Is it worth replacing the transmission on our son's 1995 Saab?

Less than one year ago we purchased a car for our 16 year old. It is a 1995 Saab. The transmission started doing funny things after about 8 months of having the car. Last week it stalled and was stuck in gear at an intersection and they had to push it out of the way. The mechanic (where we purchased the car) told us it needs a new transmission - about $1600 to replace. We paid $3600 for it, my son paid 1/2 with his savings. We don’t know what to do - fix it or scrap it? We don’t really have the money to buy another car. Any suggestions?

Is this a manual or automatic? You ought to be able to get a salvage yard transmission installed for far less than $1600. Possibly half that or less. That’s the route I’d go, as it’s not worth much as it is.

This is a Saab…You don’t replace their transmissions for $1600…Junk yard transmissions are usually a real crap-shoot…How many MILES on this car??

About 150,000 miles.

Time to move on…

If it was an '85 Saab with a manual trans I’d probably say replace it. The '95 isn’t the car the '85 was and if it is an automatic definately not. Even on a '95 I might consider replacing a manual trans.

Tough to get another car since you’ll get zippo for a '95 Saab with a blown trans. It doesn’t give you many options. I just spent $2,300 on rebuilding the trans in my '87 Ski boat. Can’t afford a new boat and the old one is fine, except for a crapped out trans. The trans rebuild job is probably more than the “book value” of the boat. But, without the boat there is no more waterskiing!

You have to look at the alternatives. If you don’t replace the trans what can you do? If the kid needs a car this is still the cheapest way to keep him on the road.