Your engine starts but your car won’t drive? Or maybe you’re driving and there’s a grinding-whirring-snapping noise from under your vehicle. Another possibility could be that your car will drive forward but won’t engage to back up. Or perhaps there’s a huge puddle of red fluid underneath the middle of your engine bay. With a bad engine selling your car online is the fastest route. Read on to see more.
Luckily, transmission repair services don’t always require a complete transmission replacement. There are instances that a transmission repair will do the trick. But no matter what ends up happening, it’s still not going to be cheap, since new transmission prices and the time for a skilled mechanic are both costly.
These are all symptoms that indicate you might have a bad transmission and need a transmission repair, rebuild, or replacement. It’s true – any one of these or a combination of a few symptoms is telling you there’s a major vehicle repair coming soon. And you know what that means: you need to wrap your head around transmission replacement costs. If your repair costs are far too high for your vehicle's value, you can always sell your car online, fast! We pay you for your car in 24-48 hours. See how much you can get for your damaged car now.
If your transmission isn’t shifting gears, you might be able to get away with a relatively minor repair. Shifts are controlled by small electrical components known as solenoids. These solenoids could be mounted externally on the transmission or internally, depending on their purpose and your transmission’s design.
A replacement transmission solenoid is approximately $15 to $100 for the part alone, and averages $300 for labor to replace the affected transmission solenoid. As far as a transmission repair cost goes, it’s about as lucky as you can get.
The transmission fluid is supposed to stay on the inside, right? That’s what the transmission front seal helps to do. It prevents transmission fluid from leaking past the input shaft where the transmission attaches to the engine.
Repairs are starting to get pricey now. The front seal replacement varies by model, especially for those that the transmission is hard to remove and install. Expect $400 to $1,000 to change the transmission front seal.
Transmission gears operate on hydraulic pressure, funneled through a valve body. When something happens in the valve body – a leak, an electrical fault, or a crack – it’s best to change the whole thing.
The valve body assembly will be in the vicinity of $200 to $500, and the labor to replace it will be around $500 or so. Expect around $1,000 to get you back up and running.
Sometimes that funny sound and weird operation are just because the transmission mount is shot. When a transmission mount is worn out, broken, or loose, the tranny doesn’t line up properly or there are parts hitting against each other. It sounds worse than it is in most cases.
The part is usually $50 to $200 itself, and labor is about the same. Not bad, especially compared to the other things it could be…like a transmission replacement.
Other times, the only way out is to change the transmission as an assembly. The internal gears, clutches, plates, and other hard parts often get damaged beyond reuse. To replace all the parts inside the transmission would cost more on parts and labor than just changing it out.
When you’re pricing out new transmission costs in a replacement, you’ll need to have your vehicle details. It varies widely in costs depending on what you drive – economy car vs performance car, light duty vehicle or heavy-duty truck, gas or diesel engine – it all makes a difference.
If you are extremely lucky, you’ll get your transmission replacement completed for $2,500 all in. If yours is one of the more expensive types, it could easily range to $6,000 or even more.
At this price range you might start thinking about whether or not it’s worth it to fix your car, or you should sell it as-is.
Here’s an estimated list of the 10 most popular car makes and their corresponding transmission replacement costs, ordered from most to least expensive:
|
Car Make |
Estimated Transmission Replacement Cost |
|
BMW |
$4,500 - $8,000 |
|
Mercedes-Benz |
$4,000 - $7,500 |
|
Toyota |
$2,500 - $4,500 |
|
Honda |
$2,500 - $4,500 |
|
Ford |
$2,500 - $5,000 |
|
Chevrolet |
$2,500 - $5,000 |
|
Nissan |
$2,500 - $4,500 |
|
Hyundai |
$2,000 - $4,000 |
|
Volkswagen |
$2,500 - $4,500 |
|
Kia |
$2,000 - $4,000 |
In some instances, a transmission rebuild is possible. But it’s hard to know in advance, because it depends on how much damage there is in the transmission. A technician needs to disassemble it completely, price out the repair, then put it back together.
You might be able to save some money on the parts but the labor cost will be several hours more. The price difference between a transmission replacement and a transmission rebuild costs could be really small in the end.
A big portion of any transmission replacement or rebuild is the labor cost. It’s at least six hours to remove and install a transmission, often twice that. How much is a transmission? Well, transmission prices will vary between different makes and models, but can range from $1500 to $4000 for the part alone! When you’re looking at the true cost of transmission replacement, expect labor to be a third to a half of the overall cost. With all these expenses selling your car online starts to look appealing.
Are you thinking you’d like to avoid the headache of a transmission repair? Or maybe you can’t afford the out-of-pocket expense to get it fixed up. Sell your car to CarBrain instead. At CarBrain, you can sell your vehicle in as-is condition. If it’s at the repair shop, parked in your driveway, stuck in your parking stall at the office – wherever it is – we’ll take come pick it up.
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