My mother almost always trades in her car for new lease, but she loves her current car, so she bought it out at the end. Then the warranty expired. Next thing you know it's in the dealer for this, that, and the other. You add up all the expenses over the last 12 months and she should have just leased a new car. Used is just so annoying and these mechanic shops and dealerships and tire shops will 100% rip you off, especially when you're elderly. When a fully warrantied new car breaks down, it's the dealership's concern. You're put in a loaner and don't worry about anything. That peace of mind is worth the premium. My mum's car is getting traded in the next time we visit.

Anonymous wrote:That is a VERY expensive quote to fix a valve on the transmission. Let me guess, OP is a female and did not take a male that knew about cars with her?

If the valve body needs replacing, 4k is a lot but if it were a german or something, I could totally believe it. I had one on a Chrysler 62te trans and it was around 2k total as I recall. A legit reman is probably 700 and a new one is over 1K. Most shops wont entertain putting a $189 ebay part on it. Some valve body jobs are also very labor intensive.

That is a VERY expensive quote to fix a valve on the transmission. Let me guess, OP is a female and did not take a male that knew about cars with her?

What's the repair in question? From reading thread it appears it might be a valve body replacement, but it wasn't clear. I've only owned two automatics, one in a Mazda and one in a Jeep with and Asin-Warner transmission, and they continue to operate flawlessly at 20 years old and nearly 200k on the clock for each.

Get a second and third opinion. That cost doesn't sound right at 55K.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

When a major component fails so early, it is a huge red flag that shows you have a very unreliable. 8 out of 10 times another component will fail within a few months. Get rid of this car, cut your losses and buy something more reliable.

Agreed.
My husband and I both grew up with the old school view you buy a car 1-2 years used so you don’t take the depreciation hit. You drive a car for ten years because cars are a diminishing asset… etc. Now that we have a family and have been through the ringer with a lemon if a car I have a totally different viewpoint. Cars are not made the same way they used to be. You cannot reasonably expect to get 250k miles and every single auto shop says try to get rid of it before 100k because that’s when it can get expensive. So now we look at it differently. I grew up thinking a lease was for idiots. Now I see why it works for many! I can’t get a lease because my children are too messy and we take a long road trip so it’s not a great fit for us but from this point forward we will be buying new, we will be under warranty and we will plan to trade in before 100k miles.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Interesting. I have no interest in Kia but the Telluride is basically the hottest and hardest to get car in town. I just saw a used one for over $65k.

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 like the car then keep it.

Also, I've posted on this forum before saying how I replaced my engine on my old 99 Chevy Malibu after only 6 six years. After I replaced the engine I got another 9 YEARS out of the car. Only costs I had to pay after the engine replacement was for basic maintenance.

@OP - so did you fix it? any more problems?

$4k is way cheaper than a new car payment. I have a 2001 hoopty hoop that barely passes inspection and it's cheaper to pay the $1k inspection repair plus major $4k yearly repair than buy a new or used car right now.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$4,000 is a lot cheaper than buying a brand new car.

Yeah, idk about that. $4,000/12 is $333 a month over a year. And you'll never get $4,000 in increased resale value out of it; actually, people will be skittish about such a repair, so you might as well not disclose it. And a car that needs $4,000 in maintenance probably requires more $$$ throughout the year, so more than $333 a month just to keep it in good condition. Driving used can be very annoying and costly.

lol

You don't know if 4k is cheaper than buying a new car? Really?

This car with 55k will likely go another 100K-200K miles if normal upkeep is done.

This car: estimated lifespan from now 10y, 175 miles. Cost: 4k + std upkeep that any car needs.

A new car: estimated lifespan from now: 250K miles, Cost: $25,000 (or way more) + std upkeep that any car needs.

Helloooo?

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.

+1. I'm chuckling at people who think this $4,000 expense infers $0 more maintenance costs over 5 years. As if! Highly likely easily another few thousand in expenses over the next 5 years. Do the math on what that equates to per month and you realize what a total money pit even a relatively new out of warrant car can be. You're basically blowing a new lease payment for the "privileged" of driving a used car. While the new lease has literally zero expenses.

Anonymous wrote:$4,000 is a lot cheaper than buying a brand new car.

Yeah, idk about that. $4,000/12 is $333 a month over a year. And you'll never get $4,000 in increased resale value out of it; actually, people will be skittish about such a repair, so you might as well not disclose it. And a car that needs $4,000 in maintenance probably requires more $$$ throughout the year, so more than $333 a month just to keep it in good condition. Driving used can be very annoying and costly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

When a major component fails so early, it is a huge red flag that shows you have a very unreliable. 8 out of 10 times another component will fail within a few months. Get rid of this car, cut your losses and buy something more reliable.

Ridiculous. And in todays car market, its a no brainer. Fix it.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

When a major component fails so early, it is a huge red flag that shows you have a very unreliable. 8 out of 10 times another component will fail within a few months. Get rid of this car, cut your losses and buy something more reliable.