3rd gear out = new transmission?

Could just need new tranny fluid. I had a friend who sold a car real cheap because they couldn't shift at all. Flushed/filled with new tranny fluid and the car shifted/ran perfectly fine. Still on the road to this day.

Might try that, although considering what a sign of neglect it would be -- you might watch out. $500 though is pretty cheap if you don't end up with too many repair bills.

According to Kelly Blue Book, the car is worth $3500 if it is in good shape. The car needs new tires, a new timing belt and a transmission fluid change, if you're lucky.

I would take it to your mechanic and see what (s)he says. That part won't cost you anything. If there is no engine damage (metallic sound coming from the engine is not promising) and the transmission doesn't have a major problem, it is probably worth it.

Jeff

Jeff

I should have said that this part won't cost you much. Of course, you do need to pay the mechanic for his/her time to check the car.

If there is no engine damage (metallic sound

But you do want to be careful with flushing the transmissions of older cars. Flushing might result in having to get a new transmission.

Sure, flush could bust some seals. I really like Prizms, but I dunno, this gal's breath (don't light any matches, yikes) I even offered her

250 to just take it as is and take my chances at the garage, but she wouldn't bite. But she'll let me take it in, I'm sure they'll charge 40 - 90 to look at it, which is okay.

It would be super sweet if it wasn't too spendy, but yeah, 400 for the timing belt/water pump alone, can live with the tires for now, and whatever the tranny/clutch might be wrong (80 bucks to flush it or so,

*might* work I guess), plus some mysterious metallic noise in the engine (!) which who the heck knows what that could be, thing still moved.

I just really like Prizms (drove an automatic for 4 years, great mileage), and like it was said, it's well under book, but I really don't want to toss 2K into a used car I got for 300-500 (if I can bargain her down). If I can get it running decent for 1500 including purchase price and whatever work/diagnosis needs to be done, might be okay, but if the tranny is shot, it's probably not worth it to me. I'm not mechanical, would be a sweet car for one of those guys, or maybe the local tech school????

I'm looking for something for nothing, and I don't think that happens too often. I will have to seriously ponder this. There are several Prizms for sale lately around here for some reason, up to like 4 or

5K, yikes, for a Prizm???

Thanks for the sage advice all. Do I really need a 3rd gear? lol, 4th will go next, heh....

Ranking

Is the transmission an automatic or a manual? If it is an automatic, I'd pass on the car. If it is a manual, check the shifter and shift cable adjustment.

Sounds are difficult to diagnose without hearing them first hand. If the metallic noise is a knocking noise, pass on the car.

160,000 miles isn't new, but $500 for a car that still has $3K plus book value is a rather healthy discount already. You just need to make sure it isn't going to cost more than that to get it back in shape, and get another 100K out of it.

Do NOT buy this car if you don't plan to keep it a while, because you want to drive the value out of the repairs, for at least 60K miles.

And do NOT buy it if the repair prices exceed the book value of the car in good shape, because you can invest the money in repairs... And then the car gets stolen or totaled in a wreck and you lose your investment, since the insurance company isn't going to give you more than book without an epic battle.

I would suggest two things: Get the engine and car checked out at YOUR local mechanic - NOT the seller's mechanic, there may be a serious conflict of interest there. As in he's deliberately lying for his friend.

There are several inexpensive things that can make noise on the engine, as well as some expensive ones, they can isolate it. And tell you what the overall cost of getting the car into road-ready shape will be, and break it down between the things "needed now" (like the timing belt is a must) and those that are "needed soon."

There are some items that you replace simply on time or mileage, like the battery, belts and hoses, and radiator. If they are all originals, they may be due to fail even if they're working fine now, so look at their age and condition carefully. The new plastic and aluminum radiators are cheaper and more reliable when replaced than trying to fix the old one.

And if your mechanic can't pin down the what and why, have the transmission checked out separately by a transmission specialist. They are the ones who know them inside out.

It may not need a full transmission rebuild, but that's the safe way to go once they have to take it out for anything (especially with a lot of miles on it) - the labor to remove and replace the transmission is always a big chunk of the overall cost, so you only want to do it once every 150K miles...

They haul out the transmission and tear it down to check it over, and only change what's really worn out or broken, which can save you a lot of money - but you still want to find out what the "worst case" price is, in case they find "surprises" and it needs everything.

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It's a manual, the metallic noise sounds like a loose piece of something getting dragged along or spun around something else, hard to really tell, not so much a knocking as a sharp tinny sound if that makes sense.

Thanks

Great advice Bruce. I definitely would want to drive my money's worth out of repairs, so there's a line somewhere. I would say new tranny = no thanks, but like I said around 1500 total or so would probably be my line. I can find a decent running car for under 2K already or just spend 3-4 and get a Corolla or other Prizm, no sense trying to rebuild a (somewhat?) neglected one.

I do know this guy who has a 95 (?) Metro for sale, 300 bucks that was just overheating, but boy there I go again, something for nothing. Probably warped the engine, but still, fun little car, airbags even.

Has anyone driven a Smart Car? Those look kind of fun.

Thanks all, have a great Thanksgiving. RG

Manual transmissions are less expensive to rebuild and repair than automatic transmissions, especially if it is just the shifter that needs adjustment or repair.

If the sharp tinny sound is coming from the top of the engine, then it could be something as simple as the valves needing adjustment, but it could also be something worse. Rather than speculate, I would have the car checked out by a competent technician and get estimates for repair so you can make a decision.

good luck!

I'd be inclined to pass on the Prizm, cheap as it seems to be. You've outlined all the stuff you KNOW is wrong, including a suspicious noise in the engine, but there's lots and lots of things that may need attention that you haven't yet discovered. If the car has not been well maintained, it's further evidence of poor upkeep. I'd sooner pay more and get a cream puff with half the mileage and documented evidence that the person had over-maintained it. This one sounds cheap enough, but with lots of cash outlay in future.

I think that's where I'm sitting now. I can take a well-maintained car that might need a little work, but yeah, I think this one was pretty neglected and there's no sense throwing money away on it. It's a repairable at best. I think I will pass. Thanks all.

Good reasoning. The old saw about "you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear" is about right. If the car were a highly collectible antique that was trashed, you might pour megabucks into it and restore it to pristine condition and sell it at auction, but NO prizm is ever going to be worth much ...until it's 100 years old and it's the only one around. My advice - find a car that a little old lady drove only to church (and had no teenage grandchildren who borrowed it to race their pals) with unreasonably low mileage, and give her a good price for it. Buy a high mileage car and you might as well buy a taxicab.

If the car is in otherwise really good shape except for one major fault, you are getting a good enough price break on the used car to cover the repair costs, and you can do your own repair labor to get it back in good shape, you can come out ahead.

But unless you get the car practically for free, most of the people who have to pay a mechanic full boat to do their repairs will end up getting hosed on that kind of deal. It might work out for the initial repairs, then something else breaks and the money pit opens wide.

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