It's almost not worth it to even fix the transmission. My car only has about 90,000 miles on it and I did some reading last night and found out that early transmission failures are pretty common in ford escapes... crappppp. I can't handle this. If we replace it they are just going to put the same type of transmission in right? So... that one will probably fail early on as well right? We are better off just getting a replacement vehicle, but if we try to trade it in with a failed transmission then more than likely we wont get much for it and will owe the remainder PLUS a new loan which will end up being way more a month than we can afford. The other option is getting a used car from a private owner off craigslist or something and that option makes me sick to my stomach since I don't know the first thing about cars to even know how to begin looking at older used vehicles from private owners.
How much is a new transmission? If you expect the same kind of life out of it as this one you're looking at a vehicle with 180k miles on it when the next transmission dies. I was planning on selling my Impala once it rolled towards 120k, I didn't want it much longer than that. So you basically have to figure out how much the new transmission is, how long you plan to keep the vehicle after this, and divide that out... versus buying a new (to you) car.
I'm going to guess putting a new transmission in and keeping it for a couple more years is going to be a better move than buying a new car right now. Especially since you guys are tight on the budget already.
On a similar note, I went out and started my car this morning, made a face, went back inside and asked my dad to come out and listen to it. Either the belt is slipping around or the alternator is going. I would say odds are on the belt since we just replaced it what with the power steering pump going boom last Monday... but it would be just my luck that it's the alternator.
I'm supposed to take it to Indy Thursday night. I just don't know what to do. My dad put my new ignition switch in when he replaced the power steering pump and I can tell it definitely feels different when I turn the key. But twice I turned the key and it didn't start on the first turn. It DID start on the second turn which is quite a bit different than "it's not starting so I need to sit here turning the key for five minutes waiting for it to start." So I don't know if I should be worried about it yet. But it still makes me kind of nervous. I know ANY vehicle can have things go wrong. There's only 94k on the Impala. It doesn't seem like it should be at the point where things are starting to go wrong one after another. But regardless of the mileage it's still a 2000, so maybe it is?
I just can't decide if I should try finding the next car I want and try to trade in the Impala or if I'm just being paranoid and the Impala is fine. I don't really have the money to throw down on the car I want either. Even if I did sell or trade in the Impala (which makes my heart hurt, because I really love Hopscotch and want to keep her.) If I HAD the money I probably would go trade her in right now, especially because the next car will be suitable for hauling all four dogs around... but I just don't have the money. And I'm back in "can't even get an interview" land so it doesn't look like that's going to change, on top of the fact that there's a very real possibility I might end up laid off because the company can't afford to pay me anymore...
ugh ugh ugh.