$4k repair on car with 55,000 miles

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:let's say you keep the car another 5 years, is a car payment of $83 a month. a new car payment for a car purchased at 30k is 625 a month.

Not many full-size SUVs at $30k. I guess the RAV4 compact SUV is around that. Auto loans are coming in at 6-7% currently. though Toyota has 3.49% for those with good credit on a 48-month loan.

[Anonymous]

Thanks all. My concern is that something else wll go wrong now and cost more $ given this "should" not have happened at 55,000 miles. I would spend about $20-25k on a new car given what I can trde mine in for and I can pay cash for it. It is just a guessing game on my current car I guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks all. My concern is that something else wll go wrong now and cost more $ given this "should" not have happened at 55,000 miles. I would spend about $20-25k on a new car given what I can trde mine in for and I can pay cash for it. It is just a guessing game on my current car I guess.

A $4,000 transmission repair on a 6 yr old car with your miles should not have happened. The dealer saying it happens with that car means that model is bad. I would expect more $$$ to come. Six year old low miles cars should not need transmission work.

[Anonymous]

Thank you, PP. This is my first car purchase so I appreciate other opinions!

[Anonymous]

It seems like this may be a known issue. Hopefully you have gotten 50,000 relatively trouble free miles out of the vehicle. I probably would get the repair done. There’s no reason to think the car is a time bomb in terms of future failures if you’ve kept up with maintenance. If you keep the car for another four years, that’s just $1000 a year, which is probably less than two monthly new car payments. Hopefully you are working with a good mechanic who stands behind his work.

[Anonymous]

I just had to have the transmission rebuilt on our six-year old minivan with 85k miles, and the cost was over $4k. I was shocked that I needed to do that with only 85k miles, but funny thing was when I told people I got so many stories from other people about unexpected transmission problems in cars with similar mileage/age. I think it’s literally a case of “they don’t build them like they used to”.

Not sure where you live, but I used Hi-Tech Transmissions in Fairfax. All they do is transmissions. This was after the dealer quoted me $8k for a brand new one. The rebuild came with a 3yr/36m warranty and I was not up for putting $8k in the car so it worked for me. http://www.httrans.com/

I get your hesitation. I’ve put so much money in this car. If our financial situation improves next year I’m getting a new one.

[Anonymous]

Don’t buy another American brand car OP. Buy Japanese or Korean. Preferably Honda, Toyota, Hyundai or Kia. Maybe Mazda.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 6 year old car needs a transmission fix that will cost $4k. This is my first car but I assume this is not normal? Wondering if this is a bad sign and I should sell the car before additional costs arise. Or is this just part of ownership when cars get older?

If you think about it in terms of you are getting a new engine, that will add life to the car. Assuming you are the type to keep your car a while.

The other way to think about it is you will get $4,000 less for your car if you try to trade it or sell it without the fix.

[Anonymous]

What your not getting is the advice you need here.

1. Autozone is showing rebuilt 3/36 transmissions for a 2016 Buick Enclave for around $2800. Now you're not going to buy one from Autozone but that gives you a bench mark.

2. On Tuesday after the holiday, call Jasper Transmissions. (Just google them). And ask for a price for a Transmission for your car. Their a solid rebuilding company with a nationwide warranty. (I have personally bought engines from them). Once you have the price, you can have any shop that works with Jasper order and install.

3. Given the Auto zone price, and I would estimate you should be able to put a fully rebuilt trans with warranty in your SUV for $4800.
I would do that over a repair. And you're good to go for a bunch of years.

Yes it's not cheap, but it's a vehicle you own, assuming it's paid off? It's a lot cheaper them buying a new car. One of the biggest things people don't realize now is fluid changes are really important in Transmissions. Honda has known problems with the CVT units that must have fluid changes at 20K to not detonate. Their SUVs have Transmissions issues hat required 3 fluid flushes and changes at one time to keep them working. It's just what it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What your not getting is the advice you need here.

1. Autozone is showing rebuilt 3/36 transmissions for a 2016 Buick Enclave for around $2800. Now you're not going to buy one from Autozone but that gives you a bench mark.

2. On Tuesday after the holiday, call Jasper Transmissions. (Just google them). And ask for a price for a Transmission for your car. Their a solid rebuilding company with a nationwide warranty. (I have personally bought engines from them). Once you have the price, you can have any shop that works with Jasper order and install.

3. Given the Auto zone price, and I would estimate you should be able to put a fully rebuilt trans with warranty in your SUV for $4800.
I would do that over a repair. And you're good to go for a bunch of years.

Yes it's not cheap, but it's a vehicle you own, assuming it's paid off? It's a lot cheaper them buying a new car. One of the biggest things people don't realize now is fluid changes are really important in Transmissions. Honda has known problems with the CVT units that must have fluid changes at 20K to not detonate. Their SUVs have Transmissions issues hat required 3 fluid flushes and changes at one time to keep them working. It's just what it is.


I am not the OP but thank you for taking the time to post and share your knowledge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don’t buy another American brand car OP. Buy Japanese or Korean. Preferably Honda, Toyota, Hyundai or Kia. Maybe Mazda.

DON'T BUY A KIA!!!

Yes I am shouting! My mom just had TOTAL engine failure in her 2017 Kia Soul, with 75k miles-literally a car driven by a little old lady. Had to replace the whole engine for over 5k!!! Kia refused to do anything about it and apparently it is a know issue-basically told her to pound sand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:let's say you keep the car another 5 years, is a car payment of $83 a month. a new car payment for a car purchased at 30k is 625 a month.

What a bad advice. A car that is starting to have transmission failures at just 55k miles is a huge red flag and won’t last 5 more years.
When a car that was maintained properly starts falling apart some early, get rid of it. It’s a lemon.
OP should get rid of it before wasting even more money into expensive repairs.
That car is so junk that using the $4k to buy a 10yo Toyota with 200k miles would seem like a better decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks all. My concern is that something else wll go wrong now and cost more $ given this "should" not have happened at 55,000 miles. I would spend about $20-25k on a new car given what I can trde mine in for and I can pay cash for it. It is just a guessing game on my current car I guess.

A $4,000 transmission repair on a 6 yr old car with your miles should not have happened. The dealer saying it happens with that car means that model is bad. I would expect more $$$ to come. Six year old low miles cars should not need transmission work.

Isn't a 7 year old Buick pretty much at the end of it's life? I had a 2021 as a rental and it seemed 10 years old already. It was junk. I would not fix that car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:let's say you keep the car another 5 years, is a car payment of $83 a month. a new car payment for a car purchased at 30k is 625 a month.

What a bad advice. A car that is starting to have transmission failures at just 55k miles is a huge red flag and won’t last 5 more years.
When a car that was maintained properly starts falling apart some early, get rid of it. It’s a lemon.
OP should get rid of it before wasting even more money into expensive repairs.
That car is so junk that using the $4k to buy a 10yo Toyota with 200k miles would seem like a better decision.

The fact a part happens to fail on a vehicle doesn’t mean it’s a “lemon” or “junk” or that it is “falling apart.” There are myriad reasons a part can fail even with proper maintenance. Your lack of understanding or automotive mechanics is surpassed by your lack of understanding of finances.

[Anonymous]

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