I'm not a car guy -- generally I drive them until they catch on fire, or thereabouts. My trusty 2001 Mitsubishi Montero served my family well for almost 16 years - at least one long road trip, and lots of trips camping, to the mountains, and showing homes to prospective clients. It was a little long in the tooth in some respects, but was well maintained, always clean, and had a fantastic air conditioner (actually two of them, one in the front an one in the back -- I'm a big AC fan!). About 4 years ago I had an engine overhaul (top half anyway -- down to the pistons) to cure a rather bad oil leak. Many items were replaced at that time, to the tune of about $4,500 (alternator, starter, water pump, new valves, hoses, radiator, etc). I got my $$ out of it over the past few years, so I'm not complaining.
Then, about 2 weeks ago, very unceremoniously, I was at a stop light and as I started to proceed - "clunk". The transmission quit working just like that -- ouch. As they didn't make a lot of these, finding a rebuilt transmission was iffy at best. I found one in Ohio, but it was about $4,000, plus about $1,000 to install and probably another $1,000 in rental cars, only to wind up with a car with 195,000 miles on it that may or may not last much longer.
On to the next one -- I don't think I'll keep the new one quite as long this time, ha ha!
Then, about 2 weeks ago, very unceremoniously, I was at a stop light and as I started to proceed - "clunk". The transmission quit working just like that -- ouch. As they didn't make a lot of these, finding a rebuilt transmission was iffy at best. I found one in Ohio, but it was about $4,000, plus about $1,000 to install and probably another $1,000 in rental cars, only to wind up with a car with 195,000 miles on it that may or may not last much longer.
On to the next one -- I don't think I'll keep the new one quite as long this time, ha ha!
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