POLL: Keep a (possibly) problematic car or trade for another? (explanation inside)

[Guest bastaad525]

Okay... long story short (and covered more in depth in this ongoing thread: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=108834), I bought a Dodge SRT-4 six months ago. Since then, I've found a scary high number of people over on srtforums.com, particularly '05 owners (which I am part of that group), are having big problems with their transmissions. Here is a link to a thread from over there, a poll where over 2/3 of the nearly 300 people who have voted have had some kind of transmission problems: http://www.srtforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=161625. There are many other threads on that forum of people have similiar issues but this is the main sticky one.

 

Furthermore, a large number of them are having nothing but problems getting the dealerships to cover these issues under warranty and some are being flat out denied on the grounds of either having modifications on their car, or sometimes on less provable grounds such as being told "well you were obviously racing the car so you are not covered and your warranty is void".

 

As of late, my transmission has started to exhibit some of the symptoms that many of the other guys with problems first started to notice before their transmissions failed. Sometimes I have a hard time getting into 3rd gear or it feels like it's 'crunching'... not the same as grinding... but feels like I have to force the shifter thru a bag of ball bearings.

 

I have taken it to the dealership but since I can't replicate the problem for them they won't do anything other than document my complaint. Furthermore, I have already done some mods to my car (most of them Mopar factory stuff but even that doesn't seem to count). So I am very worried that if my trans fails that they will give me a hard time too or just flat out won't cover it under warranty.

 

I'm pretty stressed at this point, and really unsure what I should do. I'm STRONGLY considering getting rid of the car now and getting into something else, though I will take a loss if I do this. At the same time, if I keep the car I feel like I'm playing russian roulette... with two guns instead of one. One for the trans, if it will fail or not, and the other for the dealership, if they will cover it or not.

 

So... vote away... should I keep the car and take the chance or just get into something else? Keep in mind that I do actually really like this car a lot... though I'm not overly fond of it being FWD, otherwise it really is a great car that is a lot of fun AND pretty practical... I like the looks, power, handling, braking... really very little I dislike about the car. I'd gladly keep it IF I knew that a) it wouldn't have any problems or it would be covered without hassle by the dealer if it does have problems.

[innerware]

Well, you could always take off all the performance stuff and sell that. Then when the car breaks its tranny you can have them repair it under warrenty. Selling it with good concience to someone knowing it might blow a tranny might keep you from sleeping well at night if you don't tell them and then it is values much less. I would make the dealership honor the warranty with out the performace stuff on the car. Or trade it in to them with the stuff removed and get another newer less likely to blow a tranny car. Sticky situation I agree. Might be better to buy a new one after you arrive in VA and have one less car to move too.

 

Good luck

[Guest bastaad525]

the only problem here is that these cars are smart and can actually tell the dealers if some things have been tinkered with or changed, and the other is that Dodge has sent out memos to all the dealerships telling their service guys specifically things to look for as indicators that the car may have been modded at one point and returned to stock. So it really is hard to return the car to stock and have it so that the dealership can't tell that the car was ever modded.

 

About selling it with knowing that it might blow the trans... well, for one I don't know anything for sure, other than what I've read others say on the forums. But it's not like it's a big secret. It's a pretty well known issue, and there is a sticky post on the forum regarding it, also, new posts show up almost every day with someone having trans related issues. Also, I personally have been VERY vocal on the forums about this issue and trying to band people together to get Dodge to do something about it, and have been vocal about the fact that I'm considering selling the car because of this issue. Lastly, I am ONLY attempting to sell the car on that forum... nowhere else. So anyone who would frequent there and see my ad for the car would know, and I did mention to the two guys who have called about the car that the transmission issue and overall reliability issues are one reason I'm considering selling. Just like when I sold my Z, I was very open about what I had and had not fixed/replaced on that car, and that I knew it was still an old car and very likely to have problems of one sort or another in the future. I'm not one of these guys that screws up a car then tries to pawn it off on someone touting it as being in excellent condition. Maybe this is why no one has bought the car yet

[SuperKid]

Trade it in on an '06 350Z! If you want something more practical, how about an older Q45? Or maybe a new Altima or Maxima? How about a G35 Sedan?

[Guest bastaad525]

well my budget is pretty limited. I've already narrowed down my range of selections quite a bit... it's gotta be something performance oriented (not necessarily high HP, but something fun to drive... no Corolla's for me!) and come in in the low $20k range or less, if it's a new car. For a used car... I don't know... I know Mikelly says I should be able to get good rates on used cars as I would on new... but I find differently. Because of credit problems in my past I've gotten insane high interest rates when I've looked at used cars... high teens low 20's!!!! Whereas I'm paying 7% on my SRT now. I'm still looking though and see what I can find but it has to be a very low mileage, recent used car... preferably with a warranty still left on it.

 

Biggest issue is I dont' have a lot of money saved up right now... after putting combined $6000 down on my SRT and my wife's new Civic in the last 6 mos, and what money I do have is now being used to get us across the country at the end of this month.

[JMortensen]

Keep it and pay it down. I don't see how you could possibly trade it and not lose thousands of dollars. When I bought my house in CA I had to trade in my Outback because it was too damn expensive to make the mortgage and the car payment. I had owned that car for 2 years, and it had very good depreciation. I ended up with a $2000 downpayment on a 94 Sentra, which my wife drove until she got hit by a Hummer. But that's another story. The bottom line is good car, good depreciation, owned for 2 years, wasn't upside down when I went to trade it in.

 

Your car, being a kid's sports car type in the same genre as the WRX and EVO, is probably going to depreciate faster, just because you can assume that anyone who has owned it has thrashed on it. Plus you've only had it for 6 months, right? I can't see you being anything but several thousand (I'm thinking $5-7000) dollars upside down at this point. I hope I'm wrong, but I kinda doubt it.

[JMortensen]

You might also want to factor in the cost of fixing the tranny if that should happen. If it costs $1500 for a new trans, or $600 to fix the old one, or $xxx to buy a used one, is fixing it later going to be cheaper (potentially a LOT cheaper I'm thinking) than losing money on the trade now.

[Dudeboy]

I had issues with a Dodge Caravan bought brand new 1997.. Found the forums that indicated all the issues I soon would be facing.... I thought I was lucky and would not have any problems ... Wrong !!! Had all the issues over time !!! Put the wife and the kids down several times. When the warranty ran out it got worse. One of the reasons my Z does not have a V8 is due to me dumping money into the Caravan. Couple of months ago Sold the Van to Carmax for $2200.00 !!!! paid $30 Grand for it (including financing) and I estimate over 9 years spent over $15,000. est. for 4 complete brake jobs, water pump, two clock springs and other misc. crap outside of routine maintenance. I love the Dodge Magnum station wagon, hemi truck and viper, however until Dodge get there act together and stand behind what the make, I will not purchase a Dodge again. My .02 cents, cut your losses and find another vehicle. By the way, I have a Toyota 4-runner I purchase new in 1998, no issues but routine maintence for six years that is what really pi$$ed me off about the van !!!!

[Kennysgreen280zt]

Just looking at car-part, you can get into a used transmission from an 03 or 04 for like $650. Im going to guess your SRT has lost more value than $650, but thats just a guess.

 

My roomates SRT has been totally free of little issues like that, he is comming up on 28k miles and the only issue so far has been a belt squeek that goes away once the car is warm. Oh right, and the broken axle from a failed burnout at the drag strip.

[Guest bastaad525]

well I know to get a new transmission from Dodge and installed by Dodge (installing it myself NOT an option) costs in the range of $6000. I don't know about 'car-part'... does this place sell new or used parts or what? I would NOT want to replace this trans with a used trans HELL no!! There are companies already offering aftermarket upgrades to the stock tranny... replacing most of the brass parts with steel ones (shift forks, gates, a few other parts)... it's very costly though... upwards of $2,000. In the meantime, if my trans goes and the dealership DOES cover it under warranty... they will simply replace it with the same trans. They haven't ever adressed any of these issues or upgraded the trans at all. And yeah, a couple guys have already had their trannies replaced once only to have them fail again. Dealerships were even LESS willing to cover it the second time!

 

When talking about money lost if I get rid of the car, there are two factors. I''m actually not that badly upside down on the loan DEPENDING what I get for it. I owe approximately $18,000. Blue Book private party puts the price right around there. Trade in though is more like $16,000 for 'good' condition which obviously it is in. SO yeah if I traded in I'd be upside down on the loan for around $2,000. If I get my asking price from a private party I can pay the car off completely.

 

Talking about money LOST as in, what I've paid up til now... well with tax and license, my down paymet basically, and 6 payments made so far, I'm up to about $5000. I figure at least the payments count for 'renting' the car if I get rid of it... so I can't really count them... it was money spent to drive around a new car. Call it a lease. SO just the down then, $3,000. Sucks about tax since that is like... totally non refundable and you can't ask the person who buys your car to pay that back to you.

 

SO there are the numbers if you want to factor that into your decisions. And yeah... I do feel like, if I keep the car a while it will depreciate very fast being a performance car and an american car... if I were to trade it in in a year I wonder if it would have depreciated way faster than I would be paying it off? Since I have a long term loan something tells me I will only get more upside down as time goes by... the principal is going down slowly while the value of the car is dropping like a rock...

[b__sosick]

I voted that you get rid of it now and buy a used vehicle.

New cars are possibly the worst investements you can make.

And I might suggest you consider an older STi! Either about a 2000, or maybe even a 2 door 22b?

If you want economy I'd suggest the nissan sentra spec v...those are fun little cars and get great gas mileage.

I'd say you're also on the right track with the rsx-s/civic si. Great cars with lots of zip and reliability. Not to mention and endless aftermarket!

 

Just my two cents. =)