I have a 2000 Honda CRV with about 225,000 miles. It’s in good shape, but my transmission (auto 4WD) has failed – after less that 250,000 miles! I took it to a shop and the estimate to replace it with a rebuilt tranny (3 years/100,000 mi warranty) is about $3100.
I love this car, but wonder if it is worth replacing the tranny? One guy told me that the engine (as long as I replace the timing belt periodically and do regular service) should last for another 200,000+ miles. I recently replaced the radiator – and have generally followed regular services.
What do you think? Fix it or take it to the junk yard or ???
If the rest of the car is in good shape - little rust, accessories all work, upholstery isn’t worn out ect. - and you still like the car, - Sure, have it done.
While you are taking on a little risk, it is far less expensive to fix it than to buy a new one. If you listed it for sale the day after its repair, you’d likely get $2500 or so.
I always think of repairs in terms of car payments. That $3100 is 6-7 new car payments. If you get another 2 years out of the car, you’ll be money ahead.
I’m going to share a different, somewhat informed opinion here.
We had a 2003 Honda Odyssey that we bought used in 2007. Last August, the transmission starting acting up at around 120K miles. Knowing this model year had a pretty strong history of transmission problems, I started shopping around for transmission quotes (rebuild or replace). What came back was in the range of $2500-5000, if memory serves. The van was only worth about $2000 at the time. My wife and I really struggled with how to proceed, as the van was paid off and we really didn’t want to take on a car payment. However, we did ultimately decide to trade it in on a used 2012 Odyssey EX-L.
And I can honestly say we’ve never looked back or regretted it. The 2012 has so many more creature comforts than the 2003, rides better/quieter, and gets better MPG. Best of all, my wife is happy with it.
Just food for thought. Yes, you can put a new transmission in yours and perhaps get a few more years. But in the end you’re still stuck with a 16+ year old van, with 2000-era technology (entertainment, safety, and otherwise). I fully realize getting a new (used) vehicle may not be the best financial move… but there are also certain other benefits to be realized as well.
225k on the transmission is pretty good I’d say. Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Larry David would say “pretty, pretty, pretty good” …lol … anyway, I don’t think you got gypped on your transmission service life. Many automatics as reported here fail sooner than that.
If you want to keep the vehicle, I think the best route forward is to see if you can keep the existing transmission, but have it rebuilt. Installing another one, you just can’t be certain what you’re getting is the problem. A rebuilt oem transmission is often better than the one that came with the car new, especially if the rebuild shop offers the various upgrades available to those who require a heavy-duty use transmission. Pressed or molded parts can be replaced with forged or machined-billet parts for example.
hmmm … 225K? … Honda CRV 4wd? … … ok, bottom line, if I had this problem and the only way forward was a replacement transmission, rebuilding the original was not possible, I’d probably sell or junk the vehicle.
I think this is the end of the line, at least if it was me. You might get lucky but chances are you are in for big repair bills over the next 50K miles that would make the car not worth keeping. Good money after bad.