• The site migration is complete! Hopefully everything transferred properly from the multiple decades old software we were using before. If you notice any issues please let me know, thanks! Also, I'm still working on things like chatbox, etc so hopefully those will be working in the next week or two.

Fix, Sell, or Punt.... what would you do?

Burbman

Burbman

New member
01 GT sedan, 180k miles, daughter #1's car. Motor is strong, I did the LIM at about 150k, and put in new hoses, spark plugs, etc. Went through the front end with new LCAs, struts all around, etc. Car spent 5 years upstate NY and already had one brake line fail due to rust. Trans started to slip so I put in the TransGo kit and it really woke it up. Now it's starting to slip again and am fearing the end is near for the transmission.

Local shop (local for my daughter ) is a Jasper dealer. I had a Jasper 4L80E put in the Suburban and you can't beat the 3 yr 100k mile warranty. Jasper is requiring a new radiator or external cooler be installed (keep the crap out of the new trans), so then you get into new hoses etc and by the time you;re done its a $3500 ticket. Good news is that with a strong trans this could be a 300K car if it doesn't rust to pieces first.

Option #2, I'm looking at 98 GT sedan with 51K original miles, guy wants $3500 for it but we haven't had serious discussions yet. So I sell the '01 for $1500 or so, put that cash into LIM and misc parts on the '98 and keep going.

Option #3, I dunno? Grab the '98 spiff it up for my daughter, bring the '01 back to NY for a JY trans? I've never pulled a transmission but I'm up for anything. Give me an excuse to get that HF engine hoist I've been eyeing.....\

Option #4.....????

Ideas and opinions welcome.
 


$3,500 for a rebuilt tranny... Sorry but that's certainly a ripoff! Rebuilt for my 01 SE cost $1500 locally... Even with new radiator, should only add a few hundred. Shop around, that's nuts!
 
I'd go with a JY trans

Or if your wanting to spend more TEP has rebuilt for way cheaper then $3500

Think about what the cars worth.. It's not worth throwing $3500 at a jasper trans


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
the shop I usually go to charges about 600 to remove and replace a transmission, add 1000 for a used junkyard transmission, and you would be into it like 1600. if you did it yourself, the trans replacement would be however much the transmission cost. and while you had the trans out, you could change the rear main seal on the engine if its leaking oil. I agree that 3500 is too much for a trans replacement. you could get a rebuilt TEP trans for 1800 that will work out a lot better than any jasper remanned unit.
 
The $600 labor is spot on, Jasper gets $2250 for the unit plus demanding the radiator be changed also. Problem with the JY trans is you pay $600 to put it in and it may not be any better than the one that's coming out.
 
a lot of salvage yards will give a 30 day warranty, if it fails, then they give you another one. it would suck to have one fail, but if you are the one doing the labor you aren't out the amount it would cost for the installation. if you had time to pull the trans out and send it to Dave at TEP you would still be into the trans less than jasper would charge. I would rather give my money to Dave at TEP for a solid trans than any jasper with a warranty.

http://www.tripleedgeperformance.com/GM_Standard_Replacement.html

cost of the transmission plus about 400 in shipping round trip is about 2000
 


this is what i think of when someone says warranty

Toilet-Paper.png



Why because thats what they are. unless the shop is well known for standing by there work
 
Yeah, just dealing with logistics, me in NY, her in KY, she needs the car to get to work. What's making me think more about option #3, buy her another car, put hers on a trailer back to NY where I can experiment. How hard could it be to learn how to rebuild a transmission?
 
$3500? HAHAHHA. You can get a highly built trans from TEP for that much but you won't need that for a daily driver. I would just get the Basix Transmission from TEP for $1,375 shipped. You don't need to return a core either. Has a 12,000 mile warranty as well. That's the best bet right there and Dave at Triple Edge Performance is known for solid transmission builds.
 
Is using a local transmission shop not an option? I've had a place near me that I trust rebuild two 4T65Es, one HD. Including removal and installation it was less than your $2250 part cost. I say shop around. She will be without a car for a week but many places have loaner cars. You could rent her a brand new car for a couple weeks and have a shop handle the whole thing for less than $3500. At least around here.
 


Look at it financially. How much are GPs going for in your area for around 2001 with 180K? If the cost of the trans and labor (JY, TEP, local, Jasper, etc) is more then the value of comparable cars then dump it and move on to the next GP. Cut your loses. It is not a collector car and they are easy to find. Move up to a newer, lower miles car and take the money to do any needed repairs.

If the cost of the trans is worth it then fix it. Don't forget to factor down time, rental car, gas to get it, etc. If it was me I would buy another car for her, go through it while she drives the old one, then swap with her. Sell the old one and move on. Many of us make car decisions based on emotion rather then financial sense. I know I have run many of clunkers and spent more on big ticket repairs then the value of the car to get a newer one! But if you have free time and can do it cheap it may make sense to rebuild yourself, R&R labor yourself, etc.
 
Brett, thats where I'm at right now. There are a bunch of clean 100k cars for less than $3 large, most with LIM done and in good shape. Ill buy another, go through it, swap it out and sell the 01 while it still runs.

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk
 
Can't go wrong! I personally would never run a junkyard trans. With the amount of labor, fluids, and flush only to find out it is junk. Ugh! And then look at the failure rate for our cars.... Big unknown. Dave at TEP is very knowledgeable and his website has some good information about the common failures. Mine went at 85K on bone stock with good PM.
 
I never understood the mentality of throwing money at buying an unknown problem than just fixing the one you know. Buying another car, no matter how clean it looks is an invitation for just taking someone else's headache off their hand and relieving you of $$$.

Doesn't matter how good a deal it seems... Fact is they're selling it for a reason. Keep in mind there are only so many Granny's that only drive their cars to church on Sunday. Lol

HighOctane... Where's the LIKE button (your post)

$1,500 for a basic rebuild from a guy who KNOWS these tranny's and backs up his work is a done deal. You can't beat that any way you want to try and think there's an easier way.
 


my local shop r/r and rebuilt my trans in my 1998 which included a new pump..warrantied it for 12 months 12,000 miles for 1500 tax and all.

oh demanding a new radiator be installed is crap.... they make flushes that will remove trash from the cooler
 
UPDATE: Daughter drove to my BILs house in Indy (about 4 hrs) and left the car there. My wife drove out from LI to Indy, visited her brother, and drove daughter back home to LI. I found a good Aamco shop in Indy, $1800 to rebuild assuming no unexpected issues. Going to have trans rebuilt there while daughter is in NY so it will be ready when my wife drivers her back after Christmas. What started this whole exercise was my daughter saying she wasn't comfortable driving the car all the way back to NY.

I was quizzing my daughter on how the car drove on the way up to Indy, and she commented that it wouldn't go above 70 on the highway....it was running at 3k+ rpm and it wouldn't drop into 4th. So am guessing that 4th is shot.

Would have been fun to buy another GP and do some horse trading, but the distance is a killer and this needs to get fixed. Appreciate all the help on the thread, good discussion. Would have liked to take it up to TEP, but couldn't ask my BIL to drive 4 hrs each way to Ft Wayne 2 days before Christmas.
 
still a better choice than paying 3000 for jasper to do it. the 4th gear issue is likely a 4th gear shaft, the replacement part is like 20 dollars, all they did was harden the shaft and threads.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top