[littleroot]

Pease excuse my frustration and typos as my transmisison just failed and a very long post I wrote here was discarded because I put a link to photos of my car. Arg!

I bought a 1994 Sedan Deville a year ago with 75k miles. It's been a great car and was in truly Excellent condition. I only had to replace the trunk closer a month ago after a heavy rain, and the driver window is sticky and sometimes gives off a "jackhammer" like sound. Oh, and the Service Engine Soon light comes on occasionally.

So today I was driving down I5 from San Jose to Los Angeles and just after the odomenter crossed 80k the tranmisson failed. Engine still starts up just fine but when you put it in gear you can some random soft rattling and scraping sounds.

I was towed to a independant shop in Los Banos with an excellent reputation where they said it could cost up to $2800 to install a rebuilt transmission with a one-year warranty.

I had to leave the car there and get back to San Jose where tonight I got a quote from my regular mechanic for $3000 for a rebuild or $3500 for a "GM" with a 100,000-mile warranty with any GM dealership.

So I have a decision to make. Seems these cars are not wanted by the junk yards in Los Banos and it would cost me $250 to get the car towed back to San Jose so I might as well just give the car away. Kelly Blue Book says my car is worth $4900 to a private seller.

On the other hand if I pay the $2800 then maybe I could sell it for $4-5k (highlighting the 1-year tranny warranty), pay off the credit card and maybe come out ahead, so to speak.

If you have any advice please reply ASAP. The repair shop wants approval to get to work on it or get it out of his lot by the end of the week.

Thank you, very, very much for any comments.
Good night
-Bob

 

[Ranger]

Why not get a junkyard trans and have him install that?

 

[littleroot]

Hello Ranger,

Repair shop said junkyard trans would be about $1000 plus $600 for install and 2-days (two days) warranty. Sounds iffy but if I am going to sell that is not a bad idea.

By the way, I j ust check the vaule of the car on Edmunds and it says it's only $1200 for private party sale. What?!?

Oh man this is getting worse by the minute.

Thanks for the reply.

-Bob

 

[AMENCADDY]

Sadly, there is a growing trend to render big luxury cars virtually worthless due to their gas guzzling reputation. Look at it this way, if you repair the car, it will go for several 100k more miles. You'll never have to buy another vehicle. Isn't that worth it for a "known quantity"? if you just buy another used car, it could have even worse issues and will most likely need some TLC as well (Tons of Liquid Cash). Also, it may not need the trans. If you get it towed home, get a second opinion. did the garage you towed it to happen to check for DTC codes? I'd ask or do it yourself when you get the car.

 

[DanielDeville]

Pease excuse my frustration and typos as my transmisison just failed and a very long post I wrote here was discarded because I put a link to photos of my car. Arg!

I bought a 1994 Sedan Deville a year ago with 75k miles. It's been a great car and was in truly Excellent condition. I only had to replace the trunk closer a month ago after a heavy rain, and the driver window is sticky and sometimes gives off a "jackhammer" like sound. Oh, and the Service Engine Soon light comes on occasionally.

So today I was driving down I5 from San Jose to Los Angeles and just after the odomenter crossed 80k the tranmisson failed. Engine still starts up just fine but when you put it in gear you can some random soft rattling and scraping sounds.

I was towed to a independant shop in Los Banos with an excellent reputation where they said it could cost up to $2800 to install a rebuilt transmission with a one-year warranty.

I had to leave the car there and get back to San Jose where tonight I got a quote from my regular mechanic for $3000 for a rebuild or $3500 for a "GM" with a 100,000-mile warranty with any GM dealership.

So I have a decision to make. Seems these cars are not wanted by the junk yards in Los Banos and it would cost me $250 to get the car towed back to San Jose so I might as well just give the car away. Kelly Blue Book says my car is worth $4900 to a private seller.

On the other hand if I pay the $2800 then maybe I could sell it for $4-5k (highlighting the 1-year tranny warranty), pay off the credit card and maybe come out ahead, so to speak.

If you have any advice please reply ASAP. The repair shop wants approval to get to work on it or get it out of his lot by the end of the week.

Thank you, very, very much for any comments.
Good night
-Bob

I would say, if you've got the cash (or credit for that matter), get the $3500 GM warranty tranny. Once you get that fixed, you will have a great car for the next 200,000 or more. BTW, it's great to see another forum member from "my neck of the woods". I live up near Lodi and I drive down to Los Banos every other week or so for my job.

 

[cadillac_al]

I think you should check Ebay and Craigslist to see how much these cars actually sell for. I think you could buy another one cheaper than fixing this one and you would have a lot of low mileage parts to keep it going. I'm puzzled why the trans quit at this low mileage but best of luck.

 

[littleroot]

I've decided to tow the car home and shop the junk yards - or at least that will give me some time to consider my options.

Thanks everyone for the advice!