Now I’m not much of a gearhead, so any repairs will have to be done by a professional. However, considering the price, I think it might be worth it, but I’m not dead sure. This person has upgraded to a newer car and this Ford Taurus has been sitting in his driveway since last fall. He tells me that it blew a seal on the transmission back in the fall, so it needs a little work.
I need to get more information—like mileage, the year of the car, and what else may be wrong with it. But I suspect that nothing else may be wrong with it. However, getting the transmission replaced would probably cost less than any used car, so that’s why I’m leaning toward doing so. I probably won’t be able to look the car over until next weekend, when I could have the title signed over to me.
Does anyone have any idea what to expect where repair bills are concerned? Am I completely off my nut about this? I’m in a position where I can afford to park a car conveniently and afford the insurance, so that’s not a problem. And I do need one these days. I guess I’m most interested in how much the transmission job (parts and labor) is likely to cost. I realize I don’t have enough information, but I’m going to get more. Anything anyone can think of—lay it on me. Thanks.
My big question would be how well the person has maintained the car. If they’re someone who has always changed the oil on time, has kept the interior nice, and has made sure that it’s been to a good mechanic on a regular basis, then I would be pretty comfortable. However, if they drive like a maniac, don’t change the oil, and have never hear of preventative maintenance, well, there you go.
Whatever someone tells you is wrong with it, there’s more.
Everything costs more to repair than you think.
No matter what is wrong, is discovered to be wrong, or eventually goes wrong, you are not allowed to complain or even subconciously resent the person who gave you the car.
As for the cost of the transmission repair. Do you have a local mechanic you trust? If not, call a Ford dealer and ask how much it would cost to overhaul an entire transmission. That’s your upper end, and you can work back from there.
Replacing a transmission is a not a “little work”; it’s one of the biggest, most complicated and therefore expensive repairs there are. It helps that it is a Ford, since parts and labor on common American brands are usually cheaper, and cars don’t get any more ubiquitous than the Ford Taurus. But on the other hand, Fords do things like spontaneously blow transmission seals.
The main things I would worry about would be the mileage, wear on the engine, the interior, and the electrical system. Bigger engines can last longer, so if this car has more than, say 70,000 miles on it but has a V6, it still might be worth the repair.
As for the elctrical system, be wary if it’s more than 6 years old and has power windows and locks. That stuff starts to screw up after a while, along with the a/c, and is a BITCH to fix.
Oh, and as for price, in Ohio replacing a transmission is $500-$1,000 for parts and labor. People in NYC like to pay extra for everything, so I imagine you will pay more.
If you need to replace the transmission, a rebuilt will probably run around 1500 and a new one around 2000, at least that’s what it is in Mass. A used one, rather than rebuilt, may run slightly less. Transmissions have around a kazillion parts inside. And you can’t get a speck of dirt in it when you take it apart to diagnose or repair it. And there’s not a lot of repairing that can be done for less cost than just replacing with a used/rebuilt/new. The other thing to do is to take it to several shops to get diagnoses and estimates. They can vary greatly and it’s easy to say “you need a new tranny”. (See, I just said it easily…)
That could very well be the only problem with the car and the guy probably didn’t want to invest that much money into a repair. For someone getting a free car, you’re getting what could be an otherwise decent car for around 2000 dollars. I would definitely bring a mechanic in before deciding.
nope, it’s a ford, I wouldn’t take it, then again, i have had bad experiences with ford’s infamous (total lack of) reliability, you couldn’t GIVE me one for free, to me, ford=crap
i know that other people have had good experiences with ford vehicles, i’m not one of them, and i do not ever plan to own another
the fact that this car is broken already (and more than likely has other undocumented problems), is another strike against it…
If it has more than 70-80K miles on it you’re probably better of saying “thanks but no thanks” unless you’re handy. Older cars can easily dollar you to death with large and small repairs, and it sounds like this one may be about to get into it’s “expensive” phase.
It “could” certainly be worth it, just consider the condition of the rest of the car.
We had an '86 Taurus which completely blew the (transmission). Except that on the Taurus it is not a transmission, strictly speaking,. The Taurus is a front-wheel drive car, and you’re talking about a transaxle. This involves more expense.
It cost a little over $1000 to repair ours(in 1993 dollars).
The other question you sould ask yourself is how many miles a week are you going to put on the car? If it’s a 6 mile commute to work, Monday thru Friday, you can afford to worry far less about reliability than if you had a long commute or used the car for long trips. In fact, we have a “beater” given to us by my wife’s parents with about 120,000 miles. It is great for trips around town, but no way would we rely on it significantly.
If it didn’t have a lunched transmission, would you buy it for the cost of a transmission? If not, walk away. There are a lot of cars out there, and you don’t need to take one just because it’s “free.” A busted transmission is not free, it’s expensive.
This could be the most important issue–Don’t think about the costs only in dollars–think about your friendship (or whatever it is) with the guy who gives you the car.
You may be in for years of frustration and expensive repairs, or years of a good deal. But whichever it is, your friend will in some way be connected to it all.
I don’t get why the friendship would be an issue. It’s a free car. If I decide to put money into it, it’s on me, the guy didn’t misrepresent anything.
If I were the owner I’d just donate it to a charity, no muss, no fuss. Sounds like this guy’s trying to do the OP a favor. Who needs the hassle, just take it or leave it.
As far as expressing an opinion, there needs to be more info. What year, how many miles, does the owner know of any other problems?
You might need nothing more than a $5 seal, or you may need a new transaxle. Hard to tell until AAMCO or a dealer has it up on the rack. Of course, even a $5 part in a transmission may involve $500 in labor.
Some years of the 3.8 liter V6 were infamous for blowing head gaskets and large holes in your checkbook.
Beyond that, it’s a Fix Or Repair Daily because it’s a Found On Road Dead.
Check with your local AAA - some offer free unbiased pre-purchase car inspections. Unbiased meaning they do not do repairs, so they have no financial interest. At the very least, if you have a trusted mechanic, have them go over the car. For all you know, the brake rotors may be worn to the point of requiring replacement, the tires may be chafed down to the stell belts because the tie rod ends are worn out and the engine is about to go ker-pow.
Also, it may be free to you but Uncle Sam still wants his take. :smack: I don’t know about all the states but in TX there’s something called a “Gift Tax” that I had to pay for my free car. (A '97 Grand Marquis donated by my Rabbi.)
It was only $36 but you know how the IRS is this time of year. Look into it: Better safe than sorry.
My son picked up a mid '90s Taurus with a completely straight body and in perfect mechanical working order for four hundred bucks. I wouldn’t have one even at that price if you included a kilo of chronic in the trunk, but there you are.
Free? Not hardly. The Taurus is basically a POS disposable vehicle and they are disproportionally expensive to repair when they reach the end of their targeted lifespan–you aren’t supposed to repair the things, you’re supposed to replace them.
Pass. Pick up a good used Honda Civic for five hundred, even if it has 200K on the odometer it’s just getting broken in and it’ll be much cheaper to fix whatever might ail it.
I’ll second this. My dad bought a then-one-year-old used Taurus in '94 or '95, and so many things went wrong (mostly little stuff but a LOT of it) that we had traded it in for an Accord less than a year later.
That’s true about people in New York City. However, I grew up not far from Youngstown, Ohio, and even though I’ve been in New York for over nine years, I still haven’t grown comfortable with the spendthrift lifestyle around here. I’m a western Pennsylvanian at heart, which means I’m effectively an Ohioan.
Good question. Currently I live in New York, but I’m moving soon. If I were going to stay here, I wouldn’t even be considering buying a car, because they’re too much trouble to own here, and you really don’t need one in the city. However, once I get to Boston, I’ll need one. I’ll be living in Watertown, actually, and considering the neighborhood I’ll be in, a car would be helpful for shopping and vising friends. It might even come in handy for a commute, but I don’t know for sure yet, since I’m still looking for a job there. Once I know where I’m working, that’ll determine how much commuting I’ll need to do. I’m going to assume I’m going to have a long commute, just in case I really do.
I’m familiar with transmission nightmares. My last car, a 1995 Chevy Corsica, had its transmission conk out in The Middle of Nowhere, Pennsylvania, at around 9:00 on the night before Thanksgiving 2003, over 200 miles away from my destination. The mechanic told me it would cost about $2700 to fix, and considering I paid $3000 for the car, and was living in Brooklyn, I decided to scrap it. (I bought it in 2001 with 105,000 miles on it, and it died with 129,000, which really isn’t bad, I guess.)
I’m mulling over all the advice here, and I’m leaning against taking the car. I asked the guy how many miles were on it, whether it was ever in an accident, what year the car is, etc., but he’s flaking out on writing back. I’ll probably just buy a used car at a dealership and make payments on it like a normal person. I’ve had good experiences with Chevys, but SmartAleq isn’t the first person who’s recommended that I look into a Honda, so I just might do that. Unless someone on the Straight Dope has a car they’d like to give me… (heh heh).
I bought a Chevy Citation while I was in college for a case of beer. It lasted me 8 months, and I had to put about 200 dollars in repairs. Not a bad deal if you ask me.
