Worth it to spend $1500 on repairs for an SUV with 162k miles???

[kalrith]

Update 04/06/2011: Bought 2006 Suzuki Forenza with 73k miles for $4,500

I'll try to keep this short. I have a 2001 Mazda Tribute V6 AWD with automatic transmission and 162k miles on it. It will currently only use 1st and 3rd gears, which probably means a band has broken. The transmission shop quoted me $1500 - 1800 to rebuild it.

The Tribute is in fairly good working order, but these vehicles are known for several recurring problems, and I'm worried about putting so much money into it. The cruise doesn't work, and it runs kind of rough and gets poor gas mileage (14mpg city, 19mpg highway). Other than those issues, it seems to be in really good condition.

We only have about $4,000 to spend on a used vehicle right now, so most of the choices have 120k or more miles on them. I'm torn between fixing the Tribute or buying another vehicle. What would you do in my situation? Also, do you have any idea how long it will last before the transmission completely goes out.

Cliffs: Should I spend $1500-$1800 on a transmission rebuild for an SUV with 162k miles on it, or buy a replacement vehicle for $4,000 (all we can afford right now)?

 

[Arkaign]

I'm usually of the opinion "The devil you know" .. but in this situation I'm not so sure it's a good idea. The mention of the thing running 'kind of rough', with miles closing on ~200k makes me think that it might be a bad idea to put in that kind of money. The motor might have some serious trouble before long, or you might get a bum tranny rebuild.

Of course there are no guarantees in anything.

Is there any hope for putting maybe $2k down on something and making low payments on a used car with ~50k miles or so? That might be worth considering if it's feasible, you'd probably be able to get something newer, safer, more efficient, and with more 'life' left in it.

That said, $4k can get some decent stuff. I'd open the options way up, perhaps just look at everything in the area that's between $3k-$5k, and consider even ugly, rough looking vehicles. I'd rather have a reliable low-miles car with a few dents and dings rather than a cooler looking more popular vehicle that had much higher miles and use.

Would you be looking for another SUV, what are the uses that this vehicle would serve?

 

[skyking]

parts are probably in the neighborhood of $500 for that rebuild. If you had a few skills you could repair it yourself.

 

[exdeath]

For a widely available vehicle like that it's never cost effective to rebuild engines/transmissions. Just get a low mileage used or rebuilt one from a bone yard pull for $500 with core trade and pay someone 2 hours labor to swap it in for you if you can't do it yourself. Well if you know someone anyway, any shop is going to charge you full book labor regardless how long it really takes.

It sounds like you are limited on funds for a new vehicle at the moment, as well as this catching you by surprise. It's better to keep the one you have running. The running rough and bad mileage could very well be related to your busted transmission, and the cruise control is really not a big deal, probably a broken switch or servo.

Buying another vehicle with 120k miles on it, you're looking at taking on another vehicle that is just about to start having the same problems. People sell their cars at 120k got all the good miles out of it and are selling it because transmission service or whatever else is coming up and they are dumping it on someone else.

 

[kalrith]

$500 for one from a salvage yard would be a much better bet. I do almost all my own work on my vehicles, but I've never done any transmission work. I'll look into this option though.

As far as a replacement vehicle, the only real requirement is 4 doors (a coupe and a car seat don't mix too well). We've looked at pretty much everything from a Focus to a Suburban and am open to anything.

 

[exdeath]

Hmm they are looking more like $750-950 just looking on Ebay. Must be because it's AWD and an SUV.

 

[Arkaign]

Well that sounds like a winner then, if you can find a salvage tranny (hopefully without similar problems!!) that would get you back in action quickly, and if done cheaply enough, it wouldn't be the end of the world if it turned out badly within a year or so (severe motor problems, replacement transmission fails, etc).

~$4k range will nearly get you into a very reliable duratec 2.0L Focus, and from my experience with the 5spd model, I get 40+mpg on the freeway and low 30s in mixed driving. All '05+ Focus models are Duratec models, replacing the older, less efficient, less powerful SPI and Zetec models. With gas prices year-on-year just getting worse, this sounds like an intelligent choice if faced with other vehicles that get notably less. Filling up my tank costs me about $30-$32 right now, but gets me about 330-360 miles depending on how I'm driving. My brother's 4G TL costs him about $50-$55 to fill up, and he also gets about the same miles per tank. We both drive about a tank per week, so he's spending $20-$25 more per week just in fuel at current $3/gallon prices. Splitting the difference at $22.50 per week = $1,170 yearly in added costs.

This is not a post advocating wasting a ton of $ on a new hybrid, but when choosing a generic family-use vehicle, efficiency can and does have a notable impact on the family budget. The question is how to balance it, still get a nice vehicle that satisfies you, and doesn't compromise too much in capability, safety, and so forth.

** - 4-speed Auto in the Focus will definitely make for less efficiency and driving fun.

 

[alkalinetaupehat]

Another vote to fix it with a salvage yard transmission. Websites like www.car-part.com will help you find a transmission which is near you and in good condition. I'm seeing about $900 for one with sub-100k miles. The shop which installs it should put in fresh transmission fluid and a filter too, which can help prevent issues down the road.

 

[Vette73]

Yea find a good lowwer milage trans and swap.

Just remember to replace the front and rear seals along with the trans filter.


Or find someone to rebuild it on the side. The kit, bushings, and band are about $150 for all at rockauto.com

 

[ndmrpwr]

For a widely available vehicle like that it's never cost effective to rebuild engines/transmissions. Just get a low mileage used or rebuilt one from a bone yard pull for $500 with core trade and pay someone 2 hours labor to swap it in for you if you can't do it yourself. Well if you know someone anyway, any shop is going to charge you full book labor regardless how long it really takes.

It sounds like you are limited on funds for a new vehicle at the moment, as well as this catching you by surprise. It's better to keep the one you have running. The running rough and bad mileage could very well be related to your busted transmission, and the cruise control is really not a big deal, probably a broken switch or servo.

Buying another vehicle with 120k miles on it, you're looking at taking on another vehicle that is just about to start having the same problems. People sell their cars at 120k got all the good miles out of it and are selling it because transmission service or whatever else is coming up and they are dumping it on someone else.

Can I have some of what your'e smoking? Tribute with awd is almost an all day job on a lift to r&r the tranny.

 

[kalrith]

Thanks for the help, everyone. After looking at countless vehicle at $4k and lower, my wife and I realized that we'd rather have our Tribute than any of those. There are some nice choices around $6k, but we just don't have that much right now.

So, we've decided to keep driving the Tribute until the transmission goes out (a rebuild should cost the same regardless, right?). If we have about $6k saved up by then, then we'll buy a replacement vehicle. If not, then we'll have the transmission rebuilt and keep saving until we can afford something a little better.

 

[1prophet]

For a widely available vehicle like that it's never cost effective to rebuild engines/transmissions. Just get a low mileage used or rebuilt one from a bone yard pull for $500 with core trade and pay someone 2 hours labor to swap it in for you if you can't do it yourself. Well if you know someone anyway, any shop is going to charge you full book labor regardless how long it really takes.

It sounds like you are limited on funds for a new vehicle at the moment, as well as this catching you by surprise. It's better to keep the one you have running. The running rough and bad mileage could very well be related to your busted transmission, and the cruise control is really not a big deal, probably a broken switch or servo.

Buying another vehicle with 120k miles on it, you're looking at taking on another vehicle that is just about to start having the same problems. People sell their cars at 120k got all the good miles out of it and are selling it because transmission service or whatever else is coming up and they are dumping it on someone else.

Can I have some of what your'e smoking? Tribute with awd is almost an all day job on a lift to r&r the tranny.

The same thing the rest of the public is smoking, expecting fine wine but only willing to spend like it was cheap beer, and then they wonder why they end up with a nasty hangover.

For the op
http://www.car-part.com/

 

[kalrith]

Cliffs: See update in OP.

I decided to not fix the Tribute. Even after fixing the transmission, there are other things wrong with it. The cruise doesn't work. It either uses or leaks oil (I think it uses it). It's been running really rough and needs at least another $100 in parts (with me doing the work) and possibly more. The gas mileage has been awful lately (15 mpg with mixture of city/hwy and 19mpg pure hwy), so that's been draining money like crazy. In addition to that, if we can get $500 to $1,000 out of selling the Tribute, then we're looking at somewhere around $2,000 to $2,500 to fix it, not including the gas difference.

We were looking at older (~1998) Camrys and Accords with around 120k miles for around $4,000. My wife's grandfather used to be a used car salesman and still knows a lot of the dealers in his town. He sold us a 2006 Suzuki Forenza with 73k miles on it for only $4,500. He "claims" he only made $100 on it, but either way, it's in good shape and much newer and with fewer miles than anything else we had looked at. It's got a few dings and scratches, needs 2 new tires, and needed all the 60k mile maintenance done, but other than that it looks to be in great shape.

It needed the 60k maintenance done, which was scary since the timing belt has cracks in it and it has an interference engine. It also has a leaky valve gasket and a couple recalls. The dealer's taking care of all that today with only $170 in labor for the timing belt (I bought one for $20 off of rockauto).

We've been getting 25mpg with a mixture of city and highway. We drive about 15,000 miles per year, so at $3.50/gallon, we'll save $1400 per year compared to the Tribute's abysmal 15mpg. Even when we first got it, it only got 18mpg mixed, so it's not like a tune-up would make a big difference there.

 

[A5]

My wife has a Forenza (2004 model I think), and I really don't like it from a fit and finish and driving feel standpoint. That said, it still runs without any major maintenance issues (so far) so I guess I can't be too bad :shrug:.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Push it off a cliff...

 

[zCypher]

congrats on the new ride!

 

[rh71]

Cliffs: Should I spend $1500-$1800 on a transmission rebuild for an SUV with 162k miles on it, or buy a replacement vehicle for $4,000 (all we can afford right now)?

First, that's pretty cheap for a rebuild in my experience. Second, there is no guarantee that a REBUILT (using old parts) tranny is going to last for many more years. Mine died after 2 years. Damn you GM. The rest of the vehicle at 116k was still in great working order. Never again with a rebuild. RIP.

 

[kalrith]

Thanks, zCypher! I know the Forenza isn't the greatest car out there, but I think it was my best choice. I wanted something with 4 doors, "enough" room (i.e. didn't have to be huge, but couldn't be a 10yo Civic), good gas mileage (~25mpg mixed), and under $4,500.

Considering that my other options were ~1999 Camrys and Accords with 130k+ miles on them, I think the Forenza was a good choice. Now, compared to the CTS-V, M3, etc. that everyone else on this forum has, it's total crap, but I just can't keep up with you guys .

We also got it for such a good price that even if we hated it, we could probably sell it in a year for more than we paid for it. But, we actually like how it drives. The reviews talk about anemic acceleration, poor handling, etc., but that's not a problem IMO. If I have any complaint about the car, it's the interior. It's a bit on the cheaper side, but it's probably comparable to other cars in its class.

Suzuki's 100k warranty is also fully transferable. We had a leaky valve cover gasket and 2 recalls on the car ($300 worth of work) that was done for free.

Anyways, we'll probably drive it as our main car for a few years and then get a nicer car as our main car and demote the Forenza to our second car.