Yesterday I was at a stop light downtown listening to music and all of a sudden a simi loud boom comes from under the hood. I have a AT transmission (145k all highway never had transmission issues), I tried to downshift to S mode to get the car moving and nothing. When I tried to switch to reverse then drive it was making a hissing noise. A guy in the cross walk was cool enough to push me to a parking spot downtown. Called AAA and just hoped for the worse and had to choose a repair shop on the fly.

Tow truck guy recommended a transmission shop because he "thinks" he noticed fluid coming from the car when he was hooking it up. Not sure but I assuming it's the transmission also. Hopefully it's not, I've had the car since the 90k mark and only had issues with the coil pack.

I owe 1.3k still on the loan, if the repair cost is crazy not sure what to do with the car, I need it for work and will have to use a rental car for now.

 

Well, luckily for you, you've got a Honda Fit, and their transmissions (and most other components as well) seldom fail, hence used parts are very cheap.

To start, I'd account for the worst case scenario. Go onto car-parts dot com and search for used transmissions. Around me in the northeast, I see a couple with less than 60,000 miles in nice condition for less than $400 delivered to any shop in the area. Next, I would call the most reputable local dealer and ask them what they would charge to swap in a used transmission. I'm guessing it's about an 8 hour job; maybe there are some miscellaneous parts and fluids tacked onto that. So ultimately, you should be able to get out of this for under $1500. Granted you've got a little bit of risk with the used transmission, but I would venture not much because of the low miles you'll be able to get and the inherent reliablilty of the transmissions to start.

So that's your worst case. Maybe it's something less serious; the shop should be able to tell you.

Ultimately, even this worst case repair is worth doing since the car fixed will be worth significantly more than the cost of this repair. Git 'r done and be thankful you've been able to put 60,000 miles on a car for under $2k in repairs.

 

Thanks for the reply, and that website is very helpful. Your right about the under 2k in repairs. This will be the first time I've been stranded by this car and I've been using it as a daily driving 80 miles a day for the last 3 years.

I figured the worst case scenario would be around 1500 dollars. Hopefully this shop isn't shady. I checked the reviews on the company and that's all I can go on for now. I'm just hoping they don't go crazy when I ask if I can purchase the transmission and have it shipped to their shop. Honda transmission shouldn't be expensive at all so I'm just waiting on the damage and whats actually going on with the car.

 

I'd see if the shop can source the transmission. Often they will get a professional discount.

But, let them know that you can get them a trans if they don't care to go through the trouble. Indicate that you know how much it costs. ("An educated consumer"...)

 

^ turns out it was drive axle. Had it replaced for $500 or some dollars. I did some research though and realized it was best to replace the other one also? Not sure after dropping that money plus rental car fees if I should have the other side inspected just in case.