the problem. On receiving a written quote, I signed the agreement and the car was back in work g order after 2 days. I was quoted 7 days to fix it. After 5 months the car was sent for an MOT, I was advised there was an oil leak not engine oil, I called 3D and they asked me to bring the car in next day. I took the car in and they looked at the issue, replaced a seal and topped up the gearbox fluid, took the car for a test drive and called me with 3 hours to tell me the car was repaired. I think this is great service. I used the restroom and it was spotlessly clean. I commented to the front desk and they thanked me telling me it was the clean g lady who looked after the room. I thanked her for a well kept room. Coffee, tea and water were available while I waited take delivery of the car. Thanks to all involved in the repair and correspondence.
Visited With
My vehicleVisited In
Aug 2022Cost
£1000 plusDuration
1-3 daysVisited For
RepairsAdditional Services
Work explained, Great customer serviceGood Points
They were able to help same week where others said 4 to 6 weeks before it could be looked at. When the car was collected for repairs, it was inspected, a formal email detailing the work that needed toBad Points
Nothing I can fault them on. The front of house staff Alex and Steve were friendly and helpful both telephonically and in person.Expertise
Quality of Service
Speed
Helpfulness
Value for Money
Recommended
"Good honest upfront advice, no extras added on after initial quote. "
By Pieter Malan, 19 August 2022
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My car lost drive one day whilst driving to town. The diagnostics suggested there was an issue with the DSG gearbox. I goggles thebissie and decided to let 3D Transmissions resolve the problem. On receiving a written quote, I signed the agreement and the car was back in work g order after 2 days. I was quoted 7 days to fix it. After 5 months the car was sent for an MOT, I was advised there was an oil leak not engine oil, I called 3D and they asked me to bring the car in next day. I took the car in and they looked at the issue, replaced a seal and topped up the gearbox fluid, took the car for a test drive and called me with 3 hours to tell me the car was repaired. I think this is great service. I used the restroom and it was spotlessly clean. I commented to the front desk and they thanked me telling me it was the clean g lady who looked after the room. I thanked her for a well kept room. Coffee, tea and water were available while I waited take delivery of the car. Thanks to all involved in the repair and correspondence.
Visited With
My vehicleVisited In
Aug 2022Cost
£1000 plusDuration
1-3 daysVisited For
RepairsAdditional Services
Work explained, Great customer serviceGood Points
They were able to help same week where others said 4 to 6 weeks before it could be looked at. When the car was collected for repairs, it was inspected, a formal email detailing the work that needed toBad Points
Nothing I can fault them on. The front of house staff Alex and Steve were friendly and helpful both telephonically and in person.Expertise
Quality of Service
Speed
Helpfulness
Value for Money
"Appallingly poor customer service, fault not fixed. Guarantee not honoured. "
By Anonymous, 25 September 2020
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A one-star rating is given here since that is the minimum, but if it were possible to leave no stars or even a minus rating, that would be more accurate. Readers should also research “fake 5 star google reviews” I took my car, a BMW 645, SMG gearbox, 41k miles on the clock to this garage in Sept '19 as it had a peculiar fault that occurred only after a significant period of driving. Typically, after an hour’s driving or so, the car refused to go into gear and if it did, pressing the accelerator had no effect. The car would effectively be paralysed and normal operation would only resume after the car was let to cool down. This was quite a dangerous fault and one that needed to be fixed. The fault did not occur on short journeys and one would not have known of the fault if the car was only driven for short periods/distances. The car was for sale in the motor trade at the time and since I knew about this fault, it was the difference between selling the car as spares or repair or its actual market value. The garage held on to the car for a significant period of time and test drove it extensively. After a week or so and me having to do all the chasing, - the manager repeatedly breaking promises to call back - they told me they ‘thought’ it was the actuator and advised the cost of a replacement to be over £3000. This was absolutely prohibitive considering the value of the car and I decided against it. They then told me to leave the car with them to see if an alternative solution could be found. Some days later, they advised that they could send the faulty unit to Germany for reconditioning which would cost around £300. I agreed to this on the understanding that the entire faulty unit , all of it and not just some part of it, was sent off to a specialist company in Germany for repair and it would carry a year’s guarantee. For those who are not experts in car parts, the principle of the actuator is to automatically push the clutch release arm (and hence clutch) to remove drive from the engine to the gearbox. This action is simply taking the place of a clutch cable and your foot in a conventional setup. The garage advised the clutch was also a little worn and since they already had the car and were working on it, the cost of a further £300 quoted for anew clutch was agreeable with me, however it was my understanding that they would source and fit a genuine BMW clutch. I would not have agreed to a cheap aftermarket part. After some seriously bad customer service , I managed to get the car back from the garage after well over two weeks and paid them £1838 for the repair. I was expecting to pay around £1200 but the price had increased significantly at the last minute with no valid explanation. The price charged for the reconditioned actuator was significantly more than quoted. I was collecting the car early that morning and had a busy day ahead, so I just paid it and didn’t argue with them. Since the fault only occurred on short journeys, I didn’t have an opportunity to test it until some months later when the need arose to do an airport run. The car broke down on the return journey with the exact same fault just outside a petrol station forecourt after refuelling. It refused to go into gear and would not move. I captured the fault on video to show the garage and it would also have been captured by the petrol station CCTV. I called the garage and re-booked the car with them shortly afterwards. After another bout of appallingly poor customer service, broken promises of call-backs, I was told after a week or so that it was now a secondary issue (even though it was the exact same fault). They gave me a vague verbal description of their secondary diagnosis: something about a pump attached to the actuator and they promised to supply this is writing but did not. I then complained to my card provider Nationwide, but given the timing it fell outside their chargeback period so unfortunately they were powerless to do anything. The garage unfairly advised Nationwide that they had only sent one part of the actuator assembly to Germany since I did not want a new actuator!! This came as a total shock to me since I would never have agreed to this. I was told the faulty unit, whatever it comprised off, would be sent off for reconditioning. Who in their right mind would agree to having one part of a larger suspected faulty unit sent off for repair to another country if the fault wasn’t pinpointed in that unit and was not guaranteed to fix the overall fault?? Either the garage misdiagnosed the fault to begin with or they are saying their guarantee is worthless. They are also unfairly circumventing responsibility by saying a shorter guarantee of 3 months applies to Gearboxes when in fact I was promised a year’s guarantee at the time of repair. The garage did not carry out repairs to the gearbox. The part in question - the actuator - separate to the gearbox itself was sent off to the German company for reconditioning. I simply would not have agreed to the work if only a 3-month guarantee was offered. This would’ve made no sense, particularly since the car was for sale in the motor trade and there was a risk I may not sell it within that period. Having discovered the fault was still present with the car in March ’20 and given the extremely bad customer service experience, I asked the garage to supply evidence of their work since I doubted they had done anything at all. They refused to supply it to me but as I still had the ongoing complaint with my card provider and since I had asked them to press the garage for the same evidence, they did finally supply 2 invoices to Nationwide: one for the purchase of the clutch part and the second for the work carried out by the German company. However, 3D Transmissions had taken the trouble to black out the prices on both invoices. I soon discovered why. I contacted the German company and though they wouldn’t say how much 3D had paid them due to data protection, they advised their prices were published on their website and that the price of a rebuild such as mine was €160 including German VAT. They further confirmed that prices were the same for business and private customers. 3D Transmissions charged me £705.60 including VAT for “Reconditioned Actuator”! Similarly, the clutch, a non-OEM part was charged to me at £ 395.02 including VAT when in fact it cost them a fraction of this amount from the online supplier. When I let the German company know how much I had been charged by 3D, they advised that it was normal for a garage to add anywhere from 40-60% to their margins for 3rd party goods and services but not several multiples! Note that 3D Transmissions charged me a separate labour charge of £714 including VAT. When I put this to 3D transmissions, they advised as follows: “We would like to inform you that we are complete within our rights to retail our clutch with your Car as you are a retail Customer and it is a normal practice to do this.” “As for the Actuator, there was additional costs involved including detailed cleaning and installation of the rest of the assembly.” I am sorry but I find this laughable! So, to recap, I paid £1838 for a fault that is still present with the car. I was told it was guaranteed for a year but it wasn’t. I received, quite possibly the worst customer service experience of my life. I discovered I’ve possibly been heavily overcharged for work/parts that DID NOT fix the fault and it is questionable as to whether these were necessary at all. Would I recommend 3D Transmissions to anyone? The answer is a resounding NO. Would I take my car ever to them for repair again? Absolutely not, never again.
Visited With
My vehicleVisited In
Sep 2019Cost
£1000 plusDuration
2 weeks plusVisited For
RepairsGood Points
Very littleBad Points
Terrible customer service, rude and impolite, broken callback promises. Fault not fixed.Expertise
Quality of Service
Speed
Helpfulness
Value for Money
Recommended
"FIXED MY CAR AT LOWER COST!!"
By RYAN ADDINGTON, 17 August 2020
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Fantastic customer service. Alex and Steve are polite and professional. Nothing is too difficult for them.Update me everytime. I thought it will cost me so much but they just charged way cheaper than dealership with equal and superb quality repair. Two Thumbs up. 5 stars.
Visited With
My vehicleVisited In
Aug 2020Cost
£1000 plusDuration
1-3 daysVisited For
RepairsAdditional Services
Car cleaned, Work explained, Itemised invoice, Great customer service, Pick-up and collectionGood Points
Fantastic Service, Polite, Professionals and value for moneyBad Points
noneExpertise
Quality of Service
Speed
Helpfulness
Value for Money
"Good"
By Kripr, 12 August 2020
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Had my Ford Galaxy inspected for transmission faults and satisfied
Visited With
My vehicleVisited In
Aug 2020Cost
Up to £100Duration
5-9 hoursVisited For
Ford GalaxyExpertise
Quality of Service
Speed
Helpfulness
Value for Money
Recommended
"Value customer satisfaction"
By Tamer Koksal, 12 August 2020
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Had a transmission inspection, I am satisfied overall
Visited With
My vehicleVisited In
Aug 2020Cost
Up to £100Duration
5-9 hoursVisited For
diagnostics/inspectionExpertise
Quality of Service
Speed
Helpfulness
Value for Money
"Absolutely disgusting customer is never Wright "
By Anonymous, 11 March 2020
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. Car was returned 4 times for the same problem received attitude and rudeness because we returned the car and complained. Be warned go somewhere else the company is not worth the trouble they put you through
Visited With
My vehicleVisited In
Mar 2020Cost
£1000 plusDuration
2 weeks plusVisited For
RepairsGood Points
NothingBad Points
Attitude. Customer service poor .incompetent .expensive .Expertise
Quality of Service
Speed
Helpfulness
Value for Money
Recommended
"Excellent "
By Ratnakar Sinha, 15 November 2019
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Had taken my Audi A3 for automatic transmission failure repair at Audi dealer. Audi technicians had a look and gave me a bill of around £9000 which meant a new mechatronics and automatic gearbox. Started giving me sleepless nights for a week thinking of how to arrange this money for fixing the car. Then based on recommendation from local garages, I got the car transported from Audi service centre to 3D Transmissions. The technicians at 3D Transmission found the fault and fixed the issue for mere £85 + vat. Absolutely unbelievable !!!! Many many thanks to Alex and his team for handing it so well. It's a lesson learnt for me to never take my car to Audi dealer in future when we have experts like Alex and his team available in the market. Thank you 3D Transmissions!!
Visited With
My vehicleVisited In
Nov 2019Cost
£100-£500Duration
1-5 hoursVisited For
RepairsAdditional Services
Work explained, Itemised invoice, Great customer service, Pick-up and collectionGood Points
Team of expert techniciansExpertise
Quality of Service
Speed
Helpfulness
Value for Money
Recommended
"Highly specialised experts in automatic gearboxes and recommended by all the best garages around me "
By Eric Brightwell, 10 October 2019
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The repair of faulty automatic gearboxes is a highly specialised field and the manufacturers normally recommend replacement instead. The good thing is that they were able to provide a fixed quote and they stuck to it. Highly recommended. I wondered why there were some less favourable reviews, but when you consider how difficult it is to diagnose a faulty gearbox until you have removed and dismantled it, incurring considerable costs in the process, you can see how misunderstandings by non-technical customers can arise. Our 3 best local garages all recommended 3D Transmissions, and so I felt much more confident going ahead with the repair.
Visited With
My vehicleVisited In
Sep 2018Cost
£1000 plusDuration
3-7 daysVisited For
RepairsAdditional Services
Work explainedGood Points
Managed to repair a faulty automatic gearbox and it has lasted over 12 months since then with no problemsBad Points
Not cheap, but you get what you pay forExpertise
Quality of Service
Speed
Helpfulness
Value for Money
"Rubbish , ripoff "
By Sohail Iqbal, 8 April 2018
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I won’t recommend them to anyone, Complete ripoff and full of lies , can’t even fix the problem after all the money ive paid to them
Visited With
My vehicleVisited In
Apr 2018Cost
£1000 plusDuration
3-7 daysVisited For
RepairsGood Points
Good in telling liesBad Points
Lies ,ripoff and they can’t fix the problemExpertise
Quality of Service
Speed
Helpfulness
Value for Money
Recommended
"Came highly recommended by a trusted BMW independent garage owner in Reading and car worked perfectly afterwards, a huge relief"
By Anonymous, 6 March 2018
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My car is a BMW M sport convertible, which had been serviced by BMW and it started having intermittent problems, even before it was 6 years post manufacture, as I tried to accelerate from standing, almost stalling, which was very dangerous. I read on line that a VW driver had been killed by a similar failure. I therefore, had to drive the car very carefully and BMW did not even take time to diagnose the fault as it wasn't showing on the computer, till I took it to another dealership. After almost a year a BMW senior technician drove in the car with me and said a replacement gearbox was needed and it was not an 'economical repair' and BMW offfered no goodwill gesture. It was a BMW independent garage owner in Reading who advised I go to 3D transmissions.