I have a a 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee with 226,00 miles on it. I love this jeep, and I have only had to rebuild the transmission several years ago, 2006. However, it seems that the transmission is going again. I took it to my mechanic and for $60.00 he said it is PROBABLY the transmission. So know I am faced with a dilemma, fix my jeep and move on or buy a new used car in these tough economic times(my husband has no job. What would you do? Do you agree with my mechanic who says everything will start falling apart now or my janitor who says it a great jeep if I just keep servicing it??
I am a keep your old car as long as you can type of guy. There are so many reasons to keep an old car, especially now. The truth is that a new car will cost you a payment every month, minimum around $200 to around $600 each month. Then there is the issue of car insurance. Since you don’t own the car, you must pay to protect the bank’s investment. Which if you are a proven very safe driver will cost you around $1,000 a month.
So a new car may cost around $1,600 a month just for the car payment and the insurance. But wait, you need to pay for the scheduled maintenance.
What is it costing you to keep your old car on the road?
Thanks so very much for your response. It just doesn’t make sense to me to get rid of a perfectly good car because of the transmission but literally EVERYONE but one man has said its a good car keep it. Cheers
Can you describe the symptoms that lead you to believe that the transmission is going? There are salvage yards full of these–you might also consider a used transmission.
Yes of course sure. When I stop the jeep after I first start it, after warming it up in the morning, it cuts out. I live at the bottom of a hill so once I get to the top and I stop it ALWAYS cuts out. Also a couple of weeks ago on the highway I was coming off the exist and merging into traffic and the jeep was not shifting as I speed-ed up. I pulled over to the side of the road. Finally when I park after a stopping and starting errands the car doesn’t go into reverse even though I moved it to reverse. My mechanic said he couldn’t tell for sure that it was the transmission until he pulled it. Does this all make any sense?
Ask around among people that you know for the best local, independent transmission shop in your area. Take the Jeep there for an evaluation.
Transmission diagnosis and work is a specialty. Your mechanic might be able to tell whether a symptom you have is transmission related. But s/he probably knows transmissions about as well as s/he knows elementary particle physics. Or, to put it another way, taking a transmission problem to a general mechanic is like taking a brain tumor to your general practitioner.