Transmission Gone Bad --Sell or Fix

My 93 Honda accords transmission just broke.
I bought my car for $3700 last year.

Options:
Rebuilt: $1800
Used Trans: $500 (6 months warranty) + 600 Labor.

My question is would I be able to sell it without fixing the car for
like $1500. Except the Transmission the car is in PERFECT condition....
clean, no rust...nice engine.
You can still drive the car only 2nd to 3rd gear shift little problem.
OR
Should I fix it with used Tran and sell it for like $3k .....
Do these used transmission last.
WOULD SOMEONE buy the car if I tell him or her, that it has used
transmission?
OR
Rebuilt it and continue using it.


Thanks for answers and time,

Vicky

 

Is the Trans, Manual or Auto?
If you repair the trans, you should get some use out of it. to recoup the
cost of repair.
If sold as is, will it pass smog with the bad trans. Might be tough to
sell that way.
When was Trans fluid changed out.
Have you tried to drain and refill trans fluid?
Might also try some of those additive for the Trans.
Also take to a different shop and get another opinion.

 

How do you know that the entire tranny is bad? The fact that you can still
go between 2nd and 3rd suggests to me that it's something in the tranny
control unit (TCU). The tranny itself may be fine. In that version of
Accord, it is otherwise bulletproof.

 

I know a guy who would probably buy it, because he can rebuild the
transmission himself.

There are plenty of people like that out there. Yes, it would be worth
$1500 to someone like that.

 

Not many shops know how to repair trannies correctly - also what do
they mean by repair - replacing all of the soft components including
clutches and other wear items or just a fix up. If you have a very
good tranny repair shop/person - and they will completely rebuild the
tranny - $1,800 would be well spent. I doubt this will be a complete
rebuild and combined with most people/shops not knowing how to rebuild
auto trannies (probability sez it is an automatic) then unload it.

Just for future reference on most any auto tranny - change the fluid
regularly and only use the fluid specified by the manufacturer - use
anything else and you stand a good chance at wrecking your tranny -
that really applies to a Honda. Also only use honda power steering
fluid - replacing a power steering rack is guaranteed if you use
something else.

 

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

What's the mileage, who told you it needs a new tranny, when was the
Honda tranny fluid last changed, do you live in a part of the world
where they use salt on the roads in winter? Has anybody put non-Honda
fluid in it, or overfilled it?

There are a few simple things that can make a tranny 'look' dead. Has a
Honda dealer spoken to you about it? Need more info.


'Curly'

 

Hello,
Curly made some great points. I advise you to take it to a transmission
shop in order to see if it can be repaired for much less than $500.00. If
your transmission can not be repaired, get the used transmission since it
appears to be the better deal.
Jason

 

if the car is perfect, id just go for a used trans and keep on driving
it. $1100 is about 4 car payments on a nice car.

 

Thanks for all the reply,

I live in MI so lot of salt on road.

The car has 150000 miles....

i showed it two transmission shops and they both said it need to be
rebuilt.

I am still driving the car,
It works fine in all gears except only when moving from 1st to 2nd gear
and 2nd to 3rd gear the RPM goes to 4-5000.

The last time fluid was changed was 10k miles back at honda shop.

Currently the trans fluid is clean, transparent but gives a burnt
smell.

I am planning to rebuilt the car (mechanic is giving 12month/12k miles
warantty).

Any thoughts...

vicky

 

Yeah. You'll spend $1800 for the rebuild--and consider, where else will
you get a car that's as good as yours, that you know everything about,
that has a new transmission, for $1800?

Fixing the transmission is the correct answer. Good job.

 

Tough call whether to rebuild or put a used one in. The rebuilt
trannys are frequently unreliable. I assume that your '93 has a
3-speed auto, you'd probably have better luck rebuilding, while the
later 4-speed autos are a lot more complicated.

If you put in a used one, it could fail anytime, or give a few years of
good service. On the other hand, if yours is *correctly* rebuilt, it
will far outlast a used one.

I'd say rebuild a 3-speed, but only if you can find a shop with a
sterling reputation for good work. Ask everybody you know, check the
Better Business Bureau, etc. This is a very technical job and
everything is hidden. An unscrupulous shop can tell you that you need
a new torque converter, for example, AFTER they've torn everything
apart. And how are you to know differently, even when they don't
replace it? And if they don't get it done right, they can goof around
with the car for 7 weeks without being willing to drop the tranny and
start over (my personal experience in fact).

What ever you do, charge the repairs to a credit card, begged,
borrowed, or stolen, so you can dispute the charge if you don't get
proper service. It's the only reason I wasn't out $800 myself, while I
was unemployed to boot.

 

A local Aamco shop rebuilt, entirely, the auto trans on my 93 Lexus
ES300 for $2300. The only thing they re-used was the case.

$1800 for the Civic? Correctly done? Certainly possible.

 

don't think honda ever made a 3-speed. all honda's this age i've ever
seen have been 4-speed, with honda's unique "replace a standard
transmission's synchro with a clutch pack" transmission rather than the
planetary gearboxes of the 3-speed types. this honda concept is very
reliable and very efficient. the downside of this concept is that it
tends to be much more fierce when shifting than planetary gearboxes and
can't cope with high torque as well.