How To Save On Transmission Replacement Cost – Car ownership can be thrilling at times. While one day your car can be seemingly completely fine, the next day you might be dealing with a catastrophic engine failure. This is one of the main reason why people would advise you to set aside an emergency sum of cash to brace yourself for such a possibility.
One such problem that poses a major headache is transmission failure. Automotive transmissions nowadays are such a complicated component with thousands of intricate parts that have to all work together flawlessly to deliver an optimal experience. Then again, it’s a monumental challenge to reduce the amount of moving parts in a transmission. And with many manufacturers phasing out the manual transmission, automatic is the way forward. Nowadays, to match stringent emissions law, manufacturers have to increase the number of gears available, from 7-speed to 9-speed, and eventually 10-speed.
With more moving parts, complex hydraulic circuitry and comprehensive electronics managing the transmission, there’s an even bigger concern for a transmission failure than ever before. A hefty bill comes should your transmission fail. In most cases, a transmission failure translates to a complete replacement. However, there are some ways one can save on transmission replacement cost.
The one way, and perhaps the only way for some to go on about their transmission failure is to get rid of their car. This means either you have to find someone willing to take your car or scrap it. The latter might be the way to go if you have a really tired, clapped-out banger. Here, replacing the transmission or attempting repairs often proves fruitless since it generally costs more than the car itself. When you combine the headache from sourcing the right transmission, labor and time spent parked, it’s just not worth it.
However, if you have something that’s a bit newer, with perhaps only a hundred thousand miles or so, then selling it off might be the better option. A car with a transmission issue isn’t worth all that much to dealers, but you can expect a thousand dollars or so for your trouble. This is all dependant on your mileage, model and year of course. If you wish to fetch a bit more cash, then you’d have to opt for selling it privately. This means posting it for sale and playing the long game.
Committed to getting your car repaired? Don’t fret, there are still methods you can take to help ease the pain on your bank account. Source a used transmission from either a local used parts store, online or junkyard. The quickest and easiest way is definitely getting one from a local spares dealer, but if you have a particularly exotic model it might prove tricky to find one nearby. Therefore you’d have to resort to online forums, used parts store or with a bit of luck, the local junkyard.
Of course, the good thing with finding one locally is that you can actually scrutinize the transmission in person. Additionally, any reputable used spare parts store would offer a warranty period, ranging from a month to half a year. While short, it’s better than nothing at all, something you have to deal with if you locate your transmission online or even from the junkyard. The junkyard is one of the most affordable ways to go, but junkyard stocks are inconsistent and you’d have to remove it yourself.
All three means of finding a replacement transmission though have one qualm, it’s not entirely reliable. With a local spares dealer, it’s not as blind. Nevertheless, you’re taking a risk whenever you buy something that’s pulled off from a half-cut or a scrapper. With something like a transmission unit, you’d only know whether if it’s working properly or not after getting it fitted, so that’s a lot of trouble to go through to face yet another failure. In some cases, it might be worse, where you encounter a failure down the road, rather than at the shop.
To avert that, you can have your current transmission sent to a transmission repair specialist to get it looked at. Be sure to stick with a dependable specialist, because transmission repair is a highly convoluted job that’s very time-consuming to do properly. Compared with transmission replacement cost, this can turn out to be much more expensive in the end, but done by an experienced specialist this will last you a long time. They often provide a warranty on their job as well. If you have a rare car, this is the way to go. Just be sure to find someone trustworthy to carry out this job.
However, getting a transmission rebuilt takes a long time. Therefore, if you can’t wait, you can try your luck at finding a rebuilt or remanufactured transmission. A transmission rebuild is carried out by a technician or specialist, where wear and tear parts and the problem root is fixed. A remanufactured transmission is a complete restoration, where every component is labouriously inspected against original specifications, where known failures are dealt with. The whole process is tedious, but local repair shops or even the remanufacturer may have your model on the shelf if its a common one. They will also offer a considerable warranty for their workmanship.
All of the above are just options one can take to get sort their transmission issue out. Of course, these stand true for transmission replacement cost only. It’s entirely possible that your supposedly failed transmission is just down to a shift solenoid, or sheared selector lever. You can certainly save a lot more if either you or your friend is handy with a wrench. In most cases, replacing a transmission is more affordable than repairing internal faults.
Nowadays, getting a remanufactured transmission direct from a remanufacturer is an increasingly plausible and popular option. You save on the markup that’s incurred by your local transmission dealer or dealership. Furthermore, a remanufactured transmission is pretty much a brand new transmission, where everything is restored back to factory specifications.
Just be sure that whichever option you decide to opt for, you stick with big names. It’s not worth the trouble of saving some money just to be left stranded on the side of a road once again due to a bad transmission. Save on transmission replacement cost, but be smart about it.