Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with carrepairs

Tranny problems (no, the other kind)

Nonce — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 07:57:16 -0800

Should I replace the transmission or replace the car? My 1997 Hyunday Sonata's transmission gave up the ghost. It no longer has reverse, and it only kind of shifts into second gear very hard. I took it to a local shop and to the dealer. The local shop thinks I should rebuild the transmission at $2,400. The dealer wants to put in a remanufactured transmission at about $2,700. Both of those options are insane and off the table because the car is worth less than $1,500.

Back in reality land, there are three options that I am aware of:

1) Junkyard transmission

If you think this is the way to go, how can I avoid getting ripped off? I saw this writeup when searching online, but it's almost entirely Greek to me in spite of being very clear and presumably helpful. If there is any geographically specific advice, I am in Northern Virginia, but theoretically could drive to Maryland or elsewhere in VA to pick up a part.

I don't like this because the shop will charge $450 or so to install it, and it's a gamble anyway. How can I make it less of a gamble?

2) Replace the valve body assembly

Apparently, one thing that is *for sure* wrong is that the solenoids are gone. A new valve body assembly (with new solenoids), available only from the dealer, costs about $650 and two hours of labor to swap out. Then I'm left with the same transmission I started with, which has 165,000 miles on it.

There aren't any flecks of metal in the transmission fluid. There is some sludge that the mechanic said is generally expected to build up with age, but also is not a good thing at all. Everyone says there is no way to tell how much life the transmission has left in it without taking it apart and inspecting it, at which point the labor charge becomes prohibitive.

3) Getting rid of the car

How would I do this? How much can I get for it?

Please help me figure out what to do. I hate the idea of gambling close to $1,000 on the car without a reasonable expectation of success (options 1 and 2), but I also hate the idea of selling the car for a lousy few hundred dollars because of this problem when it is otherwise functioning just fine.

To transmission flush or not to transmission flush? That is the question.

geeky — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 06:17:00 -0800

To transmission flush or not to transmission flush? That is the question. A few months ago, I took my (automatic) car to my local mechanic for a routine oil change. They told me that my transmission fluid was dirty, and that I needed a "transmission fluid flush". Since I'd never heard of such a thing and it wasn't part of my car's routine maintenance, I opted to put it off to a later date. I did a little Google research when I got home and came across a lot of conflicting opinions - some say transmission flushes are vital, others say it will permanently screw up your transmission.

Fast forward to this week. Three times this week I've started my car as usual, but when I shift it into drive the car accelerates sluggishly, as if the parking brake is engaged (it's not). Shifting gears does not alleviate the problem, nor does driving the car for a short period of time. However, turning the car off and re-starting results in a blinking O/D off light and normal acceleration. I checked the transmission fluid last night - the fluid level is fine, but the color is definitely off.

Regardless of the actual cause of the problem, I'm sure the mechanic is going to see this as an opportune time to recommend a transmission flush again. Since I'm a girl, and I look young and vulnerable to boot, I'd like to go in prepared. So, 1) Is a transmission flush a good idea? 2) How much should I expect to pay for it?

And a bonus question: Does my problem sound like something a transmission flush would fix? Personally, I'm thinking it's a computer problem (though I know very little about cars), and I want to make sure this problem isn't just chalked up to dirty transmission fluid so that the mechanic can make a few hundred bucks.

Why should I fix the scratches on my car?

arco — Wed, 12 Oct 2005 08:36:53 -0800

Should we fix the scratches and dents on our (relatively) new car? We have a 2005 Hyundai Sonata that we bought last December. Since then, we've managed to accumulate several scratches and dents through minor fender-benders. (This is why we can't have nice things in D.C....) A couple of the scrapes are deep (1/4 to 1/2 inch), but mostly it's minor cosmetic damage. The body shop estimates it would take about $2,200-$2,500 to fix them all (i.e. by replacing the scratched doors and bumper).

What are the potential problems we might run into if we don't fix these scratches? The blamishes don't really bother us, as long as the car runs well and is safe. We're not concerned about resale or trade-in value (it's a Hyundai, so it won't have any regardless), and we plan on keeping this car for at least 5-6 years, hopefully longer. I can think of several thousand things I'd rather spend $2,500 on other than this.

Aside from reduced value, are there reasons why we should fix these scratches? Bonus question: are there any cheap and easy things we can/should do to minimize rust or other concerns?

Car Stalling

wendell — Tue, 21 Dec 2004 13:06:09 -0800

Because I'd Rather Ask You Asshats Than Call Click & Clack: Unexplined car stalling: '96 Taurus, after driving a long time in warm weather, when idling (more under the hood) I replaced a leaky radiator last summer that caused it to overheat, then started getting this problem: warm day (80+F), when the car has been used for over an hour with only brief periods stopped and parked, on city streets or stop-and-go freeways, it starts idling rough and within a few seconds chugs to a halt and can't be restarted. Resting it for 15-30 minutes 'cools it down' (no, the temp guage never goes above midpoint) so it runs again, but it stalls again after a few stoplights. I don't really have a mechanic I can TRUST, so the more I know about what ails it before I take it in the better. Or is it time to donate it to charity for a tax deduction?

If I spend $6k on repairing my VW, will it still need regular expensive repairs?

mecran01 — Tue, 18 May 2004 12:28:45 -0800

Carfilter: I have a 1988 VW Golf GL that currently costs me about $85/month in repair costs. In other words, I'm finding myself putting about $3-400 dollars into it every 3-4 months. The car has 60k miles on a transplanted eight-valve Scirocco engine. And the steering is getting mushy. And I have no real mechanical skills.

If I take the $6k that I could spend on a newer car and put it into the VW, and I just going to end up with a pimped-out VW that still needs spendy repairs every 3-4 months?