To make a long story short, my friend's 03 GTI 20th Anniv. Edition just crapped a transmission. He has no first and second gear. He doesn't want to dump a few grand into a new tranny with the age of the car (80-90kish). He is hot to trot on a new car. Would he be better off throwing another tranny in or dumping the GTI and moving on to a new car? I showed him a 4 door 07 Civic Si that was in his price range...
Well, I know they are worth $$$ to some people, but the only person I know that has one hates it, other than the fact that it "gets him laid" (at least thats what he told me when I asked him why he didnt sell it) lol. I doubt a new tranny would be any too cheap, but who knows.
goto vwvortex and look in the classifieds for a used one.....i am betting someone abused that car.
92dxman wrote: Would he be better off throwing another tranny in or dumping the GTI and moving on to a new car?
I see the core question being, "is this car worth investing into?" My guess is that yes it is but the math should be pretty simple.
What is the car worth right now with a bad tranny?
How much will the repair cost?
What can you sell the finished and running car for?
My suspicion is that the non running version is worth $1 to $2k and the running version is worth $6 to $7k.
Getting the work done may be as high as $2k at retail prices but it is still likely worth it.
Once the work is done, drive it in a dump it.
The car is probably worth $8-10k if its in decent shape, possibly more. Im not sure the value of a broken one, but you could sell just the wheels and seats for close to $2k I would bet. Id expect more like $3500+ to have the tranny replaced by a shop, or around $2k for a used one to put in yourself.
You can pick up used tranny's for this car stupid cheap. Just toss another tranny in it, then sell it for WAY more than it's worth right now immobile.
If your friend doesn't feel like dealing with it, this is an opportunity for you. Give him the good advise, and if he doesn't want that, offer to pay him whatever the dealer will give him in trade. This will likely be $1-$2K, at most. Do the work and flip it, and make a few grand.
It kind boils down to is it worth it the owner. It sounds like he wants a diffrent car. If I were you (and if you can) buy the gti fix it and sell it.
Those cars hold their value quite well - I've seen them going for the 12-14K range in good shape. Doesn't make sense for what you get, but it's the same story with the R32s - a used one still goes for mid-low 20s. That's E46 M3 territory, but people pay it!
I'd say fix the car, take a look at vwvortex and price 500 below where everybody else has theirs.
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