We are looking at a very clean, well kept 2006 Fusion SE- but at 114,000 miles it had a new transmission installed. It’s for our 19 year old son in college who would have low mileage on it. We checked CarFax already and its clean except for the transmission. What problems could we expect buying this car?
FROM GnR- It currently also has 114,000 miles on it- new transmission was put in one month ago
There is no way for anyone to know without a thorough pre-purchase inspection and even that is no guarantee of a problem free car.
You should be aware that Carfax is notoriously incomplete and/or inaccurate so do not take a CF report as the thorough history of a vehicle. CF is used by dealers as more of a sales tool than anything else.
As to the new transmission that could mean anything. Many consider a 100k miles used transmission from a boneyard to be a new transmission when the only thing new is that it’s new to the vehicle it was installed in. If it’s claimed to be new then make sure it means just that.
I’m not trying to be negative here but the vehicle is 8 years old with over a 100k miles on it so any type of problem may crop up at any time.
If the original trans failed due to lack of maintenance then that could raise questions about lack of maintenance on everything else.
You should certainly pay a mechanic to check the car over. Any used car is a gamble, but the more you can find out about the car, the better. Any car you purchase needs to have a working transmission. I wouldn’t pay a premium price for a used car just because it has a new transmission. Try to find out what “new” transmission means. Was the transmission in the car rebuilt, was a remanufactured transmission installed in the car, or was the transmission installed from another car that was in a salvage yard?
At any rate, you state that your son won’t be putting a lot of miles on the car. If the mechanic gives it an o.k. in his inspection, and the price is in line according to researching some source like Kelly’s Blue Book, then it might be a good purchase.
If you do buy the car, put aside $500-1000 for repairs, tires, battery, etc. that may be needed.
The new transmission would certainly not improve the vehicle’s value and would in my opinion reduce it somewhat because as OK mentioned lack of maintenance is the usual cause of premature transmission failure. But you might look at the rear bumper for a trailer hitch that shows a great deal of wear. Towing can severely reduce the life of a transmission.
Also, what was the source of the rebuilt transmission?