In October I was gifted a 2001 Acura TL, only one previous owner who was diligent about maintenance. In February I replaced the alternator, & everything was going well until Friday as I was on the highway on an uphill incline, it was whirring & the RPMs were in 6-7 range & I couldn’t accelerate. When I pulled over, the car was smoking & there was a huge leak. I was told it was a problem with the transmission, more specifically torque converter, and was quoted $2600-$2800 to repair. My question is, is it worth it to repair? It has about 205k miles on it.

 

Sorry about that car. I wouldn't rebuild that transmission; swap it for an AV6 one off an '06-'07 3.0L Accord. If you plan on doing it yourself, there are plenty of threads if you just search "AV6 swap". Good Luck

 

I'm surprised, I thought only the CL's had the bad transmissions. But to answer your question, no I wouldn't bother fixing it. I would instead get a new car. The auto trans from the CL (and I guess also the TL) is notorious for failing and I've heard of people having to repair/replace it 2, 3, even 4 times! And the fact that it already has over 200k miles on it makes it even more of a no.

Did they say they'd repair the transmission? Or just replace it? Because I just got rid of my CL Type S a month or two ago and the mechanic said with a car that old, no one is gonna want to try to repair it for fear of an additional component either braking or failing. 99% of shops are going to prefer to just put a new transmission in. If you do decide to replace the transmission, I heard on these forums that the Accord's V6 is a nearly perfect match to the TL/CL. But, after all the money and time spent frankensteining that together, you could have bought a nice reliable used car for only 2 or 3 more grand.

 

like the above mentioned; the Accord transmission is a better tranny option. Although I dont know how much it would cost to have a shop install the AV6 Tranny, it could possibly be in the same range...of up to $2k, who knows...you would have to shop around and find some good shops by word of mouth to get it under that price.

the question you posed; is it worth it?
well depending on how cheap you can get the av6 tranny installed; could you find another used car for $2500? perhaps a $2500 vehicle would need work too, to get it driving nice.
just some thoughts.

 

man, Ive been looking at 2001-2003 4runners.
there are some cheap ones, and the ads say they are good, but I know I'd probably throw a few grand into one if I got one...

we're talking about; on a good day, I can find a $3500 2001 4runner, with everything looking nice in the pictures, no rust, etc.etc
throw down the cash and get me a truck and then immediately throw like $3k in it for suspension and big wheels.
for about $6-7k, I could have me a mean lookin truck

 

There are some sweet 1st Gen 4runners decked out for crawlin here in SD. Even more baja'd out for the desert (mostly tacomas tho). I'd give it a go at those prices

 

Yeah, in Houston (flat land, mostly mall crawlers) there are way more taco's.
or at least I see mostly tacos, perhaps the early 4runners are too old for the mainstream people..(Ive seen a lot of newer 4unners tho! I LOVE THE TRDPRO COLORS!)

The third gen 4runner has always caught my eye since I grew up in that era of time.

 

"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush..."

It is very possible to pick up an AV6 for less than $1k and have a shop install it for less than what someone's quoted you as rebuilt; others have gone that route instead of doing it themselves.

my transmission went out and my car sat in the garage for 3 years while I thought about who I was going to take it to for a rebuilt transmission...then, I saw the AV6 thread, and decided that I would do it myself. I did and have not regretted it one bit.

if your car is in good to fair condition...I would do it!

If you're concerned about discovering other broken parts along the way, don't be; you can always replace them very inexpensively with the money you saved by going the AV6 route.

if you're concerned it will cost more because you are having someone replace it, don't be; a few people have bought AV6 transmissions and had a shop put them in for less than what you have quoted there. They just print the instructions from that thread and hand over the parts to the mechanic; it's that straightforward and definitely not frankensteined, more like uh....a transmission swap.

 

Only you can answer that question, but before you do, consider this; the car, without a transmission is worth next to nothing; $500 salvage value at best. So, playing Devil's Advocate, if you sell your car for $500 and then add that to the cost of the repair, what kind of a car can you buy in your area for $3,300 which is as nice as your TL? If you cannot think of any, then you have your answer, fix the TL.

 

where did the 'huge leak' come from? It might be coming from the radiator breaking and dumping all your trans fluid.


I"m with others and wouldn't repair the trans and just drop in an AV6 transmission (from an accord 2006/2007 year) if you feel like keeping the car. it may set you back about $1500-$2000 but you'll have a stout car to last you a while.