my transmission needs replacing on 98 honda accord. the dealer wants 2,700 installed for a factory rebuilt with a 36,000 mile warrenty. Is this a fair price, should I put that much money in a 98 accord with 120,000 miles? It has a sunroof, leather seats and otherwise runs well.
IF the rest of the car is OK, I would fix the transmission. A specialty transmission shop, not a national chain, could rebuild it for less than the dealer quotes. The dealer warranty is good; you would get about one year warranty from a private shop.
Another option is a good used transmission either a low mileage imported from Japan where they scrap cars at an early age (regardless of condition), or an American wrecking yard. Your mechanic would have to make sure it’s good, however.
$2700 buys you next to nothing on the used car market, and your car’s mileage is low enough for it to have lots of life left.
Good Luck!
Don’t have it done at a dealer. Find an independant shop to do it that will also give you a warranty, it’ll likely be far less than the dealer. In that case it will be worth it.
I would find a good, reputable, local shop & get a 2nd opinion & estimate on a rebuild if necessary.
But I was actually thinking that $2700 for an installed factory rebuild w/ a 3/36K warranty was pretty darned good.
And, as noted above, if you haven generally maintained the car and it has no other looming major issues, then I would consider it well worth fixing.
It sounds like a fair deal to me for a factory reman with a 36k miles warranty and it would be a far safer bet than going to another shop that may use a reman unit of unknown quality. Even with the latter you would probably be looking at that much money or close to it along with a shorter warranty period.
A 98 Accord with only 120k miles should have a lot of life left in it so I would say go for it. If you trade it off for a new car you may lose 2700 dollars in interest payments in the 1st year.
Spend the time to find a good Mom & Pop transmission shop, LOOK at their operation and TALK with them. $2000 should do it. And you might get a BETTER warranty.
You have little choice. Your car is scrap metal unless you have it fixed. With a new transmission, it’s value will be enhanced to a savvy buyer who KNOWS what a transmission costs. While shopping for transmissions, avoid low-ball quotes, $1200-$1400, those are come-on deals. After they tear your transmission apart, they will call and say “We have found unexpected problems. You need a new reverse clutch servo and an overdrive gear-set, looks like $1000 more” This is a COMMON sales tactic.
Thanks for all the replies. how do I find out if a shop has a good reputation.
Is a transmission replacement at 120k something reasonable? If a replacement, rather than a rebuild or just service is really needed, I’m wondering if the original tranny wasn’t abused in some way (including lack of maintenance). If so, the value of the rest of the car would be suspect. Did the OP buy this car new or used?
Depends on the car. In our family we had a 1995 Windstar (transmission rebuilt @ 63k), a 1995.5 Windstar (transmission rebuilt @ 68k) , a 1998 Windstar (transmission rebuilt @ 65k), a 2001 Windstar (transmission rebuilt @ 66k) and a 1995 Taurus wagon (transmission rebuilt @ 35k, replaced @ 60k, replaced again @ 75k, and the went out @ 120k). Personally I had the transmission go out on my Bronco @ 127k, it has 197k on it now.
the car has been properly maintained as long as i have owned it. i bought it with 80,000 miles on it and it came with a maintenance log so i think the previous owner took good care of it also. i’m just following what the honda dealer told me. also, how often should transmission fluid be replaced?
All of those sound quite early to me. With proper fluid changes and maintenance, as well as reasonable driving, my understanding is that an automatic should go well over 100k before major service is needed.
how often should transmission fluid be replaced?
What does your owner’s manual say? A typical figure is around 30,000 miles.
That dealer price is a very good price for that 98. I would go with the dealer. A Honda reman with a 36k warranty at that price, I would definately jump at it. As far as the servicing goes on your Honda transmission, Drain and refill every 25-30k miles regardless of what the owners manual says. In fact if it says anything else, tear that page from the manual and service every 25-30k. Your transmission is very easy to service. The filter can not be changed without removal and disassembly of the transmission so what you are going to do since there is no pan, you are going to remove the drain plug, let the trans drain, replace the plug then refill using ONLY Genuine HONDA ATF. Servicing tis automatic is easier, and faster than doing an oil change on your engine so there is no excuse not to service it every 25-30k.
transman
Ideally yes, but sometimes manufactures take short cuts. Ford did with the AX4S transmission used in the Taurus/Windstars. They used aluminum instead of steel for certain parts, the valve body being the most glaring example, so those transmissions didn’t hold up well, even if you changed the fluid religiously and drove like a saint.
I have no idea why you’ve been plagued with so many multiple transmission failures but there has to be more behind this.
Ford used aluminum instead of steel on some parts? They all do and it’s not done with the intent of causing transmission failure. I don’t think there’s ever been a transmission made for any car to ever hit the market that has not suffered a design flaw or two.
Your comment about the “valve body being the most glaring example” because it’s made out of aluminum also raises a question or two.
Show me a car (any car for the last jillion years) that has a valve body made out of steel or plastic. They’re all aluminum. ???
The replacement parts used on the rebuilds are steel. It’s rare that to have problem with the AX4S once it’s been rebuilt to updated specs. All the Windstars save for the 1995.5 model were company cars that saw alot of highway mileage but were maintained by the book. As for the valve body, the aluminum stock unit is prone to cracking. After have dozen rebuilds, I consider myself a zen master on the subject 
Frequent indeed! I have had automatic cars since 1965, and all transmissions have been serviced regularly. The ONLY TRANSMISSION REPAIR we ever had was on a 1971 Comet 6 with a C-4 transmission at about 65,000 miles. I pulled a trailer a little too hard with it. The repair was $185 in 1976. All other transmissions lasted at least the life of the car without repair work. And we pulled trailers with 8 of our past cars.
There is a general consensus in this forum that one should avoid dealers once the warranty is over and also avoid chain repair centers. I agree with those views in general.
However, a friend had the tranny in Dodge Caravan rebuilt at a small independent shop. The shop either had some sort of insurance, belonged to some sort of association of independent rebuilders, because they gave my friend a warranty that was good ‘nationwide’.
The following month, he loaded up the Caravan and headed for Disney World. Predictably, the tranny did not make it. It turned out that the ‘nationwide’ warranty was worthless. My friend would have been WAY WAY better off to have paid $2700 and gotten a dealer warranty.
So where does the valve body crack and most importantly, why?
I think you just talked me into having the dealer do the trans. thanks.