Fix it or replace it?

[Ravin]

My car's transmission is toast. It'll cost $1500 to replace. Coming up with the money isn't going to be easy. DH has stated the opinion that it might just be easier to replace the car. It has high miles on it. But it's newer than our other car and gets better gas mileage when not broken. Both cars are paid for and we have full coverage on the other one.

Would you replace the car, or buy a used tranmission for it? It's got about 129K miles on it, it's a 99 Kia Sephia. The other car is an 87 Mitsubishi Galant with 55K miles on it, in good working order. Oh, the transmission has been replaced once before, I don't know when because no paperwork on it came up on Carfax when I bought it or came with the vehicle (the transmission guy who looked at it just before I killed it by driving cross country when it was having probs said it wasn't the original factory transmission, but was probably replaced while under warranty).

[Mama Dragon]

Try getting a rebuilt tranny, or have them rebuild yours. DH (who's a mechanic and has worked in a couple transmission shops) says $1500 for a new tranny is about right.

We just bought a "new" vehicle with 112k miles on it, I think it's worth spending even $1500 on one with 129k.

[Sharlla]

we will be fixing or replacing my tranny. That is all that is wrong with my car (FIL is doing the work so I just buy parts) As much as I would like a new to me car I would most likely be buying another set of problems.

[KariM]

I'd get the tranny fixed! The fee of $1500 is, what, about 4 months payments on a new car?

I'd much rather pay that fee once for a repair than be locked into several years of payments.

[Lilcrunchie]

nak-
DH told me about this report a few months ago. It is about the savings you get by repairing and driving your car to 200,000 miles.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/08/30/auto...200k/index.htm

The one thing I would consider is safety. If I could upgrade some reasonable safety features for a decent price, I might consider it vs. a repair on a very old car. But...the new safety features would have to be rather convincing and substantial. And you can still get many of those upgraded safety features like airbags, etc. even on a used vehicle.

We bought a new Odyssey in 05 and our current plan is to drive it until it dies. We bought the best safety features we could before making that decision, hoping they'd be enough to keep us satisfied on that front for a while. (side curtain airbags for example). Our original plan was to buy used w/ low mileage (have done so in the past several times), but the used Odys were so expensive, and we were able to get ours new for only a small amount more than the ones that were being sold with 30K miles.

[lalaland42]

Before I would make that decision, I would want to know what your car would be worth if it was in working condition and what you could sell the car for as is. If I remember right, Kias are not that expensive brand new so what if the car isn't worth $1500? I would have a hard time spending the money on a car where I could only resell it for $1000. Especially if I could find a comparable car in the paper for $1000, sell the one for parts for $500. Anyway, that is my thought process and those are the numbers I would want to know before making a decision.

[PajamaMama]

Originally Posted by Lilcrunchie

The one thing I would consider is safety.

I was in an accident in a Sephia that wouldn't have been that bad in an older, heavier car, but was awful in the Sephia. The car was totaled and I was badly injured. If you can get a safer car for the $1500 I would sell the Sephia for whatever you can get, even if it's only $500 and use that money to fix up an older safer $1500 car.

[Ravin]

Contrary to the "bulk is protection" theory, older cars are not in particular safer cars.

Looks like I'll be fixing it. Not so sure I'd qualify for a loan for something substantially better, it bluebooked for about $2200 last year when I bought it but I DON'T think I could get a car for $1500 in this area that wouldn't be "buying a new set of problems" as someone put it.

[kijip]

Originally Posted by PajamaMama

I was in an accident in a Sephia that wouldn't have been that bad in an older, heavier car, but was awful in the Sephia. The car was totaled and I was badly injured. If you can get a safer car for the $1500 I would sell the Sephia for whatever you can get, even if it's only $500 and use that money to fix up an older safer $1500 car.

Older heavier cars are safer for the cars in accidents, but not for the people. In such a car, the majority of the crash forces are absorbed by the occupants. In a newer, lighter car designed to crumple and having occupant protections like airbags, the crash forces are primarily absorbed by the car. Which would you prefer, a broken car or a broken body? It used to be that cars from fatal accidents were routinely/often easily fixed and sold again. Now, a fatal accident hands down totals out the car as well. That, born out by the dramatically lower death rates for car crash passengers. illustrates exactly why you are safer most of the time NOT driving an older, heavy vehicle.

[lmonter]

Well, my opinion's colored because I'm not a fan of Kia or Mitsubishi. But. Maybe do some poking around to see what kind of car you could get for $1500. Just look. For $1500 ($2000, max) around here you could find a car like my hubby's commuter. It's my high school car that's still going - a still-new looking '95 Geo Prizm (the snowed on car in the driveway). Replacing tires, oil filters, an alternator and 2 batteries is about all that's been done to it. We plan to drive ours into the ground, or let the 4yo drive it when he turns 16.

Talk to mechanic friends, see if any will barter with you or help you find a deal. Transmissions are tricky little buggers, too. :