Faulty Transmission - worth the repair? 14 July 2022 at 4:55PM in Motoring 8 replies 312 views

JoJo77

I have a 10 year old BMW that has done 203,000 miles. It’s got very noisy and it turns out that the transmission needs work. We’ve been quoted £1,500 to £1,800. The car has no value due to the mileage and we do get the odd electrical fault. But, we like the car and couldn’t buy an electric replacement as we have family we see regularly that are hundreds of miles away and the current vehicles don’t do those kind of miles on a single charge (unless we could afford a Tesla!). How long can you drive a car with damaged transmission? How many miles can a BMW engine do? £1,500 might be a good investment if the car holds out for another 5 years but is that likely? I’d really like some views on my options. Thank you for reading

DB1904

JoJo77 said:

I have a 10 year old BMW that has done 203,000 miles. It’s got very noisy and it turns out that the transmission needs work. We’ve been quoted £1,500 to £1,800. The car has no value due to the mileage and we do get the odd electrical fault. But, we like the car and couldn’t buy an electric replacement as we have family we see regularly that are hundreds of miles away and the current vehicles don’t do those kind of miles on a single charge (unless we could afford a Tesla!). How long can you drive a car with damaged transmission? How many miles can a BMW engine do? £1,500 might be a good investment if the car holds out for another 5 years but is that likely? I’d really like some views on my options. Thank you for reading

How long is a piece of string?

The electric car lovers will be along saying your trips to see family are not a problem and you'll save £1000s by going electric. 

JoJo77

Thank you. Obviously i would love to save money, that’s why we use this site, but my time is important too (I can’t be stuck in Services for ages with small children on an already long journey). And scrapping a car that might still have useful life is environmentally damaging. 

flashg67

Always tricky at this stage of a car's life - I've had expensive repairs done then had more come along and wish I'd scrapped it. Well looked after, the engine could go go on for a while but that's an unknown risk with older/high mileage cars. Can you get a 'better' car for 2k? probably not. What is the transmission fault - I've driven cars with noisy gears in the past  - is it worth driving  it until the transmission dies - that could be a while off possibly and the repair cost then will be the same I'd guess

DB1904

JoJo77 said:

Thank you. Obviously i would love to save money, that’s why we use this site, but my time is important too (I can’t be stuck in Services for ages with small children on an already long journey). And scrapping a car that might still have useful life is environmentally damaging. 

According to those in the know it wouldn't be ages. More than doable with young kids and the time it takes them to eat. 

Richard53

JoJo77 said:

I have a 10 year old BMW that has done 203,000 miles. ... But, we like the car

For me, that's the key remark. You're flipping a coin. You might splash the cash and keep a perfectly good car running for another 4/5 years. You might get it fixed, and on the way home from the garage the engine blows, the windows fall out and the floor collapses with rust and you have to scrap it. Either is possible. But if you already like the car, that would sway me towards fixing and keeping it. £1800 isn't much for a few years of decent motoring, regardless of the car's "value". It's often said on here that the cheapest car is the car you already own. You know its good and bad bits. A new-to-you car for £2000 would be a totally unknown quantity, and likely no better than the BMW.

lemondrops69

flashg67 said:

Always tricky at this stage of a car's life - I've had expensive repairs done then had more come along and wish I'd scrapped it. Well looked after, the engine could go go on for a while but that's an unknown risk with older/high mileage cars. Can you get a 'better' car for 2k? probably not. What is the transmission fault - I've driven cars with noisy gears in the past  - is it worth driving  it until the transmission dies - that could be a while off possibly and the repair cost then will be the same I'd guess

If you run the gearbox till it dies it could cost a lot more to fix than it will cost now.

Herzlos

Hows the rest of the car? If it's otherwise in pretty good condition then I'd just get the transmission replaced. 

£1500 will barely get you a banger at the moment, or could easily be 6 months payments on something newer. 

dipsomaniac

when I worked for ups some of their mercedes engines had nearly a million Km on the clocks.  Don't know if original engines. Probably the most vulnerable internal part is a timing chain as opposed to belt. Don't know what is fitted on yours.

I am assuming you have had 3 quotes for the repair?  Auto or manual? Have you looked at secondhand parts and reconditioned? 

The car is only 10 yrs old and assuming most of those miles are motorway miles and the car has got full service history.  If so, I would repair as its the cheapest option (unless you buy a old focus) and you are keeping a car you like/know.