car broke down yesterday - suspect transmission

[Anonymous]

Former Nissan Xterra owner. Transmission went out at 130k miles. Known problem for the 2000’s. Rebuilt priced out close $3000.

[Anonymous]

So those of you who had transmission problem with expensive repair, what did you decide to do? You can't sell it, not worth pumping in thousands, other than donation what else can I consider? By the way, still waiting to hear back from my mechanic.

- op

[Anonymous]

If the car is otherwise in good shape and running well, I’d replace/rebuild the trans.

1) having a new car payment (unexpectedly) sucks.
2) there are no deals or incentives right now, so you’ll be lucky if you’re *only* paying sticker price.
3) $3,000-$5000 is only about 5-9 months of car payments - after that, the car is “paid for” again. A new car still has another 50-55 months of payments to go at the same costs as the transmission repairs were. And the rebuilt transmission will last years beyond the payoff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the car is otherwise in good shape and running well, I’d replace/rebuild the trans.

1) having a new car payment (unexpectedly) sucks.
2) there are no deals or incentives right now, so you’ll be lucky if you’re *only* paying sticker price.
3) $3,000-$5000 is only about 5-9 months of car payments - after that, the car is “paid for” again. A new car still has another 50-55 months of payments to go at the same costs as the transmission repairs were. And the rebuilt transmission will last years beyond the payoff.

op here. thanks for your thoughts. my car is pretty well taken care of and fairly in good shape. the only thing that i have not done is timing chain and 100k mile tune up. timing chain is supposed to last life time even though i don't really believe that. that's probably another 1-1.5k worth of work.

[Anonymous]

Timing chains are lifetime.

Only real issues I’ve seen with timing chains (and DOHC cam-driving chains) are in BMW’s and MB’s where the chain guides are made of plastic and eventually wear out. Freakin German garbage, designed obsolescence. Making a wear-part out of plastic. SMDH.

[Anonymous]

Blue book likely is in $5000 range. I wouldn’t sink another $3000+ into a rebuilt transmission in the hope that nothing else significant fails. Could be a good off-road rig for somebody.

Have control arms, ball joints, bushings and shocks been replaced? Water pump and thermostat? Have you kept up with regular oil changes and fluids?

I’d try to sell it for what you can and put the repair cost toward a more recent used car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Blue book likely is in $5000 range. I wouldn’t sink another $3000+ into a rebuilt transmission in the hope that nothing else significant fails. Could be a good off-road rig for somebody.

Have control arms, ball joints, bushings and shocks been replaced? Water pump and thermostat? Have you kept up with regular oil changes and fluids?

I’d try to sell it for what you can and put the repair cost toward a more recent used car.

Where would you sell with broken transmission that’s 17 years old?

[Anonymous]

OP back - so I finally got my car back. to my surprise my mechanic actually "fixed" it (well sort of). It is going but the overdrive is not working. so going 40mph and up, my RPM is around 3000 and up. I honestly don't feel comfortable driving it. If I were to go 60, it's probably up 3500 rpm. My mechanic says it's fine but I still makes me nervous. what can happen if I drive highway spped without OD? I think I can do local driving but definitely no high speed driving

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP back - so I finally got my car back. to my surprise my mechanic actually "fixed" it (well sort of). It is going but the overdrive is not working. so going 40mph and up, my RPM is around 3000 and up. I honestly don't feel comfortable driving it. If I were to go 60, it's probably up 3500 rpm. My mechanic says it's fine but I still makes me nervous. what can happen if I drive highway spped without OD? I think I can do local driving but definitely no high speed driving

You realize not that long ago cars were sold with three and four speed transmissions? Ever heard of “three on the tree” or “four on the floor”? Toyota sold the Corolla with a three speed auto in the US until 2002. OTOH if your OD is shot I wouldn’t hold out much hope for the longevity of the rest. Certainly fine for daily driving up to normal highway cruising. 3000 or 4000 rpm is no big deal. It’s not like bouncing off a rev limiter. What do you think is going to happen? All youre losing is some gas mileage savings. Don’t drive it like you stole it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP back - so I finally got my car back. to my surprise my mechanic actually "fixed" it (well sort of). It is going but the overdrive is not working. so going 40mph and up, my RPM is around 3000 and up. I honestly don't feel comfortable driving it. If I were to go 60, it's probably up 3500 rpm. My mechanic says it's fine but I still makes me nervous. what can happen if I drive highway spped without OD? I think I can do local driving but definitely no high speed driving

You realize not that long ago cars were sold with three and four speed transmissions? Ever heard of “three on the tree” or “four on the floor”? Toyota sold the Corolla with a three speed auto in the US until 2002. OTOH if your OD is shot I wouldn’t hold out much hope for the longevity of the rest. Certainly fine for daily driving up to normal highway cruising. 3000 or 4000 rpm is no big deal. It’s not like bouncing off a rev limiter. What do you think is going to happen? All youre losing is some gas mileage savings. Don’t drive it like you stole it.

Yeah, thanks for this. i have to say, it felt really odd driving w/o OD. I wonder if CarMax will buy it from me.

[Anonymous]

Take it to Carmax. Nothing to lose. I assume the codes have been cleared and there’s no check engine light. Try Driveway also.