Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
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On the one hand, making payments on a new/used car is putting money into a depreciating asset.
But, putting a new transmission in an old car with 165000 is putting money into a totally depreciated asset, with zero payback.
So if you have to put a new trans in an old car for $2,500, that's equivalent to almost a year of loan payments on a nicer newer used car. (say something for $10,000 or so).
Statistically, if you looked at the odds, you are going to get bitten for repairs---the unknown part is WHAT repairs and how often?
hemanthh has the Prelude that needs bodywork with 80 some thousand miles.
The other person has the friend with the Intrigue.
hemanthh: I'd keep the Prelude if I were you. The mileage is decent, the tranny is manual so it shouldn't break (unless you ogtta do the clutch), and overall it's an ok car. At least you know it.
If it looks beat up you might get $2-$3k for it. What can you buy for that money, or what if you buy a used car for $10k, finance $7k and you might run into same problems a year later (basic maintenance, old stuff breaking).\
Keep your car and only do necessary repairs to keep it safe and running.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
Hey careful...you and I resemble that remark............
2003 Toyota Corolla S, 5spd manual transmission, bought used in 2005 with 60k miles on it, it's now at 123k miles. Driven alot but well maintained at the dealership for the past 3 years until the transmission died this week. Toyota dealership wanted $4k for a new tranny swap out, told them no way. So now it's sitting at a transmission specialist who took it out and did an inspection. Differential is shot, shafts may or may not be salvagable, looking at $2 - $2.5k in repairs (which includes a 2yr warranty).
Value of this car based on edmunds calculator is $7,400, but with the large amount of miles for an 03, I'm guessing that $5,500 to $6k is more realistic. However, with a shot tranny, feedback from a dealer is that current value is closer to $3k.
My wife sees this as a good opportunity to get rid of a potentially problematic car (why else would the transmission have failed already), and get something more family friendly such as a Honda Odyssey (we have a 4 month old and plan to have another after a year or two).
Only problem is I still have 24 months of payments on the Corolla and payoff is $6,400. With the tranny shot, and the value having dropped to $3k, I'm still $3,400 negative after sale/trade, which means that the money I'd normall use as a down payment on the next car has to go to paying off the corolla.
Her Saturn Vue is paid off in about 6 months. Then we'll be down to one payment. I think the better thing to do is fix the tranny for $2,500, drive it the next 24 months while the tranny is warranteed, at which point it will be fully paid off, and then I dump it for whatever $$ I can get. In the meantime, take the $$ that we normally pay on her car, continue to set it aside each month into savings, and then over two years put together some additional $$ for a better downpayment on a nice car.
She thinks that we are taking too big of a risk that the Corolla will continue to run without incurring another major cost during those two years, and to cut our losses now and move into something more reliable. No reason to move into a similar sized car, and we already have a SUV, so the Minivan/Crossovers (3rd row seating) are what she's looking at. I wouldn't want to buy anything at this point that would incur monthly payments over $400, so a couple year old used Odyssey seems to fit that bill.
Thoughts?
I am having a difficult time accepting the fact that a manual tranny in a Toyota would just die. Usually the clutch might need replacing, but not the whole tranny.
Other than that, fix the tranny, pay off the car, save up for a minivan in 2-3 years and go from there.
Keep in mind because of the mileage on it, you will have to start spending more maintenance money in the near future,
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
A Corolla will still have good value in 2 years...you may even have equity by then even with the transmission $$$ laid out. So you have a 3rd option, which is to sell the Corolla as soon as its market value reaches the loan payoff. Right now, I agree, you are upside down a bit even with a new transmission.
The way it is, with the car in pieces you're going to take a $5K beating easy.
You've already said it better than any of us could. This is exactly the right plan.
I do agree that it's pretty odd for a Corolla tranny to go at the point this one did but things happen. My daughter's Camry coughed up its engine just under 100K though in that case I think a combination of previous owner and my daughter's own habits were contributing factors.
As far as 2 years down the road, at that point the transmission repairs would be a sunk cost, so I'd just be concerned with what I could get for it at the time and put it towards the next car. The closer I get to paid off the better, as long as it keeps running steady.
Other than an apparent early transmission failure (though it seems to be happening alot in 03/04 Corolla and Matrix 5spd manuals from what I've read around the web), it seems to be running strong. The tech at the shop said everything else looks pretty solid. And your suggestion of selling as soon as the TMV = Payment is a good alternative if we do hit a situation where we need the other car sooner. Once the transmission is repaired, and the car value is back up closer to TMV, I've only got a few more months of payments untill that happens. About 4-5 months actually (like I said, that's considering the tranny repair to be a sunk cost).
And reading info like this makes me very heistant to put a used unit back in the car: http://www.toyotafans.net/2003-corolla-transmission-t3022.htm
There's something weird going on with these transmissions, but Toyota isn't saying anything about it.
By the way, I wouldn't get into a 1999-2004 Honda Odyssey; those cars had extremely well documented transmission problems of their own, although in many (not all) cases Honda paid for the replacements. So by waiting another 2-3 years, you could probably get into a 2007-2008 Odyssey, which have a newer transmission design that's more durable (or so I've been told).
However if you're shopping for the new gen Odyssey, I'd avoid the 2005 as well as it was the first model year of the redesign. Go for an 06 or 07. Who knows what the market will do in 2-3 years, you might be finding some deals out there then as the 07 Odysseys will be 5 years old by then.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
As for the Odyssees,I had heard about the tranny issues, and was looking strictly at the current gen, 06-07. Found a certified 06 EX-L w/RES in good shape for $21k at a local dealer. But after playing phone tag with the guy the past two days, I told him I had decided to get my car fixed instead.
It makes no sense at all to PAY $3400 for someone to take the car off your hands when you can pay $2500 and KEEP the car.
Hell, you could probably repair it for $2500 and sell it for $6k. That puts you out $2900 instead of $3400. Not that I recommend this, mind you, I'm just pointing out that trading it 'as is' is probably the worst move out of all your options.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
But if I'm keeping it, because it seems to be a somewhat common problem, I wouldn't want a used trans.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
I'm puzzled though that the dealer says the whole tranny is shot. Like other have said, s*** happens. But, I've driven manuals all my life and have never rebuilt, replaced, or otherwise repaired a manual transmission on any of my cars (these include a '69 Camaro Z-28, '73 Fiat 128, '74 Datsun 260-Z, '82 Mazda 626, '92 Sentra SE-R, and an '87 BMW 325). Have done a clutch (just one), but that's it. Oh yeah, my son had to replace the clutch in his (bought used) '94 Merc Tracer, but that was at the 150,000 mile mark or so.
The Ranger trannys seemed to be non-rebuildable. Something about when any bearings were damaged, they usually also damaged the housing/case where the bearings were encased. Not way to pull old bearing out and put new one in.
Maybe a Toyota tranny has problems that kill bearings and therefore they are also not easily rebuildable, using the old housing. If a new housing was needed, the cost up increase a lot.
Don't get scared away by the length of this post.
Over the past few months I've been posting problems with my 2001 3.8L Impala. It seems I haven't been able to resolve any of them.
I'm ultimately trying to decide if I should fix this car by doing a major overhaul or just cut my loses and ditch it.
I would appreciate any feedback/solutions/advice as to what can be causing my problems, how to go about fixing them and whether or not it's worth it to keep investing in this piggy bank of a car.
My goal is to get the car to last until the spring.
Some background:
Car bottomed out in a ditch, did a 180. It seems all the problems stemmed from this incident, but maybe not.
Pre-existing problems:
Passlock
:: happens about once a month, sometimes more, sometimes less
ABS don't work
:: this is attributed to a faulty hub sensor, fixed it once, it reoccured, not fixing again
Problems after bottoming out in the ditch (developed over time):
Intermittent speaker outages
:: radio, chimes, cd player cut out from a split second to a few minutes once in a while
Frequent stalling
:: happens while in gear and while idling.
Radiator fan always on
:: coolant temp needle on dash stays at lowest point even when car is warm
Intake/Intake manifold
::oil collects on engine block, under intake manifold (small amount, but cause for concern). It seems like the dex-cool ate away at the gasket.
:: there's also a small gap between the intake manifold and the metal sensor housing/air intake to the right of the manifold.
:: one of the wires going into the mass air flow sensor was disconnected, reconnecting it did not solve stalling problem. Disconnecting the sensor during idle has no effect on engine rpm.
Here's some info I got by hooking up to the computer:
OBD codes:
PO128* - [Pending] Coolant thermostat (coolant temp below thermostat regulating temp)
PO172* - [Pending] System too rich
PO332 - Knock Sensor 2 Circuit Low
~codes associated with an O2 sensor and a sensor in the wheel hub (causes ABS, TC, not to work) came up when hooked up to mechanics code reader (mine didn't find these)
short term fuel trim: 0% to -1.5%
long term fuel trim: I've seen it between -8% and -17% :: @1500rpm -11% :: @idle (700-800rpm) -7.8%
after a drive:
intake air temp 12C
coolant temp 102C
@ idle
intake manifold pressure: 31kpa (is this high enough??)
air flow rate (MAF sensor) 4.2g/s
My observations/opinions:
From talking with mechanics there are a few possible culprits causing these problems:
ECU or PCM, intake manifold, MAF sensor, coolant temp sensor
We're talking a worst case scenario of thousands of dollars to fix unless I find cheap parts somewhere and do the labor myself.
The MAF sensor seems easy to replace. Same with the coolant temp sensor.
How hard/involved is it to change the intake manifold? Is there a guide/procedure anywhere?
Any advice on fixing the ECU or PCM if it came to that?
A big thank you for your help!!!
I guess I'll take this opportunity to update my situation as well. Thus far, I picked up an aftermarket MAF sensor and upper intake manifold (Dorman) for about $400CDN total. I'll see how far this gets me.
If my temp gauge/stalling problems aren't resolved after these two parts are installed, I'll move on to the thermostat.
Thanks to some advice on the impalaforums.com I saved myself tons of money by getting aftermarket parts and installing them myself (yet to be done). Originally, I was quoted $650CDN just to do the upper intake manifold replacement. Also, a GM MAF sensor is $560CDN (not including labor).
I'll post back after I replace these two parts.
If anyone has can point me to a manifold replacement guide for the L36 engine I'd be very thankful.
Cheers.
The Passlock and stalling issues may be related to a bad ignition switch. I replaced my ignition switch back in June. It took me an hour.....the second time. The first time I tried to clean the ignition switch which didn't help. Of course things are easier the second time. Part cost about $100 (aftermarket). Directions for changing was posted on a dedicated Intrigue forum on another site. Recommend checking a dedicated Impala website. Guarantee others have dealt with this issue. It could also be the fuel pump but I would start with the igniton system since the security system is also giving you trouble.
You really need to address the intake manifold gasket. If you allow that to continue too long, the coolant will cause damage to the engine. I've read some shadetree mechanics doing it themselves but an independent shop should be able to do it for between $600-$750. Most mechanics are very familiar with this repair. I would have them change your thermostat at the same time. I just changed the thermostat myself on the Intrigue 2 months ago. All I will say is it is not worth doing yourself. I spent way too much time on this project. If money is tight, it is doable with common tools. Thermostats are pretty inexpensive (<$30). Heck, the coolant may cost more than the part.
You can replace the wheel hubs yourself if you are handy. I bought a pair from Advance Auto parts for $90+ and had my mechanic install them (his parts charge would have been about $60 more). They are all over Ebay for cheaper. Most carry a one year warranty. Of course it could be just the wheel sensor wire and not the entire hub.
Mass Air Flow sensor is very easy to change yourself. Check EBay for used ones. You should be able to find one for less than $60 (including shipping). Most carry at least a 90 day guarantee.
Personally, I would attack the MAF, thermostat, wheel hubs, ignition switch and Passlock myself and talk to a mechanic about the other issues to see what it would cost. yes you are well over a thousand dollars on these repairs. Even though you will get rid of this vehicle in the spring, there are certain things that are safety issues like the stalling and lack of ABS or severe car issues like the intake manifold gasket leak that really need to be addressed or you may not make it to spring. One thing i have found is independent shops will work with you on costs and repairs.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
I bought the parts myself and had them installed by my mechanic (too cold to do it myself). Parts and labor cost me around 600CDN...which is less than a quote I got for just for the UIM.
A big thanks to everyone who helped out. Hopefully, this car will run until the summer!!
I'll be back with anymore problems.
My question is, is it worth it to put $700 into this car, when neither problem is a major mechanical problem, or should I just keep driving the car?
I plan on selling the car in about 2-3 years, just before the car is due for another timing belt at 180K miles.
Having said that however, I'd fix the hood release. That should be cheap to fix, and I think there is an expectation that someone would be able to pop the hood open when needed to get to the engine. If that was NOT working at the time of sale, then I'm sure it will be a $$ negative since people will instantly think....sheez, if they didn't fix something as simple as a cable, what ELSE is wrong with it and they didn't fix.
That, and when was the last time the car received regular maintenance if the hood doesn't open easily?
The bumper damage is primarily a cosmetic issue, so whether or not to repair it depends on how much the appearance bothers you. If it were me, I'd probably choose to have it repaired, even knowing that, as Kaiwah pointed out, you will only get back a fraction of the cost of repairing it when you sell the car.
The bumper is strictly whether it bothers you enough to be worth the money.
My daughter's 99 Camry has all sorts of cosmetic issues - none of which were actually her fault. It's not worth it to me to fix. Mechanically it's fine these days.
If it's an indent on the corner of thre bumper you might be able to pop it out. If it's a cracked hole, then I guess you can't.
I agree with others though. Fix the hood release, but leave the cosmetics alone.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
We've decided to fix the hood release and leave the bumper- afterall, there's another teenager learning to drive right now who will inherit the car in a year. Why bother fixing the bumper when it will be dented/scratched/damaged in some other way within 2 years?
I understand none of you are mechanically adept, however, I suspect your reading abilities are above average. Thus you have the opportunity to read and learn how to be more mechanically knowledgeable. When the at fault teenager learns how to fix what he broke, that teen will increase his self worth by accomplishing a new challenge.
At the risk of appearing to preach from a soapbox, I disagree. A teenager is not entitled to/deserves anything, except unconditional love, food, shelter, clothing, medical care, and schooling through high school. They are are not entitled to a car when they turn 16. If their parents feel that have earned that right, or just want to give them one because "everybody's kid gets a car when they turn 16", that's their business. But a car at 16 is not an entitlement. Any teenager should be grateful for any kind of vehicle they're given.
Also knowing your limits to fix thing is smart as well. Euphonium has to realize that not every is mechanically inclined and more importantly, some people don't want to be.
I would have your child pay to fix the hood release.
Good luck.
I agree.
The theme of my post is that when it has been decided to hand down a car to the younger driver, that younger driver deserves not so much the car, but a car in respectible condition.
After working odd jobs to own my own car at 16, I quickly learned how to read repair manuals, ask questions, and do the work myself. Personal experience leaves me to still recommend that the family who is not so inclined give it a try.
Like Alpine skiing, miles under the boards = valuable experience and usually the more experienced driver is the better driver.