Replace tranny vs. buy new car

lnmarsh

lnmarsh

Love * Luck * Faith
Ok so before I list my two options, please keep in mind that I am BROKE :lol:

So the tranny in my car died. When it his 120k miles, I decided I was a little overdue to have it flushed. So two Monday's ago, I got the tranny flushed. Car was perfect... until yesterday. I had stupidly assumed that the guy who had it before me got the transmission flushed at/around 50k miles. Boy was I wrong...

I go to leave for work and I notice its acting a little strange around 1000 RPMs, but nothing to make me want to turn around a go home. By the time I made it to the beltway (and the subsequent stop-and-go traffic), however, my car was slipping, shuttering, shaking, etc. in and out 1st and 2nd gear. Once I made it to 3rd gear I was golden. But that stop and go traffic caused me to stay in 1st and 2nd for too long... I thought the undercarriage of my car was just going to drop right out.

So I took it to a long time friend of the family who's been a mechanic for longer than Ive been alive :lol:. He got it working well enough for me to make short trips, however 1.) I dont trust it on the beltway and 2.) its only going to get worse. I need a whole new tranny. :faint: :banghead: So, heres what Im faced with:

1.) Dropping a new tranny (and new brakes and rotors... they need to be replaced too) into a 2003 Chevy Impala LS with 122k miles on it. That in itself is going to be around $2300. Additionally my water pump is leaking (barely, but leaking) somewhere, so eventually that will have to be replaced. Right now my car is worth just over $2000 as a trade in or $4000 as a Private Party sell, according to Kelley Blue Book. Yet I still owe $5100 on it. And I dont have the money to put the new tranny/brakes on it. So do I take out a loan from the bank to put the $2300 into a 7 y/o, 122k miles vehicle that is only worth $2k as a trade in (far less than what I still owe on it), or do I

2.) Suck it up and look into a new vehicle. I've been not-seriously looking at the 2008 or 2009 Ford Taurus. Anyone drive one/know anything about them? Anyone selling one/know of someone selling one? :lol: But my biggest question - If you were in my situation, what would you do? Please keep in mind, again, that Im broke. My current car payment is $252/mo. I can afford no more than $325-ish/mo.

I've been asking a few different people what they would do/what their take on the whole situation is. Its pretty much split 50/50 - half saying get a new car, half saying to fix the one I've got. I think 1 or 2 more votes are for fixing what I've got... whats yalls take?
 
GWguy

GWguy

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You should dump the car. The shaking stuff is just his way of saying he's not interested anymore and is seeing a cute little Mustang on the side.
 
DEEKAYPEE8569

DEEKAYPEE8569

Well-Known Member
Nickel said:
No way. She could probably pick up a new tranny for super cheap on Great Mills Rd.
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Yup.....check around. You can find a used one for around $200 and just find somebody to put it in for ya that won't charge you a mint. Cheaper'n a new ride. BUT.....if you decide to buy a car, get last year's model used or since the '11's are coming out now, try to find an '09. :shrug:
 
cartman

cartman

New Member
get a buddy to take the car to southeast dc. you report it stolen and have him torch it! make sure you got good insurance.. It one way to get money out of it.. I myself wouldn't do that...
 
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huntr1

huntr1

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Option 1: Get a used transmission from the junkyard. Have friend of family install it.

Option 2: I have a friend that is a ASE Certified mechanic. He does side work. PM me and I will give you his contact info and you can see what he'd charge to do the install of a junkyard transmission in the car.

Option 3: Trade the junker in on a smaller, cheaper car than a Taurus. I like my 2005 Ford Focus. I'd get a manual transmission car instead of an automatic. This is what I did when the transmission went out in our Pontiac in 2005.
 
GWguy

GWguy

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lnmarsh said:
Oh, ur funny :lmao:

I kinda figured this thread could be pretty drama-free.
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:lol:

Seriously, because you have more to pay on the car than it's worth, you're going to take a loss no matter what you do. The cheapest way out right now is do do like Hunter suggests and get the tranny fixed. But if the car has a bunch of other issues, you may be throwing your money away. You also have to consider that if you have a loan and sell the car, the bank will want you to pay up in full as they no longer have the car as collateral.

If it were me, I'd get the tranny fixed as cheaply as I could, sell the car and take my loss, pay off the balance of the loan and get something reliable.
 
PrepH4U

PrepH4U

New Member
What about taking it to a place that guarantees 4K trade in and try to work a deal to have them pay off your car and put you into a different one within your price range. Even if they will not pay it off, the difference should be put on your new car loan. :shrug:
 
lnmarsh

lnmarsh

Love * Luck * Faith
GWguy said:
:lol:

Seriously, because you have more to pay on the car than it's worth, you're going to take a loss no matter what you do. The cheapest way out right now is do do like Hunter suggests and get the tranny fixed. But if the car has a bunch of other issues, you may be throwing your money away. You also have to consider that if you have a loan and sell the car, the bank will want you to pay up in full as they no longer have the car as collateral.

If it were me, I'd get the tranny fixed as cheaply as I could, sell the car and take my loss, pay off the balance of the loan and get something reliable.
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:yay: Thats what Ive been thinking as the day has gone on. The car has never given me any trouble until now. So I think Ill fix the tranny, get new brakes/rotors and drive it until I am in a better position to purchase a new car.

Thanks to you, GWguy, and everyone else for the suggestions :howdy:

See... drama-free thread :yahoo: :roflmao:
 
bcp

bcp

In My Opinion
lovinmaryland said:
LMFAO :lmao: :roflmao: :killingme



On a serious note get a new car. I suggest a hyundai accent or elantra. They have 10 yr 100k mile warranty :)
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Read the requirements for keeping that 10yr 100k warranty real close on the Hyundai.
We made the mistake of buying one a few years back just to go to and from work. Got rid of it before the year was even up. What a POS that thing turned out to be.
And, during a repair at the dealership, I caught them driving it around picking up parts from a body shop for another job they were doing.
I did on that day make the guy driving it to get the parts walk back to the dealership. I took the car back from him on the spot before he had a chance to slide a new bumper for another car into our backseat.
 
glhs837

glhs837

Power with Control
PrepH4U said:
What about taking it to a place that guarantees 4K trade in and try to work a deal to have them pay off your car and put you into a different one within your price range. Even if they will not pay it off, the difference should be put on your new car loan. :shrug:
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nope, thats not a player. See, those 4k trade ins are never a good deal.

A) You own car A, it has a an auction value of 2000 dollars (book value, maybe $3500).

B) On the loan paperwork for the new car, you see in big bold print "+$4,000 trade in"

C) What you dont notice, buried in with 200 other small print numbers, is the "-$2000 negative trade equity"

That second value is applied to your loan, so the $10,000 dollar car you are buying, now, before interest, is now costing you $12,000. This, of course, is before they apply the mandatory defrabulator insurance.



Now, while we are on the subject, unless you have owned the car since new, NEVER FLUSH A TRANS OLDER THAN 40K!!!!!!!! You can have a fluid replacment done, but not a flush. The difference is that one machine basically just feeds new fluid in as the old stuff is pumped out, letting the vehicles transmission do the pumping. The other forces fluid in while sucking the old fluid out. Its that forcing of fluid through the system that dislodges a ton of crap that has settled in the system, and will stay there harmlessly with the first method.

Bad thing is, you can never prove the power flush killed your trans.
 
GWguy

GWguy

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glhs837 said:
Now, while we are on the subject, unless you have owned the car since new, NEVER FLUSH A TRANS OLDER THAN 40K!!!!!!!! You can have a fluid replacment done, but not a flush. The difference is that one machine basically just feeds new fluid in as the old stuff is pumped out, letting the vehicles transmission do the pumping. The other forces fluid in while sucking the old fluid out. Its that forcing of fluid through the system that dislodges a ton of crap that has settled in the system, and will stay there harmlessly with the first method.

Bad thing is, you can never prove the power flush killed your trans.
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Not to mention that by dislodging all the crap, you suddenly develop all kinds of gasket leaks.
 
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