to fix or not to fix?

**m3racer** · 05-01-2008, 01:21 PM

Sell it! Don't spend the $$ on a new or rebuilt tranny.

**jodi** · 05-01-2008, 01:32 PM

Sell it for what? It's an 8 year old rusty car with close to 100,000 miles that doesn't run. What do you think I could get for it? Care to elaborate on why you don't think I should get it rebuilt? I'm a little (ok, a lot) car dense.

Something else to consider: Being nearly four months pregnant, if my DH can get a permanent teaching position for next year, I plan to become a SAHM, at least for a while. So, it may not be wise to get ourselves locked into a car payment, especially for a newer car that we won't be using that much. However, DH is still leaning toward getting a new one...I'm leaning slightly in the other direction toward fixing the old...still a lot of decisions to make!

**humandraydel** · 05-01-2008, 01:54 PM

If everything else is (or seems to be) ok, I would probably fix it. A brand new car will be more expensive to insure, in addition to the monthly payment. Assuming a payment of $350 and increased insurance of $50 per month, for a total of $400, it will take 4-5 months to payoff. So, if after fixing the car it lasts longer than 4-5 months, it will have been worth it.

As for selling it, you could probably get book value minus the cost of the repairs. It's probably worth $5-6k so subtract $2k and you could probably get $3k. If you know a car mechanic who is a "wheeler-dealer", he might take it off your hands quickly for $2k, repair it, and sell it for a quick profit.

I also wanted to mention you should consider getting another price quote. Play one off the other and you might get it fixed for $1600.

**Thrif-t** · 05-01-2008, 01:59 PM

Well I'm car dense too but I'd probably get the transmission or whatever rebuilt since you paid cash for it and have the rebate coming to cover the expense. And since you don't have enough saved up for a down payment on a new car. I'm just a little cautious about taking on debt with the economy the way it is right now. And especially if you're considering being a SAHM..I'd want to have as much paid off as possible. HTH, good luck!!

**LuxLiving** · 05-01-2008, 03:00 PM

If you decide not to fix it, why not look for a good reliable certified USED vehicle?

**noppenbd** · 05-01-2008, 04:28 PM

I was ready to chime in to fix it but I thought I would try Kelley Blue Book first. I was surprised at how little this vehicle is worth! A 2000 Windstar with 90K in fair-good condition prices out at $2300-2700. When you subtract the cost to fix the transmsision and A/C leak, it might be time to bite the bullet and get another used vehicle. Call around to see what you can get for the vehicle as-is (try used car dealerships, mechanics, junkyards). Then add in your stimulus and see what you can get. You should be able to find a decently priced reliable used vehicle as LuxLiving suggested.

**m3racer** · 05-01-2008, 05:08 PM

If you don't think having to rebuild a tranny is a serious money pit than I don't know what to say. Spending $1800 for a car that's barely worth that amount doesn't make any sense. Plus, if your car is in such bad shape, what makes you think that something else won't break down? I would sell your vehicle for what it's worth and buy a reliable used car. Of course this all depends on your budget. If it's only $2000 than you're in a difficult situation.

**Seeker** · 05-01-2008, 05:11 PM

Jodi -- a dilemma for sure.

You're leaning toward repairing for reasons I understand. Your DH is looking to replace for other reasons, I understand. Frankly I'm not sure what I'd do in your situation.

It's a 2000 model that you purchased in 2003. Do you know its history? Specifically its repair history prior to purchase?

Does it have a trailer hitch? Have you been pulling trailors or climbing hills? Have you been putting any kind of stress on the transmission or maybe this was a problem before you even owned the van and time was a factor in totally destroying the transmission?

Transmission repairs are the 2nd most expensive type of repair. And sometimes the repair does not work correctly either.

If you "repair" what happens if a year or two from now the transmission fails again? Or the engine fails? A 9-year old car with almost 100k miles (and American built) may not last too much longer anyway (sorry, I'm biased toward Japanese car manufacturing processes over American).

This is an extremely good site with what to look for when buying used cars:
What to look for when buying a used car, how to check a used car prior purchase - illustrated guide.

Please look at the "How to discover transmission problems" section of the above link.

Other things to maybe consider:

Do you really need a van with two small kids?

Mechanical failure with two small kids in the van will not be very comfortable either. Especially without AC.

The air conditioning issue may be more troublesome in some states than others.... but that's not going to get better by itself either.

Noppenbd also makes a very good point below:

Originally posted by noppenbd View Post

I was ready to chime in to fix it but I thought I would try Kelley Blue Book first. I was surprised at how little this vehicle is worth! A 2000 Windstar with 90K in fair-good condition prices out at $2300-2700. When you subtract the cost to fix the transmsision and A/C leak, it might be time to bite the bullet and get another used vehicle. Call around to see what you can get for the vehicle as-is (try used car dealerships, mechanics, junkyards). Then add in your stimulus and see what you can get. You should be able to find a decently priced reliable used vehicle as LuxLiving suggested.

When any mechanical item is going to cost 33% of the total worth of an item to repair, it's pretty much time to replace. I've replaced 16 year old washing machine and dryer last year because the repair people were wanting $500 for a new motor.

I know that cars even used cars are way more expensive.... but if you repair the old Ford, you probably will not get any of that money back and maybe 6 months or 1 year later you will need to throw in more money for repairs of one nature or another.

Guess I'm sorta leaning toward replacement myself.

**jodi** · 05-01-2008, 06:02 PM

Thanks for all the input so far. I'll try to answer a few questions. Other than the a/c, it's been a fairly decent car. There are a lot of little quirks that are annoying (which is why I dislike the car in general - interior lights that never went off, so I had to pull the bulbs; seatbelts that won't retract and get caught in the door; rust spots - little, but again, annoying), but it's been a decent car otherwise. DH looked up the Kelley Blue Book value and got about $2800. If I have to subtract the cost of the repairs, it seems people are saying I could sell it for about $1000, but I really don't see that happening. I don't think I could get more than a few hundred for it as is.

The air conditioning is really an issue - but only for three months out of the year here in NY. I can personally live without it if I have to, but I'd rather not when I have my kids in the car. I can roll my window down, but it gets sweltering in the back of the van where they have to sit. However, the times when I have to take the kids somewhere but do not have access to DH's car are few and far between. I mgiht be able to get away with not getting it fixed right away.

Yes, I do need a minivan, an SUV, or a wagon. I have one child in a booster seat (for about three more years), one in a car seat for another year (and then in a booster seat), and one on the way come October - so that's another car seat for 4 years. We cannot fit them in the back of DH's Sentra, or any other sedan as far as I know (but if you do know of an alternative, I'd love to hear it!).

I know what caused the transmission problem, and it wasn't wear and tear from past use. It was a transmission leak that I didn't know I had until my car stopped changing gears on the highway one day. By the time I got off the highway (with my two young kids in the car), I had probably done enough damage to warrant replacing the transmission. Stupid, maybe. But I drove a few miles to get to a safe place to stop. I didn't know until after I stopped what the problem was, when I saw the leaking fluid. By that time, the damage was probably already done. The leak was fixed already, but the guy who fixed it could not repair the transmission damage and referred me elsewhere - hence the $1800 estimate.

I have to call the shop in the morning to tell them to move ahead or not. We've talked it over, and I'm fairly sure (though still not 100%) that I'm going to do the repair. Looking at the big picture, and assuming that I am going to be a SAHM in 6 months, I cannot justify spending $10k on a "new" (used) car when we will be losing my income and, basically, reducing our dependency on having two cars. If I am not working, we can basically get by on one car (we live with my parents and have use of their car almost anytime, as neither work outside of the home, so I would not be "stranded" at any time). I just cannot justify taking on a payment right now, even if fixing a beat up old car is not the most logical thing to do (and I ackowledge, it's not!). I checked out used minivans and couldn't find anything under $10k unless it was 6-8 years old, and then I might just be taking on someone else's problems. I don't want to spend $6k just to get a car that's as old as the one I have. I guess the monster I know is better than the one I don't, especially with a "new" transmission

**jodi** · 05-01-2008, 06:08 PM

Just to clarify: I guess I insinuated in an earlier post that we would purchase a "new" car - but what I meant was "new to us"! Frankly, we couldn't swing the payments on a new car, even if we wanted to take the depreciation on one! We would only be looking at used cars, in the 3-6 year old range - but even they are higher than I had anticipated. And, quite frankly, I wouldn't want to buy a Ford again (and probably not even American, though my parents swear by their Dodge Caravan), which would add several thousand more to the price (if I could even find a used Toyota or Nissan around here, which are hard to come by).

**jIM_Ohio** · 05-01-2008, 06:47 PM

get the new tranny and then set aside $100/month or so for a replacement car.

**m3racer** · 05-01-2008, 07:01 PM

Purchasing a used car shouldn't be a guessing game. I wouldn't be concerned about buying a high mileage vehicle that's 6-8 yrs old. You must get a PPI.

**SnoopyCool** · 05-02-2008, 02:37 AM

I would also get it fixed and set aside $ to buy a new one.

As far as the a/c... has anyone talked to you about the evaporator core? Mine did that last year (having to add freon every year) because the core was bad. Luckily, my dad is a mechanic and it was fixed for the price of the core. The only thing I know is that to have it fixed you have to take out the dashboard of your car because it sits just above the passenger's side floorboard in the front (typically, I'm not for sure about your car).

Good luck.

**bjl584** · 05-02-2008, 08:35 AM

Fix it, but call around first. The quote you gave seems high to me. I had some tranny work done recently for considerably less. Are you sure that the tranny is shot? It could be a bad module or pump. If so, it's only a couple hundred to repair. Pull out the dipstick on the tranny and inspect the fluid. If it looks and smells burned, then you have major transmission problems. Probably bad clutches or bands. But, if the fluid is red and there are no particles in or burnt smell, then your problems are probably much less severe. Most gargare don't want to do the small work, so they will tell you that you need a whole new tranny under the assumtion that you know nothing about cars and won't know any better. I would urge you to call around to a few places and have a couple people look at it before doing anything.

As for the A/C. Get yourself a self charging kit (about $35 at any autoparts store) and a can of A/C recharge with oil and stopleak (about $12) and do it yourself. It takes ten minutes. It's not a permenant fix, and you will most likely have to do it every year, but it will save you lots of money and get you through the summer months.

to fix or not to fix?