Transmission Died

[DBMaster]

The thing has been slipping a little for over a year. It started making some disturbing clunking noises a few days ago. This morning on the way into work it started acting like a standard with clutch less than fully engaged. It's toast. Not so awful for twenty years and 303K miles. So, my 3G brethren, I am having a high end reman installed and am going to keep driving it. I will spend more than the car's book value, but its value to me cannot be measured in dollars and I am not that excited about any of the new cars out there. Besides, I replaced a bunch of stuff in the last year to make sure I could keep going. I figure if I get at least another couple of years out of it I will get more than my money's worth.

[2oodoor]

got your full use out of that one, FTW

Im happy you are pressing forward with 3 geezus:cool:

[Joay]

+1 for fixing instead of selling, but this would've been a great chance to go manual. ;)

[ArokASE88LXi]

Well it's unfortunate it happened but it's probably better to fix it with the way things are today.

One thing though when they install the new transmission just make sure they flush the tranny cooler and lines first. when i worked at Transmission Clinic we had a machine that did just that, didn't flush transmissions just the lines. we saw a whole bunch of little metal filings come out of most of the tranny's we did. you can even do it yourself just un-hook both lines and blow some air through then a little brake cleaner and more air. we used somewhere around 40-50 psi. i dunno just my 2 cents and your almost passing me in mileage mines sittin in my garage with the transmission in pieces too at 314k! anyways Good luck with it!!

[greentee76]

Still probably cheaper than 2-3 months payments on a new car.
Good luck to you, my frugal brother!

[ecogabriel]

I would fix it too. It is a good decision

The way comparisons are usually made - repair $$$ v. car's market value - are flawed. You have the market value of the car. And you have the USE value of the car.
No need to explain the former; the latter is the benefit you derive from using the car. Many of us cling to older cars because the use value it provides is far higher than the market value of it. On the other hand, if the thing breaks down every single time, leaves you stranded at odd times/places then we know the thing has no use value whatsoever and we get rid of them.
There's a whole theory about the difference between market and use values; in fact one guy won a Nobel in Econ for just modeling this well-known fact.

But let's go to the numbers. If you decide to replace the car, the question becomes new car or used?
If new you'll be paying big bucks for several years plus the additional cost of insurance and registration. On the other hand, you won't have to worry about repairs (if you buy another Honda that is!)
Used car? well, it may be the case that it would need some repairs around the corner, and now you would be saddled with both monthly payment plus the repair bills.

If your car has performed well, has been reliable and it is still in sound condition it makes sense in my book to keep it on the streets.

A few days ago I stumbled across an article dealing with just that; what the author suggested was comparing the cost of the old car over a year v. cost of a new car over a year; that makes more sense to me

http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_content_landing_pages/982/has-your-car-kicked-the-bucket/

On a different note... 303K on the transmission???? WOW!!!

[DBMaster]

You nailed it, Gabriel. The car is rock solid. The transmission has been acting up in various ways for years and with the mileage I have I should be happy that my regular fluid changes got it this far. This is the first time in its twenty year life that it has ever left me stuck, or ever had to be towed. I set aside money each month just so I don't get stuck in the more common dilemma.

Explanation: These days you can pretty much drive a new car off the lot with little to no money down. So, it is frequently more instantaneously affordable to buy a new car versus ANY expensive repair. I think a lot of people would buy a new car because they can afford $400 a month, but can't afford a $2,500 repair. I am at peace with this decision. A year goes by pretty fast at my age and I will recoup the cost of this in short order. On top of all that I still like the car. Because it is in such good shape it is much more of a conversation starter and impresses people a lot more than any new car I could afford to buy. Driving around here is a poor experience which is not going to be improved for me by a new car, either. :)