Hi Gents,

Quick question - my brother's transmission is shot on his '03 Taurus. It really sucks because he just put 1250 into it for repairs (brand new catalytic converter and some other miscellaneous repairs), just put two brand new tires on it 3 days ago, and just paid CT registration for the year - $85.

Anyway, we were thinking of just scrapping it. Our auto guy said he could use the parts, but it probably won't be much money.

Very approximately, what do you think it's worth, and do you think scrapping it would be best? It's a black '03 Taurus that needs a new transmission.

Honestly, this freakin' car has been such a pain in the butt ever since he got it. Nothing but trouble.

Thanks  8-)

I'll give you two (2)    $35 gift certificates to Gander Mt. for it.

Tough call.

I like to listen to 'Click and Clack' on NPR. These guys will tell you that it's cheaper to repair your car until it rusts away, than to buy something new. But that advice doesn't take into account the pain and suffering involved with a car that can't be trusted and is always in the shop.

Figure out what payments on a replacement vehicle will be before you make any decision.

Good luck.

I have an 02 which is basically an 03. I have had very good luck with our car. My wife drives it around town and the occaisional day trip.

It has about 73K miles on it and is Ford dealer serviced.

The only problem I ever had with the car was the a/c fan motor (at 30K miles) which the dealer replaced for free. The car is on its second set of brakes, 2nd set of tires, and second battery. No complaints.

It seems odd that after you had some work done at a repair shop that you have these issues. Did the trans give any signs of failing prior to visit to that repair shop? Did you go to a neighborhood repair shop or dealership? I would definatlely get another opinion before I would decide anything. If the car is in otherwise good condition, it might be worth repairing if there is actually something wrong. Vacuum/hydroilic hoses can be pulled or cracked, causing the trans to seem like it is shot. I would take it to a ford dealer and see what they have to say.

We just put $1,000 into our '01

I say scrap it.  You got almost 6 years out of a Ford product.  I figure you were already into bonus time.

Thanks guys.

What we'll probably do is scrap his car, I'll get the money, give him my car (which probably only has a couple years left anyway), and get a new(er) one myself.

I know it depends on many things, but anyone have a very rough guess what it's worth if we scrap it?

It just really sucks that he basically threw all that money away on repairs (at least the labor cost) so soon before it died. C'est la vie  :

Kind of off subject, but did he have to pay for that catalytic converter ?

They're a lot of money. We had a Taurus a few years ago (second owners). Anyway, the cat went bad. A buddy of mine that owns a shop diagnosed it. He said to check the owner's manual, seems there is (was?) a law that said car manufacturers were liable for major emission components regardless of if you were the original owner or not. In my case, it was eight years or eighty thousand miles of coverage.

Called Ford and sure enough they took care of it. Keep that in mind if you ever have something like that happen.

Dang! Scrap it already?? We have an 86 F250 we still drive around the farm. I drive an 03 Escape bought in 02 with 135k miles and I've never had one problem.

Do you have a YOU PULL IT scrap yard in your area. Not the you pull it like Russ , like in car parts? Maybe you can find a used transmission that way.

bilgerat - Yeah he paid for the converter. I had no idea there might be programs like that. Should the auto shop not have mentioned something? He might have gotten sham-wow'd.

davis - Yeah, scrap it already. It's not worth much, it's had nothing but problems, and it needs a new transmission. The cost of the transmission would be quite a bit more than the car is worth. I guess it was just a bad apple. I'm driving a '97 Chrysler Sebring two door that hasn't had a single serious problem (knock on wood) other than minor things, but this Taurus is just a pile.

Muddy - good idea. Not sure about that, but I'm not sure it would be worth all the effort anyway. Time is also a factor as it's pretty tough to get around a suburb without a car.

Thanks for the info guys  8-)

All they will do is part it out and mash the rest up BTW u can sell that CAT converter it has platinum in it thats mostly what they want anyhow at scrap yards along with the copper (radiater) and battery. Anyhow the junk yard will use doors ,windows,lights, ETC when they part it out u may get 400 for it if your lucky

The wife has a 2002 Taurus.  Has been a pretty good car.  It's got around 70k on it.

Fix old car = $1250

New car = A whole bunch more than $1250, car payments, mandatory collision insurance and depreciation.

 

If you really want to save money follow these simple steps:

1.  Go to the dollar store and buy a calculator.

2.  Get a couple of estimates on fixing the car that your brother already owns.

3.  Get an estimate on how much the new car would cost you (including tax, tags, title, title transfer to your brother when you give him your car, and insurance rate hikes).

4.  Take the calculator that you bought in step #1 and enter the price of step #3, then subtract the price of step #2.

5.  Look at the figure that's on the calculator at this point and decide if it will be "worth" it.

Or, you could just skip those 5 steps and buy a new car like you really want to do in the first place.  It might not be the best decision financially, but it sounds like you had your mind made up before you ever asked us our opinions.

What, fix a car instead of buying new ?? If everyone did that, the auto execs might have to start flying first class instead of a private jet.

Sheeeeesh, what are you, un- American ?