So I've had some significant repairs to my 2009 WRX this year. Turbo and timing belt in January at ~110k miles. Clutch in September at ~120k. Last Wednesday I start to hear grinding coming from the transmission every now and then. I was going to call during lunch on Friday and as I was getting lunch the transmission completely blew out. I had checked the transmission fluid a week and a half before it went out and it looked fine and at a normal level. When the dealership drained the transmission fluid, they said it was black with with metal shavings in it. Is it normal for a transmission to go out at 125k miles? Am I right in thinking that it is a little suspicious that the transmission went out 2 months after the clutch was replaced? All of the work has been done at the same dealership that it was originally bought from. They want to charge $6800 for a new transmission and with all the money I've put into the car this year I'm thinking of getting what I can for it and moving on to a different car. I'd just like other's thoughts on the situation before I make a decision. Sorry for such a long post and thank you all in advance. I'm just extremely frustrated right now.
You can get a used wrx5 speed for $1k or less in good condition with low miles. If you sell it with a blown tranny you will end up losing more money.
I guess I'm not really sure. Probably because of the -10% labor and -20% parts. Any suggestions on where to look for the tranny and who would put it in?
Pretty normal to lose a wrx 5 speed at that mileage, especially if modded. I'm on my 3rd on in the 140k or so that I've owned the car. If you can't find a used one, my rebuild in 2011 was done by wray auto (listed in vendors), was under 1500 for labor. I did remove and install the trans myself to save some money. It is a simple job to swap trannys tho and that may not add a whole lot to the job, and will most def be less than the dealer quote. You more than likely have stripped a gear which does not require a whole new transmission.
You can buy tranny's on pretty much any corner in Minneapolis..... but for reals, I just got a 6 speed, shipped, with all running gear for $3800 and low miles. EBAY and every other Nasioc post has them for sale. Alternatively, if you want to get back into another ticking time bomb, there are plenty of people that have swapped to a 6 speed looking to dump their 5 speed, again Nasioc is a great place for this. Also, Oak Leaf Auto on here has TONS of parts and nice guys - they are a paying vendor, call them up! Tranny swap is pretty straight forward, should not cost too much. I think if you actually worked hard enough you could get the whole thing done for under $2500. Its not a big enough reason to dump a car unless the car is not worth $7,000+. Although, you do have 125 on a 2009 (narrow body, you probably wouldn't get much for it sorry to say.
