Hi folks, I need some advice about what to do with my car. It's a 2009 Fit Sport, 183k miles. I've poured a bunch of money into it already, including an engine replacement 2 years ago when I was having some major issues with my old engine (to make a long story short, a piece of a spark plug had gotten chipped off in the old engine and was rattling around one of the cylinders for years before being discovered, eventually destroying the cylinder. I was lucky enough that the shop I took it to happened to have a used engine that they sold me for $700)

At a routine oil change yesterday, the mechanic noticed a transmission fluid leak. I took it to a transmission shop where I live (Nashville, TN) and they reported that they actually found multiple leaks, in the case halves and the front of the transmission. They said their recommendation would be to take the transmission out and reseal it, and quoted me $2100 for the job.

I guess my questions are: a) does that sound right for this job, and/or should I get a second opinion? and b) If that price is accurate, does it make sense to drop $2k into a car with almost 200k miles?

There are no other major problems with the car (it did live in NYC for 7 years, so it's got its fair share of NYC-specific problems - rust, dinged up bumpers, etc.)

Thanks in advance everyone for the help!

 

Has the transmission fluid and filter been serviced regularly? If the original filter has never been replaced, I imagine it could be clogged up from all the internal wear and tear and may cause issue.

Taking out the transmission for service would be the last option for me personally, as you've already mentioned the high cost.

 

depends on the cleanliness of your engine bay and level of your ATF, as well as your budget..2k sounds fair for the amount of work they're proposing. ~ kinda standard for when big things get removed, but you could price shop it and get the cost down further I'd imagine. I mean.. for the transmission, although I havent done this automatic, I don't thing they have to deal with draining coolant and such. ATF does cost a fair bit, and it takes a few hours to pull the trans and replace gaskets.. could prolly knock 500 off that price tag, but if you trust your mech to be fair with yuh then go for it.

I have some issues with leak diagnostics. If there's grime all over the place it's pretty hard to tell where a leak is coming from unless said leak is severe enough to make a stream/actively dripping. Mechanics don't have any magic tricks for that and can easily say things are leaking everywhere (particularly if they're busy). It doesn't have to be a malicious thing.. It's just that if a trans seal failed and you have to take the thing out, might as well replace as many seals as possible v. finding the one or two failures.

If you're tight on cash or doubtful of your mechanic you can top off the transmission fluid (I assume while warm and idling) and check it periodically to see the rate of the leak ~ provided that you aren't having issues like poor shifting behavior or significantly delayed throttle response (surging). Those are safety hazards and although I can't point to specifics, not too good for your transmission's health.

Edit: I'm also in agreement with the above dude's reply!
Edit edit: I didn't notice it was a trans shop that gave the diag.. Yeah, I'd trust it. That's specialty work and those guys should know way more about it than I do.

 

Automatic or manual?

 

I am not sure how much a physically beat up 2009 with 183k miles and a leaking transmission goes for, but say you can get $2k for it. Could you replace it with a lower mileage trouble-free car for $4k (the profit from the sale and the repair price)?

If you cannot do better, then might as well fix the Fit that you know has no other issues versus buying a different cheap car with an unknown history.

 

That's actually an inspection opening. If trans fluid is coming from there, you've got a bad, uh.. torque converter bushing? transmission input seal? nomenclature for gaskets is hairy stuff 😕 its the main seal between the transmission and the torque converter though