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Dead Car - What to do?


Fiji ST

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Here's the story: My mom was traveling back to Pittsburgh, PA from Des Moines, IA in her 2003 Mercury Sable wagon. In Moline, IL, the transmission refuses to go into any gear but Reverse. So she parks it, calls AAA. Yadda yadda yadda, she gets it towed to a shop and she gets a rental. She arrives here in Columbus with her rental.

 

Here's the issue. The car has 100k on the clock and is beat to shit (scrapes all over, front bumper has been wrecked three times, interior is nasty). If it needs a new tranny, the car is not going to be fixed. She's already dumped about $1500 into it with brakes, two tires and fixing a previous tranny issue this year alone.

 

So what now happens to the car? Should she have it brought back to PA to scrap/trade-in? Should she leave it where it is in Illinois and just have someone buy it there? Maybe convince the shop to give her a few $$ for it? I've never had to deal with this before and I have no idea how to help her deal with this situation. I know if it's totally fucked, she won't want to deal with trying to sell off parts or anything of that nature.

 

Any advice?

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Im sure they are going to be charging by the day for storage so if your going to do something I wouldnt wait too long..

 

We will find out tomorrow what's wrong with it. That's why I am asking now to figure out what to do if it's toast so we're not wasting time and money.

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At some AAA-recommended garage in Moline, Illinois (aka middle of fucking nowhere).

 

find out whats wrong...see how bad it is to fix (if the bfe meck-a-neck can figure it out :rolleyes:, ie dont get me started)

 

go from there...what ever is wrong gauge it vs selling it.

 

if its more then a few hun, IMO tell them you have to think it over and you'll call them back. call back a few hours later and see if they are interested in buying it! never hurts to ask. see if they know anyone that might buy it. if not you will have to go from there. if they charge any type of storage fee or not, make sure you find out. you could always take a trailer and truck and go get it and bring it back here or take it back to her.

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Ok if the car won't go anywhere but reverse, it's going to be some big bucks. Most likely an entire trans and 1500-2k worth of work.

 

They're not going to be able to fix a trans issue for a few hundread bucks.

 

Possibly throw it on CL and see what someone would want for a busted trans in a Sable.

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Well, the car is fixed. There was something wrong with the shifter cables. They had popped off or something. Drove it around and bit and it's fine now supposedly. My brother and I have to go out next week and get it. :(

 

But thanks for the insight on the subject guys. I'm saving the info. just in case this happens again in the future.

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Well, the car is fixed. There was something wrong with the shifter cables. They had popped off or something. Drove it around and bit and it's fine now supposedly. My brother and I have to go out next week and get it. :(

 

But thanks for the insight on the subject guys. I'm saving the info. just in case this happens again in the future.

 

No offense but is it even worth going that far for?

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If the car is that busted, 400 mi is far enough. He said the car has had tranny issues this year already. What about if it does make it back you ditch the car thats busted and all chip in to get her somthing reliable? Just another idea for her, id do it for my parents.
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