A WWYD - repair old vehicle or purchase new (used) one??

[just_lily]

Ugh, today has not been a good day.  Sorry, but this is going to be long.

We have a 1999 Dodge Caravan with nearly 400k kms on it.  (All of this is going to be in metric and with Canadian dollars...)  We bought it last November for $2500.  Even though it is older and has high mileage it has been really well maintained - we have all of the service records and the previous owner religiously changed the oil every 5k km, the brakes are in good shape, the timing belt was replaced not too long ago, tires are good, glass is good, there is very little rust and the interior is in fantastic shape.  It always starts for me no problem, even in the really cold weather we have been having.  The transmission was previously replaced (with a factory new one) at 220k kms.

Then last Thursday while I was driving there was a bit of a clunk and the engine decelarated.  It did accelerate again but the engine revved really high and it struggled to change gears.  I took it into the shop today and they did as much diagnostics as they could without taking the whole transmission out - they are now saying they need to take the whole thing out, and probably rebuild it.  Estimated cost between $2k and $3k. 

UNGHH.  I should also say here that I completely trust my shop and they have an excellent reputation.  I am not concerned that they are just trying to rip me off. 

Now.... we don't have $2k to $3k to spend on repairs.  We are trying desperately to pay down our debt and build up an emergency fund and buying this car was part of that plan.  When my DH's old car came off lease we decided to return it and buy this van for cash instead of replacing it with another lease.  We have been using the savings to get our budget balanced.  We were hoping to get at least a couple of years out of it and expecting some minor repairs along the way, but such a big bill so soon is a big shock.

My husband's parents have offered to lend us up to $4k to either fix the van, or to get a new vehicle.  This is not at all ideal, but we really don't have much choice.  Our relationship is good so I am not expecting any drama about this money other than the fact we don't want to be in any more debt, and certainly hate the feeling of having to go to family to bail us out. 

So here is the dilemma.  Do we pay to get our current van fixed?  It otherwise runs very well, but there are no guarantees something else isn't going to go wrong after we invest in rebuilding the tranny. 

Or... do we get a new-to-us vehicle?  It is not like we have a lot of cash to spend here, so we are still looking at an older model (maybe as new as a 2003 or 2004 if we get lucky, with at least 200k kms) and again there are no guarantees we wouldn't be looking at a major repair on that vehicle another three months in.  Plus I think it will be very unlikely for us to find another vehicle with such detailed service records available.  We have copies of every oil change over 12 years!  I just don't expect to be able to find that again, which makes buying another vehicle a bit of a crap shoot. 

I should also say that at this point, not repairing or replacing this vehicle isn't an option.  My husband works from home but is frequently called out to clients' sites with little to no notice at least three to four times a week, so he needs constant access to a vehicle during working hours.  I do some part-time child care 30 minutes outside of town, plus if I am ever to run errands or do any activities with DD I need my own vehicle.  We live in a small town so there isn't any public transportation available.  He is going to be driving me to my job this week as a short term solution but on a whole this won't work - he could get called out on an emergency leaving me and DD stuck out half an hour away with no way to get home. 

Thanks if you have stuck with me this far.  Any advice is appreciated.

[crazyms]

Personally I'd fix the van. Yes it may be old and need work but here's my thing... I have the vehicle and transmission goes out ugh! Okay I send $2-3K to fix it now it's good to go. If I spend $4k on a new (used again) vehicle then the transmission goes out on it? I'm screwed! Any used vehicle is likely to need repairs. At least with the one you have now you know what to expect where you won't with another vehicle. Just my 2c though!

(Oh and I drive a 98 Dodge Durango that we bought used for $2000 put $500 in and is running great. Our plan is to keep it and just do repairs even new motor and transmission as needed but my dh is a mechanic and we can do the work ourselves so that's how we do it.)

[lmonter]

Get a new vehicle, and not a Dodge.  My transmission guy has sent his kids to college thanks in part to Dodge and the minivan transmissions.  Since it's what he does, he has a few beater Dodge vans kicking around since he can repair them easily (he loaned us one while he was fixing our Honda Odyssey).  He has to replace the transmissions every 60K-100K miles.  Rarely has he seen a Dodge tranny go beyond 100K miles.  And he's been in business for a solid 20+ years.  I have several friends that have had Dodge and Chrysler minivans, and over the years, all those vans have just gone kaput or been sold before they had a chance to die.

If you do keep your van and repair the transmission, make sure you're on track budget/savings-wise for when it goes out again.  And make sure the shop you get the work done at knows their stuff, has a great warranty, etc.  Our tranny guy took photos of our busted transmission for hubby, and was even happy to do it since most customers aren't as into wanting to know those kinds of details (if I remember right, it was the third clutch pack on ours - a well known problem on pre-2004 Odysseys, and we rolled the dice on that ourselves when we bought ours used last year).

[just_lily]

If I replaced the tranny, and actually got another 100k miles (or 220k kms) on this van I would be beyond thrilled and would consider it worth every penny.  We will probably put at most 25k kms on it a year, so that is like 8 more years of use.  My bigger fear is that we rebuild the tranny and then have another major issue. 

[happysmileylady]

Originally Posted by crazyms 

Personally I'd fix the van. Yes it may be old and need work but here's my thing... I have the vehicle and transmission goes out ugh! Okay I send $2-3K to fix it now it's good to go. If I spend $4k on a new (used again) vehicle then the transmission goes out on it? I'm screwed! Any used vehicle is likely to need repairs. At least with the one you have now you know what to expect where you won't with another vehicle. Just my 2c though!

(Oh and I drive a 98 Dodge Durango that we bought used for $2000 put $500 in and is running great. Our plan is to keep it and just do repairs even new motor and transmission as needed but my dh is a mechanic and we can do the work ourselves so that's how we do it.)

This, almost exactly.  I drive a 97 Dodge Caravan that we bought for $2k, runs great have had NO major repairs on it.  My dad is our mechanic.
 

Originally Posted by lmonter 

Get a new vehicle, and not a Dodge.  My transmission guy has sent his kids to college thanks in part to Dodge and the minivan transmissions.  Since it's what he does, he has a few beater Dodge vans kicking around since he can repair them easily (he loaned us one while he was fixing our Honda Odyssey).  He has to replace the transmissions every 60K-100K miles.  Rarely has he seen a Dodge tranny go beyond 100K miles.  And he's been in business for a solid 20+ years.  I have several friends that have had Dodge and Chrysler minivans, and over the years, all those vans have just gone kaput or been sold before they had a chance to die.
 

 What so funny is my dad says the exact opposite.  My dad is an aircraft mechanic however he does car mechanic work on the side, plus he has built his own drag racer (not street legal, but actual NHRA racing, though the piddly little stuff, $1k pots, not the on tv stuff) and in the past he has done mechanic work on cars, trains and boats as well for his actual job.  And he recommends nothing BUT Dodge and Chrysler vehicles.  His racers are always Mopar cars.  And having been influenced by that, I have never had any vehicle other than a Dodge or Chrysler in my driveway.  And despite the fact that all have been driven well past 100k miles, none has required tranny replacement.  Full disclosure-I have killed a lot of cars through accidents (one car accidents :blush: ) so most don't have the chance to die of something else.  But, we currently have 3 Dodge/Chryslers in our drive way, at 165k miles, 126k miles and 178k miles each, none has needed or currently needs tranny work. 

But I don't want it to sound like I am trying to argue or advocate for one car make or model or whatever over any other.  If a particular car brand isn't working for you, then it's not.  No biggie.

[insidevoice]

I have the same van a year older.  It got a new transmission last year.  All told, I love it, but I am aware that the transmissions in this particular vehicle are somewhat questionable.  When we replaced ours, however, we got a three year warranty included. If you can arrange for some sort of guarantee on the rebuild or replacement- it is probably worth doing.  However, at that mileage it would be a good idea to ask for a compression test on the engine before making the decision- the engines often go out at about 200K miles. 

[lmonter]

Originally Posted by happysmileylady 

 What so funny is my dad says the exact opposite.  My dad is an aircraft mechanic however he does car mechanic work on the side, plus he has built his own drag racer (not street legal, but actual NHRA racing, though the piddly little stuff, $1k pots, not the on tv stuff) and in the past he has done mechanic work on cars, trains and boats as well for his actual job.  And he recommends nothing BUT Dodge and Chrysler vehicles.  His racers are always Mopar cars.  And having been influenced by that, I have never had any vehicle other than a Dodge or Chrysler in my driveway.  And despite the fact that all have been driven well past 100k miles, none has required tranny replacement.  Full disclosure-I have killed a lot of cars through accidents (one car accidents :blush: ) so most don't have the chance to die of something else.  But, we currently have 3 Dodge/Chryslers in our drive way, at 165k miles, 126k miles and 178k miles each, none has needed or currently needs tranny work.

The other makes of Dodges/Chryslers have okay enough transmissions, it's the minivan transmission that's had the most problems.  Big vehicle with a passenger car transmission.  But IME driving both a 2004 and a 2010 Caravan (when our Honda was getting repaired), it just didn't cut the mustard when comparing them to ours.  But I drive around 4 kids in carseats, sometimes while hauling 300+ pounds of apples/peaches/tomatoes - not everybody is going too have that kind of concern.  I myself am not a fan of Fords from the two lemons my family had from them and various friend experiences (I have yet to know a Focus owner that is absolutely in love with it), but other folks have a different opinion.  :)