I need some quick advice:

First, the car:
1997 Acura CL 3.0, approx, 79k miles, good condition, black etc.

The problem:
The car is in the shop for the 2nd time in two weeks. Last week the front-right axle was replaced (normal wear and tear I suppose). This week, radiator leak and a transmission leak. The transmission is where I need your opinion.

The shop tore down the trans and found a worn torque converter seal. The tear-down so far cost around $900. The mechanic does not think that replacing the seal alone will do the trick though. There is apparently a lot of wear around the drive shaft that they will warranty the repair only if I replace the torque converter altogether (+$1000). But as you guys know, the transmission on the 3.0 CLs isn't all that, so it might fall apart soon anyways. So the shop recommends replacing the whole transmission ($3500 total).

So, my options are:
1) Replace seal only and pray. Cost ~$900
2) Replace torque converter and pray. Cost ~$1900
3) Replace whole transmission. Cost ~$3500

The car is totally paid off and on liability insurance only. So the car doesn't cost me much at all. If the repairs start piling up like this though, I'm not sure I want to drive this car much longer though.

What would you guys do?

I'm almost thinking just get it street able again (option 1) and trade it in for a new car. If I want to keep it though, I think I'll need to bite the bullet and go 3) no?

Appreciate your input...

Cheers,
Andre

 

$1900 is way too high to pay if it's not being rebuilt, I paid $2700 for a FULL rebuild with torque convertor and everything else replaced, but yeah, it's gonna get worse. Rebuild or replace it while it's out, trust me

 

good luck with that.............

 

Yep, rebuild or replace...not that that helped me too much; I think my car's just destined to need a new tranny every 2-3 years hahaha

 

It depends where you are financially if it was me , I'd get it running and since you have low mileage you should be able to get something for it and trade it in.

 

For now, I've agreed to replace the torque converter (option 2). Total repair cost with the new radiator is $2500.

The total repair cost for this year (so far):
- Alternator etc. $720
- Front right axle $500
- Radiator + Torque converter $2500

So, almost $4000 this year.

Where are we financially? We've got 2 cars, 1 motorcycle all paid off and liability insurance only. We've bought a house earlier this year with a hefty mortgage payment. No credit card or other debt. We've got some money in the bank as well.

I'd love a new car. It just doesn't seem to make sense.

A new-ish car (2-3 years old) that we would like, would probably cost around $20k minimum. According to kbb.com the CL is only worth about $5k trade-in. So we would be looking at a $200-$300 per month car payment. In addition, financing a car would require comprehensive insurance. Where we live (SoCal), that probably means around $1500-$2000 per year, or another $150-$200 per month.

So it seems like unless the CL is going to cost us $4000+ every year to operate, we'll still save a lot of money for every year that we can squeeze out of it.

I love new cars, but it just doesn't seem to make sense.

But I'm still on the fence on the issue. The day the Acura gets stranded on the side of the road will be the day we'll be new-car shopping .

Cheers,
Andre

 

Btw. our other car is a 1999 VW Golf IV.
It's got almost double the mileage (130000mi) and is giving us far less grief so far...

 

It shouldn't cost you 4 grand a year in maintenance. Unless you're psycho replacing all kinda shit every year, like me.

 

it's prob gonna be downhill if it's fuckin up already. mine lasted almost a year f*cked up,but eventually they all

 

i have two words for you


Dr.


and Evil