Looking for feedback: Stay or trade

[udmsvt]

I FEEL LIKE I HAVE TO DEFEND MYSELF.

"Well, all I can say is that my X is eating brakes......Now, I found that the rear brakes were not adjusted properly so maybe that is why the last set wore out in 5k miles.....When I did the brakes, I repalced the sliding pins and all.....I tried a different brand of cermaics the last time and they are teh ones that wore out in 5k...Went with standard Napa ones this time and I guess we'll see....I dont think I am that hard on the brakes...I dont race this truck, since most of the time I have my two kids with me.....to and from daycare.....lots of local trips though....maybe that plus maladjusted back brakes did it?? I usually get 15k-20k or so out of brakes on my other cars. I have NEVER seen a set of front pads go 40-50k like you say....maybe I am just hard on brakes.... <grin>"

like i said, all depends on the driver. my uncles aturn went 100k on the original brakes. not an ex, but with proper usage, you'd be suprised.

"Dont make the mistake of blaming the kid....My parents did the same thing to me when I was 18...they had a POS Reliant station wagon with high miles and a few weeks after I left for Army training it dropped the tranny....That was "my fault"....

My Explorer dropped a tranny at 65k miles (or so the odometer said)..... in the middle of a summer vacation so 130k seems pretty good to me."

it was her fault....she told me this, not her parents. it ws my girlfriend that did it. she didnt realize it was in neutral one day, went to slam it, didnt go anywhere and she popped it into drive with the tach at like 4k.

"How often do you change fluid?? I have about 30k on the rebuild and am planning the change.....Shoudl I do this myself or take it for a reverse flush??? I did the last fluid change myself and (as coincidence would have it, the tranny dropped a few months later....and I know what you are thinking ...he screwed up...no, I have done MANY tranny fluid changes in teh past on otehr cars and never a problem...<grin> )"

to my knowledge, they NEVER changed the fluid. like i said, the right shop can work wonders.

"Like I said, I really dont abuse this truck...it sees about 10 miles a day in travel normally and in the winter about 390 miles a day....local traffic, so maybe this is why.....I dont put a lot of miles on her, and I see no reason why it is having these issues.....My 92 Dakota sawa HELLUVA lot more abuse than this and is still going strong (knock wood) at 119k miles or so....she is retired and a garage queeen now....With all the talk about how tough the X is, I cant honestly say that I have seen that."

cant explain the ex, but dodges are good trucks, no doubt.

"My X's tranny went at 65k or so......as have others here....apparantly, judging by the number of bad tranny threads here I would say that others have the same issues, so I dont think saying GM trannys are bad is quite fair...<grin>"

just as an example, my stepdad had an old blazer. EVERY time he tried to tow something, he would lose a torque convertor. i knwo several people with full size and s-series GMs, mostly 4x4, that have had problems...but only a few of my friends that have had tranny pronblems with exs.

"I guess that is true, if things wouldnt keep letting go......I just spent $300 on tires (got a deal) but find out that to get it aligned, it needs "shims" on both sides....so another $150 on TOP of the alignemnet (normal maint item I know).....

Truth is, I am not really seeing ANY savings I dont think......I need balljoints this past February and that was like $600 or so.....so, add the brakes, alignemnet and "shims" and already I have lost the savings.....If nothing else goes wrong in the next year, maybe...but it sure seems like its a once every few montsh kind of thing with this truck....."

yeah, but how long will those tires/brakes last you?...should last you at least the 18 mos you need out of them.

My tranny cost $3000 alone...how would $3600 cover tranny, engine and brakes??? <grin>

you got screwed. try not to get screwed again!

i could get a rebuilt auto tranny, with warranty for under 1000, and maybe 500 for labor. vould replace the engine for well under 1000 if i HAD to...and thats with not doing the work myself. as for brakes, well my last 2 explorer brake jobs cost 660 and 700 (the 91 and 93, on the same day...93 had an extra rotted brakeline). both had several parts replaced.

dont take it wrong, i just see it as, there is no way you will get 3800 out of that ex and you'd be lucky to get 2000 trade-in which would set you in the hole. if you owned it, it would be another story but why get rid of something that will leave you in the whole before you even start paying for a new one (if if you only get 2000 for the ex, you still have to pay the loan which outs you in the whole and doesnt really give you a down payment on the tahoe)

you have come this far with the ex, and only have 18 mos left. a wise man once said, "the cheapest vehicle is the one you already own" so stick with that until you are done paying.

 

[wilson_nick]

Sorry man but i just bought a 94 sport w/less miles on it and it has had no serious problems in it's lifetime (even though it's been wrecked (which previous owner didn't tell me about)). i've had it for about 6 months it's almost paid off and i've only had one problem and that's the exhaust. I'd say if you like the explorer maybe look at newer explorers or make double payments on the one you have so you can get it paid off. then buy something new and you'll still have the X you love plus something else to fix all the time.

 

[zavetsky]

"i could get a rebuilt auto tranny, with warranty for under 1000, and maybe 500 for labor. "

Maybe for a standard tranny.....everywhere around here wants around $2900 for a rebuilt installed automatic.....trust me , I dont like getting hosed and I did my homework.....after the fcat more or less, since I was on vacation when it happened, but I got an average deal....not great but not exhorbitant....now this includes a 3y/30,000 mile warranty at like $250 too, so that factors in too...

My brother in law has a 95 Ranger with a very similar tranny and paid about $2,000 for his to be rebuilt by a small local shop, and that was removing and replacing it himself, no warranty....a year or so later it is acting up again......I am not saying you canbt find a cheap deal on it somewhere, but at least around here all the reputable shops want in the $2500 to $3000 ballpark....

"there is no way you will get 3800 out of that ex and you'd be lucky to get 2000 trade-in which would set you in the hole."

Ok, see this is what I dont get then......everyone on this forum says how great the Xs hold their value blah blah blah and how relaible and solid these trucks are........my X has 96k on it and is in very nice shape body wise....and its worth $2,000?? Hell...there are POS 2wd pickups and cars going for that with more miles.....Besides the fact that the KBB says $3800, that doesnt make much sense.

No, I am pretty sure that I could get what I owe on her, but I am sure not much more.....

"you have come this far with the ex, and only have 18 mos left. a wise man once said, "the cheapest vehicle is the one you already own" so stick with that until you are done paying."

But in the same token, why continue paying $4,000 for a vehicle that is worth $2,000....If this were true, I am in the hole no matter what.... <grin>...I can trade her in now for $2,000 and lose $2k or spend the 2k in 18 months and then trade her in and get that same $2k.....no diff then....but I see your point, a new car payment is much higher than what I am paying now for a payment, I know that,.....which is why I havent already jumped in and bought one.....My point is that if I consider the maintenance costs lately, I am paying a much higher payment anyways....now if those costs level off I may be ok...if they continue, I will be getting "nicle and dimed" to death and wind up paying the same payment for my old truck, which I want to avoid..........

Anyways, I had her to a different shop yeaterday and had her aligned....didnt need the shims as the first shop said it would.....so, tires and alignment are ok now....hoepfully the last major thing for a while....knock wood, cross my fingers...<grin>

By the way, doing one neutral slam shouldnt rip a tranny apart....it was probably abused to begin with.....In my younger days I had the opportuen to do a slam or tow in renatls (ok, not a responsible thing to do, but like I said, my younger day).....Now, what happened to those cars later I dunno, but they all made it back fine to the rental joint....

 

[udmsvt]

the neutral slam happened around 130k on the original tranny. it was about due but that was the last straw.

good luck getting 3800 out of you ex.

seriously, kbb doesnt mean squat.

in july 01, i bought a fully loaded contour se for 8900. leather, ground fx, remote start, every option. it had 58k on it. a year later, with the addition of new tires, a new fuel pump, new dash gauges, new stift soleniod, tint job, new pioneer radio, and underbodies, i got only 4000 trade in. blue book was about 6600, the best i could get was 4000. most dealers offered 2500-3000 for it....this was july 02 at 79k. the car was still in immaculate shape.

yes, i did pay 4700 for my 93 sport with 79k last july, but thats what i paid at a dealer, not what you wil get.

seriously, consider the market right now. yes, it is a great time to buy but good luck selling. if yor are serious about selling, the time to do it is right before winter....thats when everyone wants an suv.

 

[mbryda]

Maybe for a standard tranny.....everywhere around here wants around $2900 for a rebuilt installed automatic.....trust me , I dont like getting hosed and I did my homework.....after the fcat more or less, since I was on vacation when it happened, but I got an average deal....not great but not exhorbitant....now this includes a 3y/30,000 mile warranty at like $250 too, so that factors in too...

OUCH! When my trans (5r55e) died @ 58k I paid a local shop $1900 to rebuild it and it came with a 3/36k warranty. The shop's been in business for like 20 years now and they definitely know what they are doing. Shop around- $3k seems way high.

Ok, see this is what I dont get then......everyone on this forum says how great the Xs hold their value blah blah blah and how relaible and solid these trucks are........my X has 96k on it and is in very nice shape body wise....and its worth $2,000?? Hell...there are POS 2wd pickups and cars going for that with more miles.....Besides the fact that the KBB says $3800, that doesnt make much sense.

Whoever said Exp's hold their value was full of $hite. They are a dime a dozen and, as such, nobody is going to pay for them.

Case in point - last month I tried to trade my 2k XLT, fully loaded (moonroof, full power, reverse sending, SOHC, etc) with 71k in good condition (normal wear). Prices on the net were from $9k to $14k. The dealer told me the best they could do was like $9600 as that's all their wholesaer would give them if he liked it....Flash forward to this month - the best I can do on the 'net is $9700. Needless to say, I didn't trade (Owed $10,900) but plan to ASAP as I don't want to loose even more!

The used car market SUCKS right now for those of us who want to sell. With all the 0% and other low financing, why buy used when new is only a couple $ more a month?

 

[udmsvt]

mbryda

thank you.