OK, that was about the worst result I could have expected

[winterbadger]

The shop finally called back with an analysis on the car: the transmission is shot.

That makes sense given what I experienced on Saturday night.

They are quoting me $1,025 to replace it (presumably with a rebuild), which doesn't seem too bad for a transmission job, and they'll warrant it for three months. That's approximately its trade-in value right now (well, were it running), so I'm willing to invest that much into it so as not to have to go out *today* and find a new car.

But it does suggest its lease on life is not great. It is 12 years old and has over 150,000 miles on it. I don't know enough about cars to know what else serious could go wrong (the tranny blowing out is pretty darn bad), but various pumps, cylinders, and so forth, plus the various components of the engine itself can all still go bust. I'll ask the guy at the shop what he thinks and if there's anything else he can see that is going to need replaced soon, but I'm thinking it may be time to go back to Carmax and find something that may last a little longer.

On the good news, as I was searching through all the paperwork that's piled up unsorted in my study to retrieve all the things I'll need for doing my taxes, I found what I had thought was a pay stub from work and therefore not opened, but when I *did* open it, it turned out to be a *check* from work for $150. Now, I'm not quite sure why I was getting it, but it will almost cover the penalty for cancelling my tickets. So that's something at any rate.

Comments

[azbound.livejournal.com]

If you trust your mechanic, ask him what he thinks, if it's even worth it to keep it. I'd probably ask if they can give you a longer warranty for slightly more money.

When my wiring harness went (HUGE expense), I asked if it was even worth replacing. Chris said "Brooke, your car only has 220K on it! Of course it's worth it!" ;-)

[winterbadger]

Thanks! That's a good suggestion about the warranty. He did seem to think it was worth replacing the transmission, and I do trust him to be honest with me.