Advice on trading in car, maybe

RoyceSraphim

So the transmission on my car is dying (according to dealership, maybe a month, maybe a year, maybe they're lying). The lurching as the automatic shifts gears is an issue, without a doubt.

Brakes are needing replacement.

Did not mind a $175 exam over several hours but the lack of data did not inspire confidence.

So my mindset I need advice on is the following:

*Should car be traded in, having had solenoid valve replaced, catalytic converter fixed, needs front end repair, needs break replacement, and transmission issues that might be $$$$ or $$, depending on dealership lies

*How do I trade in my first car ever?

*Do I just need to bite the bullet and fix the transmission?

*do I need to fix the brakes/front end damage before I trade it in?

HappylilElf

What is the make/model/year of your car?

knitdan

First off, I am not very familiar with trade-in policies. So I can’t help you there.

But I am familiar with having a money pit for a car. So my advice is as follows

-if you can get something out of it, seriously consider selling or trading it

-don’t lie about the condition of the car. It may be tempting but it’s a shitty thing to do and may even be illegal in some cases.

-in a trade, generally the dealer is taking the car off your hands as part of a larger transaction in which you buy a vehicle from them. They may not even want your car, the important thing to them is to sell you another car.

-consider realistically what your car is worth, and research what the various repairs it needs are (roughly) going to cost. Transmission “repair” runs into the thousands. It’s often not a repair so much as a rebuild or replacement, which costs money and time. Only you can decide if your car is worth that kind of expense.

Without knowing any more, including your financial situation, my best advice is to start looking for something else ASAP. In my opinion, the best use for the money you would have spent on repairs is to put it toward a more reliable vehicle.

mRahmani

Yeah either year/make/model/mileage or the approximate value of the car would be helpful. A pic of the inspection results wouldn't go amiss either.

Transmission repairs can range from $400 or so for simple issues to $1500+ for a full rebuild or replacement. My rule of thumb is that a car should cost ideally $0.10 per mile or less to operate, not counting gas and insurance, so the answer to "should I fix this transmission" is really "can I get 15,000 more miles out of this car without the next expensive thing breaking?" If you also need to do brakes and front end work, that number may be closer to 20,000 or 30,000 miles.

30,000 miles is pretty substantial. That's typically 2-3 years of driving. If you trust the car to get you through at least 3 more years problem free, that might be a good investment. If not, it's time to look at moving on.

Now to your question, no you don't have to fix anything before selling the car, but it definitely will have an impact on the trade in offer they make you. You'll have to evaluate if the money you give up on trade is less than the cost of the repairs.

Capt Howdy

To tack on to what mRahmani said, don't spend a couple grand on a car so you can trade it in. A lot of trade ins are only good for a couple grand. This can help you get an idea of what your car might, maybe, possibly, be worth to a dealership. https://www.kbb.com/whats-my-car-worth/

RoyceSraphim

2013 Chevy Cruze

106000 miles

mRahmani

Brakes and front end work on a Cruze shouldn't be terribly expensive. The transmission issue is a bigger question, and I'm irritated that the dealer didn't give you a proper diagnosis of what was wrong with it. There should be stored transmission trouble codes if something is wrong. I'd still like to see their inspection report.

106,000 miles isn't super high, so with requisite maintenance the Cruze will likely be good to go for a while yet if you wanted to keep driving it. Whether you want to keep driving it is a different question.

badpoet

I rarely give advice to do something fishy, but I would probably do something fishy were I in your shoes.

Before you trade it in, take it in and have the transmission flushed and serviced (doesn't have to be at a dealer, any transmission shop or general auto repair shop can do that work) and see if they can pull the codes and reset them. That may at least alleviate the problem (or help you find exactly the problem) so it isn't as noticeable (short term fix) on the test drive at the dealer you're trading it in it. Second, don't trade it in at the dealer that has the service records/history on it. Take it somewhere else (if there's a CarMax near you, they may just buy it outright) and trade it in. Hopefully, the transmission isn't noticeable to them. When it does act up it's someone else' problem.

I would spend no more money on fixes before you trade it in, you'll never get your money back out. Chances are they're just going to turn around and sent it to the auction anyway.

RoyceSraphim

Sheet says

Diagnosed and found internal failure with transmission

Recommendations
Rec. SRTA transmission $4078
Rec. Front Brakes $357
Engine has oil leaks present

Bluebook said about $2500

I never got an error code, I went in based on the car's handling feeling different over these past few months

mRahmani

SRTA = Service Replacement Transmission Assembly... aka, new transmission

That price is just LOL though. I'm seeing used Cruze transmissions going for $500-1000 on car-part.com, even if you figure in another $1000 to install you'd be at $2000 or so from an independent shop. (And if you do opt to repair the car, I would strongly recommend finding an independent mechanic for this.)

Ignoring the oil leak for the moment, you're staring at something like $2500 to get the car patched up. Fixing the car won't significantly improve the value, so I wouldn't even bother with that if you're thinking of selling/trading in. You're left with the question of, "How long will it take to break even on a $2500 repair?", which I would guess is a minimum of 2 years, assuming nothing else expensive breaks.

L Ron Howard

RoyceSraphim wrote: »

2013 Chevy Cruze

106000 miles

Burn it down. Junk it. Trash it. Dispose of it.
I know two people who had those cars that were nothing but junk.

Don't trade it into a dealer. Donate it to one of those places where the students fix the cars, or any of those places that take car donations. Either that, or just sell it to a junk yard for the $500 scrap metal price. Never trade it into a dealer.
The only things you should go to a dealer for are warranty work, and buying a new car. If you're going to get rid of it, the dealer is going to undercut you a lot, because they'll just junk it and take the tax write-off for getting your butt into a new car. It's win-win for them.

RoyceSraphim

So donate it to a school and get refinancing on the car loan.

Gotcha

Quid

Ehhhhhh I don’t agree. If you’re gonna get replace your car I’d see what the dealer offers first. With my wife’s last car we may as well have donated it because they only offered a couple hundred bucks. My current car will nab me ~$1,500 which is less than it’s worth but not by a whole lot.

RoyceSraphim

Keep in mind, I'm still paying on the loan

Hevach

Take it to a non-dealership and get better estimates, dealership repairs are a racket.

Honestly, for that kind of price on the brakes, provided it's the pads and/or rotors, you can buy the specialty tools, parts, and do it yourself (I've done this on several cars using YouTube guides), then take all the money you saved and roll around in it. I had to have a shop replace the pads, rotors, calipers, lines, and booster on my Deville and it came out to less than that (while I'm confident anyone who can use a screwdriver can learn to do pads and rotors, I wouldn't advise even a reasonably accomplished DIY handyman try to do the lines or booster themselves).

Transmission is going to be a big one regardless, but like mRahmani says, $4k+ is just absurd. However, dealerships are a racket, I had one recommend I replace a transmission and I drove the car another 115k miles before the engine died (transmission still hadn't failed). There's probably a 50/50 chance it just needs a flush and code reset, and a further chance that doing so won't fix it but will buy you enough time that next time you make this thread the obvious answer is, "You got your money's worth, throw it in a ditch and forget about it."


Still being under the loan is a big thing. I wouldn't scrap/donate it unless the costs of repairing it outside of the dealership racket still exceeds the costs of paying off this loan and taking on a new one, OR you can still get enough out of it to pay off its loan and take on a new one.

If you do choose to get rid of it, get rid of it as it is. If you choose to have work done on it, do it to drive it.

RoyceSraphim

Owe 4k, bluebook says 2.5 k

I would really like to just roll into a dealership and sign everything for a new one


Edit:

Called credit agency, they said I should use website to figure out where I fall. $29K according to my numbers. Owing 4k with the car and bluebook value with 2k......not looking great.

RoyceSraphim

In dealership, trading up to a fusion, playing the waiting game.

A new 2018 handled worse than my old cruze in acceleration, weird

Djeet

May be too late, but would reconsider getting a Fusion. Ford won't be selling any Fusions after about 2020, so resale will be a bitch. But you could get a good purchase price.

RoyceSraphim

I'll trade it in in a year or two, from a position of strength.

But good advice though.