1992 Skylark transmission repair

May 12, 2005 10 Replies

My wife has a '92 Buick Skylark. It's transmission is on its last leg. I'm debating about replacing the tranny or replacing the car. The car is in excellent condition. It has been driven by a little old lady (er...rather my very young wife :->) back and forth to the local Children's hospital and home. She parked in a garage at work and home. It has about 92K miles on it. To replace the transmission will cost about $3,000. I priced it at the dealership and a couple of other transmission places and they were all within about $300 of each other. I don't have the tools, time or experience to tear a front wheel drive apart and deal with a wife without transportation in the meantime, so if this is worth doing, I really can't do it myself.



Anyone have any opinions about this? In one respect I hate to shoot a car that is in otherwise very good condition. For an Ohio car, it really is in great condition. The paint looks almost new as does the interior. The only nags I have are 1. It has a small oil leak somewhere that I haven't found,



  1. The AC ain't the greatest (but the in-laws have had about a dozen Buicks and every one had bad AC, so I think it's a "feature"), and 3. The car won't fit a big guy like me without a big crick in his neck and back.

Is it worth selling in its current condition? Would it even make sense to part it and sell the good stuff (I turn my 6 yo loose with a wrench and he'll do what he did to my first Pontiac and fill the garage with all the parts)? I've had very bad luck with transmission "repair"....they've never been right once I've gotten them back. Replacing would make me feel better, but I'm not sure the car is worth the kind of money it will cost for the age/value of the car.



Thanks for any suggestions.



Scott


1966 Pontiac Executive 45,000 miles
1997 Ford F150 170,000 miles
1992 Buick Skylark 92,000 miles

Thanks for the reply. It's an overdrive unit. This is the price they gave me to replace it with a new one. Not rebuild it. I've had nothing but bad luck with rebuilt tranny's, so I didn't argue too much when they suggested new over rebuilt.

I thought the 92 Sklark had the 3.3 with TH125/3T40?

Ok...just checked and found I made a wrong assumption. It is NOT an overdrive as I thought. It is the Grand Sport edition. I still prefer working on my '66. I KNOW what it has :->

Find a mech/tech that will rebuild your original case... (assuming the case is good).

It's kind of a tough decision, though. Considering that a 1998-2000 year Century with a bigger engine can be had for about $4000 or so, this may be a good time to think about getting something newer. With the ABS and overdrive. :)

SSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHH...don't say that so loud. The wife will only buy a new one...she hears that and I'm doomed....lol. I'm still debating what to do, but all the help has been great. I haven't had a lot of luck with rebuilds, so I'm kind of concerned about even $1200 to get it "fixed", although I haven't had a rebuilt GM. According to the Blue Book, it's only worth about that much.

Thanks for all the help everyone...given me a lot to consider.

Scott

Actually, I'd pay $6-$8K for a Regal with the 3.8 engine and/or GS package. Very fine cars. My 3.8L LeSabre is at nearly 160K miles and 18 years. Way better than any Skylark ever was :)

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