Believe it or not I have a very close friend. This person I speak of is in California. To tell you the truth, I love her, she is a very special person. So when we spoke the other day, she mentioned her transmission light came on and the car felt really sluggish. I am a 30 plus year veteran of the transmission business. So basically she wanted to discuss whether she needed to buy a 2005 Volvo V70 rebuilt transmission or another car.
I mention California because they have different and more strict emission laws and you will find out more if you read this post. The first thing I wanted to make abundantly clear was that the car needed to be diagnosed first, so don’t get excited yet.
Would you call your doctor and ask him how much for a heart bypass operation if you suspected you needed one? Come on now, the first thing he would do is schedule you for a diagnosis.
That may sound unusual to you, to be told that no diagnosis can be made over a phone call, even if you bring the phone closer to the car. Thus no pricing is offered over the phone. And I stuck to that paradigm because quoting prices only creates expectations. Anyway, no one got charged for a basic diagnosis at my shop. It was tin roof, that means it was on the house, get it?
Here is what her highly competent mechanic told her. He found a trouble code and problem with one of the numerous solenoids inside the transmission, or there was a wiring problem to said solenoid. Fair enough.
I guess he changed the dirty transmission fluid too. I wish I had been there to see if any contamination was in the transmission oil pan. Dirty fluid is not so concerning because most folks don’t know to change their transmission fluid religiously every 30 to 40 thousand miles with factory only synthetic ATF [automatic transmission fluid], or once a year. Or if the engine overheats.
In general I would advise her to have the gentleman fix the car or take it to a competent shop who will, or just fly me to California and I’ll fix it!
Well, the thing is her highly competent mechanic examined the rest of the car and here is a report:
• I’m 2000 miles away from the 150K general recommended service (or some such)
• 1000 miles away from a brake job, front and back
• catalytic converter has known issues that will need to be addressed if I care to register in this state when due
• AC/heater needs a new blower (it’s only starting to get hot here now)
• power window switches are iffy
Those are her words, conveyed from her mechanic. What I am going to say is highly unusual from me. Get rid of it. You see that the California emission laws will require new catalytic converters and perhaps more in 2000 miles.
New cats are expensive, real expensive. And when you add in a brake job on all four wheels and new power window motors and or switches, a blower motor, and then consider the large amount of mileage. Other forms of action may need to be taken.
My opinion is to sell it or trade it in because of the emission laws in Ca. and the other nagging and mounting issues, seems like to much money. I don’t know if she will take my advise yet. But if she decides to replace the transmission or have it fixed, I’m going to recommend GotTransmissions.com.
It’s the only company I am familiar with who sells transmissions with pure value built right into them. They also offer a peace of mind warranty, and one of the best things is our customer service. You also get to speak with a living and intelligent human being.
So call 866-320-1182 right now and learn more about what replacement transmission is in your best interests. GotTransmissions.com
