Cost to fix transmission?

[Defrost]

Dh's car is an '01 VW Golf TDI (diesel) and the automatic transmission needs fixed. Dh got the estimate today and the part alone is $2500. That's a low-mileage refurbished part, not even new.

Does that sound right? I know that VWs tend to have high cost for repairs, but that just seems insane. We had half the engine rebuilt for $3K just a few years ago.

 

[kalamos23]

It can't hurt to get another estimate from somewhere else.

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[kalamos23]

Dh said there was a series of years that vws had sealed transmissions, so essentially you had to put a whole new tranny in if one failed. Maybe that is why it is expensive?

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[mum2two]

I had to replace my transmission last fall in my 04 Mercury Monterey minivan, it was 3300, my uncle is a mechanic and verified that the price was decent, it wasn't new, but low mileage and warranteed for life.

 

[QuassEE]

That price is about right, yup! Then another $1000 or so for labour (here, at least)--maybe more. Lots of the VW autos go, so it might be worth considering putting a standard in as the replacement instead. A bit more on labour, but in the longrun it will last. I would never buy a used VW that had an auto in it.

BTW--the differential went in my 2004 XC90 and it would've been $6000 to fix. For a car worth about $10,000. I traded it in and got $6000 for it, feeling like I made out like a bandit. Sometimes you just need to walk away.

-Nicole.

 

[Defrost]

Thanks for the replies. I'm not sure what he's going to do.

 

[Morganthe]

Around March 2008, the automatic transmission in my Camry died on the highway at 110k miles. :thumbsdown: DH had just left on a remote.

The transmission place in town -- very reputable too -- Quoted $2800-3,000 for the repair. I'd always had standard before, so I didn't know there are no 'new' transmissions made for replacements. They rebuilt it completely with kits. Thankfully I had ext. warranty and 'only' had to pay $350 + rental car for the work.

The company provided a year warranty on the transmission. Which was good considering 4 months later, the transmission died again. 2nd gear wouldn't shift into third for a long time and when it did, grinding resulted.
They redid everything, worked great again. Then I drove it for another 9 months and sold the car for $4500. I never relied on it after that.
I still don't trust automatics, there's way too much that can go wrong with them. Very complicated systems.


You have an '01 with poor engine history AND now the tranny died? Not good.
Have they checked to see if there's any recalls with that make/model? Would that be covered under VW's 100k miles/10 year power train warranty at all? Or do they not have that any longer. Apologies if I"m out of touch.

I don't know if I'd do the work or sell it for what I could get for it. It's a 10 year old car. It's overall worth might not be much more than a new transmission costs, which wouldn't justify the expense and work on it.

Good luck. It's a difficult decision.

 

[mommyx4]

That sounds about right. The trans was starting to go in my Expedition El and we were told close to 5k. To say the least, we traded it in for a Suburban. We were honest with them bc our check engine light was on and they said it wasn't a problem. That's a much bigger vehicle, that's why it cost so much. Trans are expensive! Good luck!