My question is more about whether to invest more money or to let the car go. I bought it in Sept. with 66000 miles on it 2000.00 and every mechanic who has touced it says I have gotten a great deal. It drove a little funny and i had someone go over it. I thought it was the transmission but I thought the same about mylast car nad brought it all around the Pioneer Valley paying 75 dollars to be told nothing is wrong. So when I thought this car had a problem, I thought I was not going to go down this road again, even though this time a friend confirmed that it did drive funny in the highway slowing down and speeding up. I called my mechanic who suggested a fuel additive which I never did. In the begining of January I had timing belt and water pump replaced for 700.00. My mechanic is great but really expensive, I did not mention that it was increasingly driving funny. Two weeks later I took it to two different trannie guys both who confirmed I have a problem. I did a flush and fliter replace and it still drives the same. The trannie guy says he can do a rebuild for 1100.oo to 2200.00 but can not be sure until he goes inside to check it out. I make no money at my job. And am not sure if I should go for the repair or let the car go. What could I get for the car if I were to try to sell it honestly. It now has 73000 miles on it. The trannie guy said not to drive it on long trips, which was the whole reason I bought a different car to visit friends and family. The car has some rust cause I bought it from an old guy who hot everything when he drove. His daughter would have given my back my money if I had found out about the problem in Sept. when I noticed it. I was just so embarrassed by my thinking I had a trannie problem in my last car. I am the butt of jikes about it with friends and family and could not face it all again. So i told myself it had to be something else.
My question is more about whether to invest more money or to let the car go. I bought it in Sept. with 66000 miles on it for 2000.00 and every mechanic who has touched it says I have gotten a great deal. It drove a little funny and i had someone go over it for purchase after the fact but when i still could have gotten my money back. I thought it was the transmission but I thought the same about my last car and had brought it all around the Pioneer Valley paying 75 dollars to be told nothing is wrong. So when I thought this car had a problem, I thought I was not going to go down this road again, even though this time a friend confirmed that it did drive funny in the highway slowing down and speeding up. I called my mechanic who suggested a fuel additive which I never did. In the begining of January I had the timing belt and water pump replaced for 700.00. My mechanic is great but really expensive, I did not mention that it was increasingly driving funny but had before. My fault I just kept thinking it the way my carwas shifting was operator error. Two weeks later I took the car to two different trannie guys both who confirmed I have a problem. I did a flush and filter replace and it still drives the same. The trannie guy says he can do a rebuild for 1100.00 to 2200.00 but can not be sure until he goes inside to check it out. I make no money at my job. And am not sure if I should go for the repair or let the car go? What could I get for the car if I were to try to sell it honestly? It now has 73000 miles on it. The trannie guy said not to drive it on long trips, which was the whole reason I bought a different car to visit friends and family. The car has some rust cause I bought it from an old guy who hot everything when he drove. His daughter would have given my back my money if I had found out about the problem in Sept. when I noticed it. I was just so embarrassed by my thinking I had a trannie problem in my last car. I am the butt of jokes about it with friends and family and could not face it all again. So i told myself it had to be something else.
All I can say is to make sure you’ve got the right tranny fluid in. It requires the Diamond SP3 ATF, sold by mitsubishi and Hyundai. If they put dexron with additive then that might not be as good. You never said what you mean by “shifting funny”, it might be an engine problem after all, you need a good diagnosis.
For whatever it is worth, I bought my '95 (same car) in 2002 with a bad tranny, put in a used tranny in for $800 including labor and have been good so far, though gotta say it sometimes has a delay shift when cold, so I am waiting for the inevitable, but this is 40KM later.
Hey Galant,
Thanks for the reply. It is definatley the tranny. By shifting funny I mean it delays shifting then knocks/bolts/slams ahead foward. $800 including labor seems decent to me. How much was the used tranny and how much was labor? Did you have a mechanic who works in a garage do it for you, a tranny specialist or did you use a gypsy mechanic? Ipuit the mitsubishi fluid in it. But used a generic filter.
The $800 was in 2002. $500 for the tranny and $300 for labor. Check on Car-parts.com, see if there is any in your area. Some yards will install. I used a then local and friend mech, he was a regular mech but having been a friend I knew I can bug him for minor issues. Unfortunately I have moved since and I am sure in my new area things are going to be much more expensive. Make sure you get at least a month warranty on the used tranny if you decide to go that route. The car is really not worth much without a tranny anyways. Mine now has 140KM, so this time is the tranny goes–>the car goes.
Thanks. This is such a huge economic mistake for, after the last car which i ended up damaging the automatic transmission myself cause i was sure there was something wrong with it. IN the end less than a month after i had the transmission rebuilt the computer went which may have been the problem all along. I just thought I was imagining it with this car like I was with the last car and could have given the car back to the seller. I can’t think about that anymore, I did not say anything and now the car is mine. I make so little money that the 2000.00 I paid and the 1300.00 or so I have put into it are a huge percent of my net income a year. But you are right the car is no good without the tranny. I just wish I were a mechanic cause the car has really low miles for its age and feels solid and if I could do the repair myself I would be able to afford it. If I were a mechanic I prob. could afford a new car and not be stressing about a 1997.LOL. I have this thing though about selling to a mechanic(one tranny guy I broght it to started to ask how much i paid and mentioned what a good car it is and i can see the handwriting on the wall if I can not afford to pay for the repair.) cause I can not afford a repair, which I have done in the past. I would rather see the car rot than have someone capitilize in my being poor.(perhaps I am a little bitter?) It just really burns me up. Thanks for your advice, the transmissions on car-parts.com seemed cheaper and had less miles than some i found on ebay. So in general are people more in favor of replacing the tranny with a used one or with rebuilding the transmission?
N.
Oh well, I should mention that a used tranny is a crapshoot. You might be buying someone else’s headache. Thats why I said get a warranty. I hear you on the financial situation, I just don’t see getting rid of this car helping much. What are you going to buy? Or maybe you can survive without a car? Anything you buy in the used car market is subject to the same potential problems and maybe more. You “might” be able to change the tranny yourself. You will need a repair manual and lots of tools and some help.
Thanks for all your advice. I got a chuckle out of the idea I might be able to changee the trany myself. I am not so mechanical as I have a huge problem with my motor coordination. I could read the manuel and guide someone else to do it, I have good instincts that way. But I guess I will let a mechanic fix it. I think you are right about what else am I going to buy. I do live near my work and thought about taking it off the road a few months to try to save money for the repair. Again thanks for your advice.