I have a bit of a dilemma right now. I had transmission trouble about 2 months ago, and had it serviced. The mechanic, who I trust, said at the time that what he did would buy some time, but it wasn’t long for this world.
Last night, I lost the ability to get to high gear, and I’m limited to about 55 MPH.
The car is old by age, and old by mileage. It’s a '91 Chevy Beretta, with 147k miles, and I put 70k on it myself.
I have 3 options:
[ul]
[li]Replace with a junkyard trannie, about $1100 counting labor;[/li][li]Have the present one rebuilt, $1200. Mechanic wants me to do this;[/li][li]Find another POS to drive, $1000-1500.[/li][/ul]
I happen to like my car, and I know what’s wrong with it otherwise. Do I gamble on my present wheels, or someone else’s problems? I can cough up the dough for any of these, not easily, but without a whole lot of financial pain.
In good condition, that car is only worth about $1100 anyway. In fair, it’s worth about $700. Essentially, you are looking at spending more than the car is worth on this repair. I’d say it’s time to say goodbye.
For just a little more money, you’ll be able to find a newer used car that has some more modern features: airbags, abs (if your car doesn’t have it), better engine/suspension, etc. Time to upgrade.
If you fix it, I would strongly recommend the rebuild over the replacement with used. The cost difference is minor. While the used tranny may work fine, it’s rather like restoring the car to its condition of six months ago, having an old tranny that is X% worn out. Conversely, a good rebuild should last years and tens of thousands of miles.
Fixing your car doesn’t make much sense if you turn around and try to sell it – it would be hard to recoup the repair cost. However, if you keep the car there is a transportation value to the repair. The question is, would you be happier/better served driving your car with a fixed transmission, or replacing your car with one you can afford? With a car you like that doesn’t have other major repair concerns, often the money is better spent fixing it than replacing it.
Yes, I’m sorry if I wasn’t clear, but that’s exactly what I meant. You either fix it, getting transportation value out of the money for the repair, OR you buy its replacement with the money you can sell it for as is (if any) plus the money that would have gone to the repair.
I was responding obliquely to TheFifthYear’s observation that fixing it may mean spending more than the car is worth, my point being that’s not necessarily a reason not to fix it. Its worth to you as transportation, once the tranny is fixed, may be more than its worth on the market. And once fixed, it may be a better car than you could buy for the amount in question.
ETA: The ultimate question being, given what you can spend, are you better off (for your needs) with this car fixed, or with its replacement?
Last February, I chose to have a rebuilt transmission put into my car (a 2000 Kia Sephia) because there didn’t seem to be anything else wrong with it. It was deemed not worth repairing just 12 months later due to non-transmission problems, after needing new tires, brakes etc during that year I wish I’d put the money into another car back then, instead of spending $2200 in repairs over the last year of the car’s life and then needing to come up with $2000 for a downpayment on my new car.
My hand was forced today. When I started out for home, I lost all forward gears, and had to be towed. This forces me to have it rebuilt, because it’s the fastest of the 3.
I wish I’d put the money into another car back then, instead of spending $2200 in repairs over the last year of the car’s life and then needing to come up with $2000 for a downpayment on my new car.