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03 Taurus, body damage and now transmission's dying, worth fixing or not?
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UT2012
New User
Dec 9, 2011, 12:55 PM
Post #1 of 4
(1365 views)
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03 Taurus, body damage and now transmission's dying, worth fixing or not?
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I am currently a senior in college. I have an 03 Taurus that I put about 5000 miles a year on(bought used, sitting at 121k now). It recently suffered massive hail damage, to the point where my insurance company totaled the car. Rather than take the full price and give them the car, I chose to keep it, not repair the body/windshield damage, and take a reduced payout. It is on a salvage title because of this.
Today I found out that my recent engine problems are from a faulty TPS sensor that has essentially killed my transmission. It's currently drivable, but feels like it could die at any minute. My options are as follows:
A) Pay the $1500 to $2000 for a new transmission and continue driving the car until I get out of college and hopefully get to a spot financially where I can find a more permanent ride.
B) Get what I can for the car(no idea the best way to do that), and buy another used car for $3-5000. The hope would be I could drive the new used car for four or five years, get some student loans paid off, then get a newer model.
So basically what should I do? I'm not that vain about my car as to worry too much about the hail damage, but I don't want to throw good money after bad. The AC is out, I need two new tires, and probably new brakes soon. Is it worth such a sizable investment to fix a car that probably isn't worth half that if I tried to sell it? Would buying another used car give me any higher chance of dependability for the next five or six years and overall be a better investment? I am extremely stressed about this situation and I don't feel like I know enough about auto-repair to make an informed decision.
Any help you could give would be greatly appreciated.
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Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Dec 9, 2011, 1:20 PM
Post #2 of 4
(1353 views)
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Re: 03 Taurus, body damage and now transmission's dying, worth fixing or not?
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I haven't heard of a TPS problem killing a transaxle as of yet. A TPS issue can affect the performance of the transaxle though.
What is actually wrong with the transaxle? If you still have engine problems or drive-ability issue, you need to solve that first before condemning the transaxle.
Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.
(This post was edited by Discretesignals on Dec 9, 2011, 1:22 PM)
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UT2012
New User
Dec 9, 2011, 1:42 PM
Post #3 of 4
(1329 views)
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Re: 03 Taurus, body damage and now transmission's dying, worth fixing or not?
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When I went home over Thanksgiving it died on the exit ramp off the interstate. Basically it would rev but it was like it was out of gear and had to be towed. I took it to a repair shop and they changed the transmission filter and fluid, which seemed to fix the issue. Then in the last week the check engine light came on and I started having that herky jerky problem when changing speeds that I've always associated with transmission problems. When I went to the mechanic here in town that I use he checked the filter and fluid and it was burnt instead of pink so soon after being serviced, and he basically told me just to drive it until it broke because it was a lost cause. He said it also had a problem with the TPS sensor(which caused the check engine light) and with a coolant valve that would have to be replaced if I decided to fix the transmission.
That's the information I have right now. My car drives still, but I haven't got it up over 50 mph and I'm afraid it's going to go out at any time.
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Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Dec 9, 2011, 5:39 PM
Post #4 of 4
(1310 views)
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Re: 03 Taurus, body damage and now transmission's dying, worth fixing or not?
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If I was in your shoes, I would look around before making a decision. Check out some other vehicles and get an idea what your money can get for you. If you find that you can't get another vehicle in good shape for the money you have, then consider the other option of fixing what you have. If you find a vehicle your interested in, take it to your mechanic and have it inspected.
Explore your options with the transmission too. Call around some salvage yards to see if they have some good used low mileage transmissions laying around. Also ask what kind of warranty they have.
Once you do some research, then you can make a better decision.
Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.
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