Last week I was cruising down the freeway in my 2003 Buick Century between 65-70mph and I ran over a large U joint, off a drive shaft, I couldn’t avoid it safely. Not sure why there was a U joint sitting in the middle of the freeway. I had the car towed to the dealer and they say the transmission needs to be replaced among other things. I read the claim damage report and they are planning on installing an LKQ transmission. In other words a transmission out of a wrecked vehicle, not even a rebuild. Should I dispute this or feel confident in a scrap transmission?? Thanks.
I don’t blame you for being apprehensive but heres the scoop.
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The insurance company should find an LKQ trans. with equal or less miles.
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The trans will have some kind of warranty i.e. 1 year but I am not sure about the labor but if it goes bad maybe the shop can place a labor claim to the salvage yard.
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If you insist on a new or reman trans the insurance comp will tell you to pay the difference between the new/reman and the lkq.
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The salvage yard can offer an extended warranty but you would pay for that.
The dealer does not have much to say in this as the insurance comp is paying.
For what it’s worth, and I know this is apples to oranges, I put a LKQ alternator in my car and put over 100,000 miles on the lkq alternator with no problems.
Hope it all works out.
LKQ, in salvage parlance, means Like Kind Quality. The insurance company does not owe you a new or rebuilt transmission to make you “whole”. They owe you one of LKQ. Did you attempt to drive the car after it lost all of its transmission fluid due to having a hole punched in the pan? Take the deal and don’t complain.
LKQ is also the name of a large chain of salvage yards. Clever huh?
The car was stopped and turned off within 10 seconds of impact. Yes the LKQ transmission is coming from that very chain of salvage yards.
They need to tell you exactly what happened to the transmission. If the case is cracked then yes, you need another one. If one of the pans were damaged, they need to replace the pan. Can you be more specific on the trans damage. They should have told you something other than it needs to be replaced. They need to tell you exactly why.
transman