Dilema. 94 Jetta GLS 2.0 5 speed 130K miles, owned since new and only
5 years spent in this salt/sand infested climate in Minnesota. This week out of the blue, I'm mildly accelerating from a stop and suddenly feel/hear a heavy clunk/lurch then everything's fine. Few minutes later when using engine braking to stop I hear a whine that is new. Few minutes later the whine has become louder, slightly noticable when maintaining speed, but much louder when slowing with the engine. Darn. I took it to a few shops for some opinions. Its still driveable for now. "Yahhh. She needs a rebuilt transmission you betcha" was the common response. So a rebuilt unit with a new clutch, something in the neighborhood of $2,000 to $2,500. Its not a job I can do myself. Dilema is of course fix and keep or sell it while it still drives and move onward. I mean, does it make sense to spend $2,000 and have a 12 year old car that has nonfunctional alarm (I don't really care), air conditioner (no Okie needs A/C livin' here), airbags ( doesn't worry me much), and sunroof (again, not missing it terribly); and also needs a new fuel pump as it runs out of gas after having only used 9 gallons from full. The car is worth maybe $1,000 to $2,000 after the tranny work and lingering question is What Breaks Next?Sorry for the long post. I guess I'm freakin attached to this car or something. Lots of good memories in the red Jetta. What to do?
Signed, Middle aged and confused. Time for a beer.