NDL Forum

So last weekend my car died on the highway and I was like ugh this sucks I have to replace my alternator or something. Well I found out like Tuesday that my engine block has a HUGE hole in it. I basically would have to get another engine put into my car... By the way I have a 2007 Scion tC and I liked the car but i would never get another one.

So my dad and I talked and he said he will help me get it repaired so I told them ok on putting a used engine in which is about $4-4,500 dollars which includes labor and everything. I was also told I would get it back latest on Thursday.

Thursday comes oh sir its not done yet but its 80% done it will be ready tomorrow here is a rental car you can have on us. Friday rolls around I haven't received a phone call all day and I call after work and they said oh sir it is not ready it won't be ready till Monday. So I keep the rental car because fuck that lol

This morning rolls around I get a phone call and i am like YES my car is done...SWEET!

WRONG!

Sir the engine is in and works great and we took a test drive to make sure everything was ok and we found that you have metal flakes in your transmission pan and your transmission NOW needs to be replaced....which will cost about another $1700 bucks.

So should I just get it replaced or should I just look into a new car? I have low trend on my tires so I need to get them replaced as well and also I have some body work that needs to be done but I don't really care about that.

Just wondering on what you guys thought and is there any way the insurance company will help pay for this or anyone ever deal with this?

A couple other things... I have 85,000 miles on the car and I have like 7 grand left to pay on the car.

UGH FML!

1. What the hell is a Scion?
2. 85,000 miles or kilometers in 3 years? Isn't that a lot of driving?


Are you already 4k down for the engine block? if so, might as well just stick with it then...

1. A Scion is Toyota brand basically the Scion tC is the celica of Toyota.
2. Yes I had a job that was far away from my house and I drove to Florida one year as well. So yea thats a lot of miles haha

Also 4k down on the Engine block but I have a feeling if I call the sales team I could get some sort of deal from them because I will buy a new car and they can just sell the parts and make that money back right away.

I would have went new car or find a used one instead of investing all that cash back into that one.

Thats just me though.

Good luck and car stuff SUCKS when it goes wrong.

Isnt that mutherfucker still under warranty? If not then I would have never bought the vehicle if the powertrain wasnt covered for at least 5 years and 100,000 miles. If I read correctly you've had it at most 3 years and 85,000 miles. So why are you paying for the repairs? Sounds fishy to me like you are getting taken for.

Just looked up the car on MSN Autos and they only cover 5 years 60,000 miles. That is a BS warranty, I'd never buy a vehicle from that company again unless you wanted to fork over the additional money for an extended warranty especially since you had to drive so far for work.

Your insurance wont cover it. I know. I've been through it. I told them to keep the damn thing and one of the mechanics actually bought my truck off me and put an engine in it himself.
You being upside down on the car really throws a wrench into the whole deal though. Now that you've put 4 k into it already you probably need to pay the 1700 and get the tranny fixed.

If you can get your $4K back it's an absolutely no brainer.

I won't bother mocking you for buying a piece of shit car like that, lol.

But dropping around $6K to FIX a 2-3 year old car, man, don't do it. Fight with everything you can to get that $4K back.

Sounds like your getting bull shitted by the dealer, they tend to do that from time to time my man. I would either take it to a mechanic I trust outside of the dealership or buy a new one with the money you wantto spend on the engine.

Sorry to hear this man, sounds incredibly frustrating.

Out of curiosity, do you do any of the regular check ups on the car? Toyota's dont typically have the type of problem your seeing. (im not a car salesman but I have owned Toyotas for 15 years now!)

I dont think the dealer is fucking with you. Though I do at times believe the dealer will recommend some work that I would consider nice to have.

jesus Mr. Haha, that sucks.

Seems like you're getting screwed, but how the FUCK did you not check with insurance before paying $4k for the engine???

I did check with insurance and they basically laughed at me... not cool!

I did every oil change and service they recommended besides some winterizing stuff.... they even thought it was weird because they looked at my account and saw i was very on top of it all.

I told them to fix my transmission and they already did all the work on the engine. I honestly regret telling them to fix it since it would have been smart to just get a new car but money wise my parents are helping me and they wanted to repair the car so I am just listening to them.

I asked the salesman at the dealership and they basically said i would almost get nothing for the car on trade-in value and basically told me i should get it repaired. If they are ripping me off then shame on them but I honestly think they are just telling truth.

This is my first car and I will learn from this experience and next time I will get two opinions on the matter. I just think i am extremely unlucky with life lately so I am just waiting for things to turn around for me!

*fingers crossed*

I know jackshit about cars but I know how to use Google and the general consensus on metal flakes in transmission oil/pan is:

1) Your transmission is on its way out but it could be tomorrow or two years from now.
2) This is perfectly normal in automatic transmissions.
3) Your mechanic is trying to rob you by recommending serious work for a problem that might not be serious.

Nowhere did I find "Get it fixed NOW!"

Well they said when test driving the car that the gears going from 1 and 2 would slip really bad so it was not just metal flakes in my transmission but the slipping between two gears. That checks out to be a big problem!

SuddenBlues wrote:Well they said when test driving the car that the gears going from 1 and 2 would slip really bad so it was not just metal flakes in my transmission but the slipping between two gears. That checks out to be a big problem!

80% of mechanics are crooks....

Yea well hopefully the one at Lawrence Toyota is one of the 20% if not then i hope they rot in hell! lol

Like with your health, get a second opinion. If you can drive the car out of that garage, drive it straight to a transmission shop.

If you plan on keeping the car you need to get it fixed. I do know about cars and have replaced engines and transmissions. (which makes me wonder why they didnt see the metal flakes before replacing the engine) It is going to need to be replaced so get it done now while it is in the shop. Otherwise it could lock up on you going down the road and you find yourself blowing another engine.