Help, my car just quit on me

Dad II · 10-27-2009, 09:10 PM

03 Ford Taurus with 97000 miles. Coming home from work and got to about 100 yards from home. The engine runs but car will not move, forward or back. Did a OBD II scan - no code. Transmission fluid full.

Did a quick on line search and found 100s of the same problem - transmission just quit without any warning. I was lucky in a way I got into our subdivision and was on a small road. Can't imagine this happen two munites early while we were on highway rush hour traffic.

Option one - get it fixed. Estimated cost: 2~2.5K

Option two - trade it in for another used car. Estimated cost: 10K.

We just did a full brake job for $350 and everything else seems to work well. If we had it fixed, we could drive it for another 2 year (25,000 mile per year). With two kids in college next year, where could we get that $10k for a decent used car?

Any inputs/suggestions are welcome. Thanks

violadad · 10-27-2009, 09:17 PM

It could be as simple as a bad sensor. A tranny rebuild should be in the $1600 range.

Depends on how good the car is mechanically otherwise. I had both s & d's trannys rebuilt, as I knew the cars were sound otherwise. Made far more sense than buying someone else's headache.

But I also know my vehicles and trust my mechanics, who are local independents, and not dealers.

thumper1 · 10-27-2009, 09:29 PM

Get it fixed. Our cars are all older than yours and if they break..we get them fixed. Like Violadad, we have a reliable and trusted mechanic...AND we know our cars.

Batllo · 10-27-2009, 09:31 PM

Go to the Ford Taurus forum, those car dudes are serious and like to diagnosis problems. Good Luck.

JustAMomOf4 · 10-27-2009, 09:31 PM

My sympathies. It's a tough call.
If it needs a new transmission then you could get another 100,000 miles out of it. That could be a good deal since you already know what you have in the rest of the car.
I guess I agree with violadad - you know what you have.
The car will be around for a few years and you can perhaps have it to hand down to a kid if you have one who will need a car in a year or two.

If you are looking for justification to buy a newer car - you have it.

NJres · 10-27-2009, 09:40 PM

wow, there do seem to be a lot of complaints about 2003 Ford Taurus transmission problems. The only problem with your math/logic is this:

Quote:

If we had it fixed, we could drive it for another 2 year (25,000 mile per year).

The truth is, if you have it fixed you can drive it until the next thing goes wrong. How much is a 2003 Taurus worth (with 97k miles)? Probably a mistake to put in another $2000 on a car that is worth $3000 on a good day. It is a tough spot to be in. I am in a similar situation with a 97 Lexus ES300 with 170k miles. But in my case I almost certainly would have pulled the plug but I found a mechanic that I trust and is fairly reasonable, and it is a Lexus so overall quality is excellent (no sludge in my case) so the car can last for a long time.

But it's not necessarily the $2000 now that is the problem - It's not knowing when the next $500... or $1000... or $2000 will show up. And then you will be saying, "Well I just paid $2000 for a new transmission one month ago so I don't want to junk it, so I guess I should spend another $750...." You don't want to be in that situation.

toneranger · 10-27-2009, 09:55 PM

you don't need to spend 10k for a decent used car. you could get an old Lexus ES300 (like a 95) for around 5K. Very reliable, even post 125K. More reliable than a Taurus and most mechanics who can fix a Toyota can fix this Lexus.
I had a ford taurus in 93...brand new...leased. It broke down at the end of the lease. I think these are very poor quality cars. Go for a Toyota or a Lexus.
Good luck...and take a deep breath...you had a very stressful day!

icedragon · 10-27-2009, 09:59 PM

That happened to me and my mom once with our old wagon, it died like a block from our house and we were wearing sandles and it had to be pushed home...

Dad II · 10-27-2009, 10:10 PM

Thanks everyone. The possibility of another $1000 repair comes right after this big fixing is high. That is why I am thinking about getting another used car.

intparent · 10-27-2009, 10:21 PM

I don't think you said whether you have had all the routine maintenance on this car, but if you have, try getting a bid from a dealer AND calling the national number at the car company to see if they will give you a refund for some of the work. If it is a known issue with the car and you can prove you have done the maintenance, sometimes that works. I just did it with my Subaru; 150,000 miles, needed the head gaskets replaced, and the company paid 1/3 of the cost because it is a known issue with that model! And I didn't even have most of the maintenance done by the dealer, just my local mechanic (another lesson -- keep ALL your car care receipts!).

cptofthehouse · 10-27-2009, 10:28 PM

I'm kind of in the same situation. Several times over. We have three cars at this time, all old, needing repairs, but would be hard to replace and be cost effective. We have been keeping them in repair for years.

I had a window of opportunity a few months ago when I was hit by someone in a car, and the damage toll came to $5800. I could get the danged thing fixed for what the person's insurance sent me or trade my car in and with the $5800, get a new car. The numbers still did not work out when we ran them.

With 4 drivers still green behind the ears and our budget so tight, it only makes sense to buy a car when the monthly payments for it are less than the repair costs start to cost over a year's time. We reached that point with some of our older cars but are not there yet.

dadx · 10-27-2009, 11:00 PM

Too bad. I don't know what kind of transmission problems they have, but if they all have them, the Taurus board should give you some idea of what level of longevity to expect.

Too bad also about the Toyotas. My experience is that they may well be the best cars made. I no longer have an old one to work on myself, but my oldest child has it and its rolling along at 175,000+ miles and the only problem is that the A/C recently stopped. I do not understand why other manufacturers cannot duplicate the level of "quality", but I believe it has to do with a combination of expertise and motivation woven together over the years. If you care about durability consistently and you are smart, you figure out what design, and what materials, and what suppliers are reliable.

If you have to take any car to a dealer, you are going to pay a lot. You need a good local mechanic and the factory service manual to help inform him and you.

NewHope33 · 10-27-2009, 11:50 PM

Our family keeps its cars past 150K miles. The key is having a good local mechanic you trust. Without that, I'd err on the side of caution and invest in a replacement. Sorry about your trouble.

jym626 · 10-28-2009, 07:10 AM

We have been able to get very good used cars for $3-5K. They needed a little work, but were good cars. They were Japanese made cars. We haven't had as much luck with our domestic cars (had a Mercury Sable at one point, which is the same as a Taurus). Am glad US cars are improving, but if I were to buy used, I'd buy Japanese.

jym626 · 10-28-2009, 07:23 AM

BTW, older s's first car was a hand-me-down from another relative. It was a Toyota with 387K miles. Yes, you read that right. And they drove it here from across the country. Unfortunately, after a year and a half of ownership DS had an accident and the car was totalled. The very next week my SIL got a letter from Toyota saying that they saw the vehicle was still on the road and wanted to bou it back and replaace it with a new car!!! Missed that by one week!!