Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

I just got word back from Dave Steffen's that my 1995 Impreza's auto transmission "has a major leak and some internal problems," which is why it acts like it's a manual with a half-engaged clutch. Their ballpark was in the $3500 range, which includes a bargain-priced $2500 transmission.

Do I:
- junk the car
- try to sell the car for a little cash
- order a shady transmission from online
- sell a neighbor child and buy a WRX

Thank you for your input.

 

Buy my transmission and do a 5-speed swap. I haven't officially put my tranny on the market yet, but you might be interested. It will definitely cost less than 2500 :laugh:

But on a more serious note...

do you still want the car? Or is this a good reason to move on?

 

for 3500, you can definitely invest it into something better. you can already do a full 2.5L swap including driveline. or if you're power hunger, add a bit more and get a full wrx swap.

 

- order a shady transmission from online...

...and have some shady club members help you swap it in. I think you can find a working 4eat for less than $2500.

 

well its pointless to have a auto car unless its for some1 else and u dont wanna mod it.. but other wise yeah find one online

 

I'm not going to spend $3500 on this car. I would be hesitant to spend $1000 on this car. I don't know if I could recruit club members to host an engine and tranny swap -- I haven't been active in the club since 2003 or so.

 

maybe u should just sell the whole thing and get a WRX

 

That is one of the options that I listed.

 

buy an STi

 

Buy a WRX and junk the thing

 

Wrex + up pipe + downpipe + catback + cobb accessport FTW!

 

or you could buy my auto tranny that i just took out for doing a manual conversion for pretty cheap:biggrin:

 

I suggest you look online and/or call around to get the best price on a used tranny. From there, you can keep the car or sell it. You're not in a position to gain anything right now; it'll cost a bit to own a car with a dying tranny.

 

Ryan said in a pm that he has a working tranny available, but didn't give a price, so I'm waiting for his response to my response. I should have asked how much he paid for the tranny for his manual conversion.

 

I'd be interested to inspect the damage on the transmission to verify its state. It might not be that badly damaged...

But if it is damaged, you are looking at $500-700 for a decent used automatic. If you can install it yourself, or with people's help, well, that's a cheap way to go. And if it hasn't given you any other problems, you could get many more years out of it.

A ten-year old Subaru with tranny problems isn't worth much. Either do the repairs yourself or junk it. Paying $3500 (20% of the price on a new RS) to repair a transmission is not economical.

 

Customer experiencing low power, high engine rpm to move vehicle. Also seeing smoke from engine area. Located large fluid leak from rear output shaft seal of transmission, fluid leaking onto exhaust. Check transmission fluid level. Fluid level is good at this time. Low power due to internal mechanical slipping condition in transmission. Recommend replacing or rebuilding transmission.
Check engine light on. Locate codes:
P0740 - Torque converter clutch circuit malfunction
P0304 - Misfire detected, cylinder #4 misfire due to faulty ignition components. Recommend ignition tune up.

That's the report. I find the P0740 code interesting, but I don't know what other tests they may have run. Theoretically there are some transmission fluid pressure checks that should be done when an automatic transmission is slipping, but this is not my area of expertise, so I don't know.

The other code gets set on cold, rainy days where the humidity is very high -- so I suppose that I could maybe do the plugs and wires at some point if I were to keep the car.

bikerwriter, paying $3500 to do the repairs was not one of the options that I listed.

 

I am not privy to the entirety of your life/financial situation...but knowing what little I do I vote "new car". If you itemize your deductions at tax time, it might be worth considering donating the vehicle to any number of local organizations that will accept vehicles. Most only require that they have 4 inflated tires, beyond that they don't care and will come tow it away. Of course you may only claim the fair market value of the vehicle and must take the mechanical problems into consideration. But it might still be worth more to you that way than what little amount of cash someone may offer.

 

No, you didn't. But selling a neighbor child to buy a WRX isn't economical either, and you listed that. Why, I saw on CNN today somebody was arrested for trying to do it. Did you get the idea from that, or have you already been arrested and are surfing from jail?

Your repairs are probably going to run close to one grand even on the cheap. Since you said you wouldn't put that money into the car, I'd try selling it and moving on. Then again, a failing torque converter isn't an insurmountable problem...

 

i have a tranny for him for a really good price, now he just needs someone to install it for him, i gave him a couple suggestions on who to ask otherwise if anyone else wants to help him out for a good price, let him know, changing tranny's is easy, if i was closer i would help him out.

 

I've gotten a couple of interesting prices for transmissions, and even if I paid regular shop rates to have the work done (we don't all have transmission jacks in our garage, or even a workable garage) having the transmission replaced could be doable.

Zola, as a student working just part time I did not make enough money to pay any taxes, so donation would only be for a happy feeling. I'd rather sell the shell to someone for a token amount to be parts for a low buck rally car or strip it of everything useful and have it straight up junked. I only paid $800 for it two years ago and at nearly 200000 miles it's probably due for crushinization.

If I were to go to a new(er) car, would I still be able to go Subaru? There are a few available in the $5-6k range from dealerships, and I've barely begun to look in the private listings. Maybe I should get a tiny car or a light truck since I haven't been to a rally or rallycross since 2003. If I were to abandon this car as too much of a basket case, should I stick to my Subaru guns?

 

If anyone was wondering how this came out, I'm driving a new 2.5i as of last night. I haven't disposed of the old car yet.

 

That's good, I am glad it turn out ok (most of it)

Post some picture when you get a chance.

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