Well, my 89SE is sitting in my lot with a puddle of gear oil under the tranny. I don't have the means anymore to get it up on a lift to get it in and out, so doing the work myself is looking impossible. It needs a new output shaft seal and bearing(s). Almost all of the gear oil has leaked out of the flywheel vent hole in the bell housing case. Anyway, I found a 93 SE 5spd at some crappy buy-here pay-here lot in town. They have no idea what they have. The engine runs perfect and the VTCs are fine. It has high mileage but it runs sooooo smooth (187K mi.). I don't have the money to buy it outright, but he said if I could come up with $3200 I could take it. Otherwise, he wants $50 a week and $800 down for a grand total of nearly $5K. I love my 89. I miss it more than anything and have vowed to never abuse it again if I get it back on the road. My delimma: should I pay nearly $2K to get my car fixed or start payments to this lot and have a VE???? My car needs the tranny rebuilt, a new y-pipe, and it's good to go. This VE needs a new antenna (I would probably just shave it off, though), new driver's side headlight (which I could swap for e36s or my 89s stock), and has a dent in the rear driver's side quarter panel that looks like it could be pulled out pretty easily. It is black with black cloth (both my favorite) and everything works. What to do, what to do?????

 

$3,200 for a car with 187K? Manual transmission? Hell no.

 

I love your '89.....just depends on what you would rather have more....who knows, the tranny could go out in the VE in a month and you'll be stuck w/ having to rebuild that plus spending more on the car......

 

3200 for a car with 187k is a lot. I got mine for $2800 5spd over a year ago. is your 89 a 5pd? Just rebuild the engine in anycase for abouy 1200/1300, and a y-pipe + cat for $300 and extras for $200. $1800 max. If you don't have an extra car, spend like $600 for a roller blade or sumpth...but that's my .02

lophix

 

The engine is great and in no need of a rebuild. The only things wrong with the car at all are the tranny and y-pipe. I was actually in the middle of redoing my whole exhaust, so that's not a big issue. New y-pipe, dual mandrel bent SS 2.5" tubing, and 2 dual tipped mufflers for $300, not bad sounding to me. Problem is, I don't have the money for a new tranny. I have an extra car, but it's an 83 VW Scirracco GTI and a total piece of crap. It's getting me around right now, but I miss my Max. Oh, and yes it's an SE 5-spd, lophix.
I guess I'm just jumping the gun because I want my 89 back and can't afford to get it back on the road right now...

 

I just wanted to add that I think you've done too much work on your car to just get rid of it just because it needs a transmission rebuild. The cheap solution for you would be to put in a used tranny, which you could probably do yourself, all it'll cost you is around $300. Manual trannys are alot stronger than auto's, so it's kinda worth taking the risk with swapping a used manual.

 

cottman transmissions got mine rebuilt for quite a bit but only cos i was stupid and gave them a blank check. They have finance options though. check them out. They also have warranty and annual free checkup and service after the rebuild.

lophix

 

Thanks for the suggestion(s). I will check them out, maybe they have a location in the Indianapolis area. If I could find a reputable shop that would finance the repair, that would be great. As far as taking the old transmission out and slapping in a new one, well, that's most of the cost of the repair right there. It's a lot of work, and without a lift it's nearly impossible. Right now, my car won't go into any gear so it has to be towed to wherever, and then fixed. I don't have the means anymore to do it myself so I have to pay an outragous shop charge for all of the labor so that someone can do it for me. That sucks, but if I could get the whole thing financed that would be a little easier.

Thanks for the props, Sudesh. I hope to have it back on the road (but not the strip) as soon as possible...

 

Hey Sudesh...

where can i find a used manual tranny for 300 bucks???????
I've been looking for a manual 5 speed trans for my 89 SE lately.

 

where do you but rollerblades????

 

If you live in NY, there's lots of junk yards in Hunts point in the bronx. Very competitive prices. Transmission prices for maximas are around $250-$300. If you tell people that you have the cash on you and you'd pay them right away, they'll be willing to give it to you for the cheapest price ($250).

 

ok..so i see in your profile you're in MI. Best bet for you would be to buy a rebuilt tranny from www.phoenixhardparts.com. Excellent price for a rebuilt tranny, not used, rebuilt.

 

man...i was there in NY for all summer...i just moved back to MI in September...i would have bought a tranny from them junk yards in Bronx.

 

Do you or anyone else have experience in dealing with these people? If it's total crap, will they take it back? I'm also wondering what gets rebuilt... if they have a list of things that goes into each one or if they only rebuild what that particular transmission needs. ??? Thx

 

I contacted them and they wanted $325 just to look at it. If I didn't want them to do the work I would have to pay them that fee plus $80 for towing. If they did the work the towing is free and the 325 goes toward the repair. Most shops charge $50-$100 for internal diagnostic, because they know you need it fixed. I need money before my car is getting back on the road, and that's not happenning any time too soon the way it's looking now.

 

oh crap. i forgot it was grounded. my bad. but the diagnostic fee is ridiculous. when mine started giving symptoms, i shopped around and they test drove it to diagnose for free. If you knew exactly what was wrong like the syncs or the bearings or sumpth, them you could talk with them and get a ball park figure. Oh yeah. Phoenixhardparts.com is pretty reliable too. I didnt go with them cos I wanted MY transmission rebuilt not a newly rebuilt one from them...cost about the same with the same warranty.

lophix

 

I'm going to check out Phoenixhardparts.com then. I'm pretty sure what's wrong with it, but I haven't taken it apart to see the extent of the damage because I can't get it out without a lift (or totally breaking myself in half!) so it's pretty much impossible for anyone to give me even a remotly accurate guesstimation on what I would be looking at to spend, but based on my previous experiences I see it being about $1200, or $1200 more than I have... depending on how you look at it .
They did tell me that if I decided to go with an internet company like Phoenixhardparts.com that they would work with me on getting it in. He told me that going that route would probably not be the best bet for me as far as cost, though... just depends on the extent of the damage. He's kinda right, if there isn't much damage then why pay for a COMPLETE rebuild when you can pay for only what's broken or worn or is going to wear??

 

thats what i was told. The net is aiight if you can swap them by yourself and you have about $800 or so bucks extra for the core( dunno if thats the range). A local repair / part-rebuild would be the way to go.

 

Forget maximas you need one of these



Good Car

 

no way dude!
when'd u get that?

 

this past week.. its pretty nice car i like it

 

That's a great car, no doubt, and I can bet you're pretty proud of it! However, I really truly love my Maxima more than anything else...
I really want it back on the road. Not back on the drag strip at all, but I miss driving it soooo much...

Nice 'lude, though. Great car for the price.

 

Okay, I think I am going to go with Cottman...
What should I expect as far as price is concerned? I've never done business with them, but after the $325 diagnostic fee (taking it out and putting it back in) I would owe on parts and labor for the rebuild. Parts couldn't be more than $150 I would think, and how could labor on the rebuild itself be more than 2 hours ($100-120)?? Whaddaya think? That totals at around $600, sounds low so I don't know...