If your car is within the 77% of cars that need maintenance or repairs, your wallet might be in for a rude awakening. As you probably already know, the cost depends on what you need repaired. If you break a belt, you might be able to get it repaired for $50 to $200. If, however, your transmission starts having problems, you will probably need to pay much more. In fact, transmissions, along with engines, are the most expensive auto repairs. If your transmission starts having problems you have multiple options, some of which are listed below.
New transmissions
If you decide to purchase a transmission from your dealer, you might be led to believe that this transmission is new. New transmissions, however, are only used when the car is first being produced. So any transmission that you purchase will not be new, but instead will be remanufactured.
Remanufactured transmissions
Remanufactured transmissions are torn down and then rebuilt within a factory. Sometimes multiple people will work on one transmission, each having a different job and therefore a different specialty. Other times, however, a factory has different specialists for each brand of car. In this case, one person will tear down and rebuild the transmission.
Rebuilt transmissions
Remanufactured transmissions, as described above, are very similar to rebuilt transmissions. Transmission rebuild, rather than remanufacture, does not occur in a factory setting. If you do not want to send your transmission out, you will likely want to look into rebuilt transmissions. Transmission rebuild occurs within a local shop where it is torn down and then, obviously, rebuilt. Many of the parts are also replaced in rebuilt transmissions. Transmission rebuild, in other words, includes the replacement of seals, gaskets, and other parts that may be worn down.
Used transmissions
Used transmissions are another option, especially if you can find one that is significantly cheaper than the options listed above. You will need to ensure that you find a transmission that matches your current one. Start by finding the brand of your car as well as transmission and go from there. It will likely be easier to find automatic transmissions, as they outnumber manual transmissions ten to one. These transmissions will likely not come with a warranty, however so keep this in mind when considering the price difference.
Repaired transmissions
If a certain part in your transmission is causing it to fail, you might be in luck. If a mechanic can determine which part is causing the issue, they might be able to remove that part and replace it with a new one, rather than replacing or repairing the entire transmission. This will likely cost substantially less than any of the other options so make sure that you inquire about this if you are having transmission problems.
Have you ever had transmission problems? What option did you end up going with? What were your thoughts? Let us know in the comments!
