Decisions, Decisions

[tcepsa]

The place I took the car to said that it would be about $2400 for them to replace the transmission. Another place I called said it would be at least $2000. A third place I called (AAMCO) wouldn't give me an estimate, even a ballpark, until they had done a $40 diagnostic. I can understand their reluctance, since it could turn out that nothing serious is wrong with it. Right?

However, I'm having a tough time justifying to myself the expense of paying to have it towed from the current place to the other place and then having the inspection just to determine whether I want to pay more money on it or not when I could get another working car for the same amount or less than it would cost to repair the current one (I highly doubt it would come up as being less than $1000 to fix it at this point). Especially since doing so would mean I would have to figure out a way to get back to Woodbridge now that I have no car and then get it towed and then wait for them to figure out what is wrong (which would take awhile from what the lady on the phone said) so I'd probably have to make it back here again, and then back down there again to make a final decision (and then back home again since right now signs point to "junk it" so after all that I'd still probably be carless)

Can you tell I'm trying to justify not bothering? I think I've got enough reasons not to... but at the same time, I want to make sure I haven't missed any reasons why I should go through the aforementioned process. The main one I can think of is that it might turn out not to be so expensive after all. Any other input would be greatly appreciated :)

Comments

[girlonaroad.livejournal.com]

how much is your car worth for parts? How old is it again? how much did you pay for it originally?

[tcepsa.livejournal.com]

The thought has crossed my mind of trying to sell it for parts; I've no idea what the parts value is at this point. Maybe an ad on Craigslist along the lines of "$500 or best offer" would get me a few extra $ to put towards the next one.

It's a 93 Geo Prizm with about 120000 miles on it. I originally paid $1100 for it.

[fad-knitter.livejournal.com]

I remember owning a Geo Prizm, every time I turned onto the highway it was a gamble whether I could accelerate enough not to get smushed by the speeding cars. I miss that car, the broken seat belt, the freaky defrost settings, fun times.