'98 Accord auto trans trouble

My son just called from two hours south of here reporting that the auto
trans in his '98 Accord is "burned up" and needs replaced or repaired.
It's a 2.3 four cyl with 102,000 miles on it. He bought the car at a
Honda dealer just over three years ago. The car was one of the Honda
Certified ones.
They are saying replacement with one from a salvage yard will be $2500.
I think it's a little steep. I told him to call some of the independent
shops and get a price from them.
Anyone out there been down this road before? bob

 

N.E.Ohio Bob, wrote the following at or about 8/14/2006 1:48 PM:

Not with a Honda but about three weeks ago I wrote a check to a GM shop
for a Goodwrench remanufactured tranny on my father's Buick Century.
The tab was a bit over $3300 exclusive of towing charges and some other
work performed while it was in the shop.

Even that surprised me as the tariff for a Goodwrench remanufactured
tranny on my own, newer Park Avenue which was replaced just two years
ago came to just over $2500 exclusive of towing.

Strange as it may seem, at least in my instance the GM service and
tranny was by far the cheapest route to go. The shop I had the car
taken too when it crapped out was some distance from my home but a
square shooter. He quickly diagnosed the tranny as DOA and gave me some
options with quality remanufactured trannys (NOT in-house). Those were
a bit high and when I checked a couple of other non-GM outfits, well,
you could have knocked me over when the local GM shop came in not only
with the lowest price but the best warranty on the new tranny.

The OEM tranny carried a 36 month/36,000 mile warranty. The
remanufactured, Mr. Goodwrench came with a 50,000 mile warranty (I
forget the time limit as I put a load of miles on and the 50K mile
warranty will be up at about my 2.8 year mark).

I don't know who's quoting you that price but it really doesn't seem out
of line to me. My suggestion though would be to see if the Honda dealer
has a "Goodwrench" equivalent and see what they would charge. You might
be surprised.

 

-------------------------------------------------

What are the CODES displayed? That's the place to start.

Who is the 'THEY' that's saying it's burnt up?

Are you sure he doesn't still have any warranty?

'Curly'

 

'They' is the Honda dealership service department in downtown Columbus
OH. 'They' didn't offer that the OBD would be any help in knowing the
source of the trouble. 'They' said that to find out what happened would
cost $500.00, (trans removal and disassembly) and the total repair bill
would be around $2700.00.
'They' said that he is 3000 miles and four months outside the coverage
of his warranty.
bob

 

N.E.Ohio Bob, wrote the following at or about 8/15/2006 5:36 PM:

Damn! Don't you just hate it when that happens? Seems like it never
fails to happen just out of warranty. That sucks.

Guess it's a no-go on the Honda equivalent of the GM Goodwrench
remanufactured tranny?

 

Both my son and I have recieved the same advise, to get a trans from a
reliable salvage yard that they know came from a low milage car.
bob

 

get the codes, then report back. if the transmission really has gone,
consider jdm import.

 

N.E.Ohio Bob, wrote the following at or about 8/16/2006 6:05 AM:

Therein lies the problem, Bob. Think about it. What does ANY salvage
yard really know about the internal condition of a transmission that
comes into their possession? What are the odds of "Oh yeah, I know the
lady that had this car. She only drove to and from church and had the
car serviced religiously at XYZ Honda dealership."

I've not bought a tranny (or much of anything else lately) at a salvage
yard but if they're talking that $2500-$2700 for a pulled tranny from
Jake's Auto Graveyard, I definitely thing they're putting you over the
barrel and pulling your pants down. That rate sounds more appropriate
for a remanufactured transmission from a 3rd party shop. Labor to R&R a
transaxle on a late model FWD GM product is booked at around 7 hours
exclusive of diagnostic testing.

Best you can hope for is one that might provide a warranty but even
then, expect it to be short and likely only cover against DOA.