Mando, after the holidays I'm moving forward on it without a doubt. I gotta put $509 down - normally $259 but I got hit with additional surcharges for suspension mods and aftermarket wheels - and after that only $59/mo for as long as I keep the car. I could just pay for it in one chunk but I don't have the $1995. Its pretty comprehensive too. My boss' mission is to "change the game". It should be interesting. Best of luck, hope they don't keep the C too long for surgury

 

Hey guys,

Got an update from my SA. Now I'm in a pretty ****ty situation. Well my SA decided that at 93xxx miles, the transmission, if fixed or patched up, would give out again sooner or later sometime down the road. So he decided one of the best solutions would to replace my old tranny with a completely new one. However, since Carmax has a cap for this, (this is the first time Carmax isn't taking the entire bill) I would have to pay around 2600-2700 out of my own pocket for some parts that aren't covered, such as the TCU and whatnot. The thing is, the last time I took this to the dealership, in Rocklin, Ca, Carmax replaced the TCU with a new one from Germany, so why wouldn't they do it now. The estimated price of repairs/parts comes to be around $7xxx. Man, I like hte idea of a new tranny, but that leaves me hanging because I just can't afford the 2xxx+ for a new one.. And since Carmax covered up about 8xxx worth of work in Rocklin, I don't know why they aren't doing the same for this. Any suggestion guys? Is it worth it to pay the difference and get a new tranny?

 

what's wrong with the transmission?

 

Mu - To start with you don't need a new TCU. Glycol damages clutches & over time bearings.

Why can't they just do a clutch & bearing job on the tranny. Option - low mileage used GB.

You don't need a new box unless they will pay & you certainly don't need another TCU. Work on this one within what they will pay.

EDIT - sounds like you could get a completely recon'ed transmission, valve body, torque converter & all for what they will pay.

 

Who is the Administrator on the coverage? I know you got it at Carmax, but is the coverage an "extended warranty" product warranty" "vehicle service contrat" or "mechanical breakdown insurance" ? Raise hell, drag your feet and when all else fail get a refund on it. Chances are they charged twice what it actually costs (not to be a d1ck, but that's business) Get the breakdown when they financed your car and get the money back. Pay for the work with that man...probablly in the neighborhood of $3-4grand. Sorry to hear about that man, I always thought Carmax was on the up and up. I don't think they'll be getting any business from me or anyone I know now. Good luck bro,hang in there and don't let it keep you down.
EDit: awwe man, justread the part about the coverage capping at $8grand. Still worth dragging your heels, assuming the car isn't paid off yet.

 

Yeah, I still don't know. But I'm probably gonna wait it out, and I'll take Glyn's advice into consideration. Especially since Rocklin warranties their work for a year I think? They were the first to fix the tranny. I'll see, but any more advice would be helpful.

Frank, the radiator leaked crap into my tranny.

 

will they cover it, if its just the tranny and radiator"?

 

I dont know much..so all I can do is wish you the best of luck buddy, cause that car is like your baby. & I feel for ya! hahahahaha

 

Hey Glyn,

I gave my SA a call 5 minutes ago to talk about this situation some more. I got a rundown list of the parts and prices, excluding labor:

Radiator - 50
Transmission - 2700
Torque converter - 1240
TCU - 900
plus all the little things like filters and oil.

I asked him about the TCU, and he told me that since it was going to be a new tranny, they would need a new TCU to adapt to the car. He said that the earlier price figures above were just an guestimate, in fact, I would be looking at a $3400 bill for sure, but he will try to the best of his ability to lower prices on this and that, and hopefully it will shoot down to the $2700-800 mark. Now what kinda got me was that if I was to go through and replace the tranny, it would come with a 2 year, unlimited warranty.

I asked him why it wasn't good enough to just replace the need parts and he told me that since just replacing the torque converter and radiator would solve some of the problem, a normal flush would only get rid of 80-90% of the original fluid, and the possibility of the problem coming back will be high and even worse than before. And worse, since it is just a "fix", there wouldn't be any special warranty for it. Oh, and note that my car has 939xx miles on it, he told me that such high mileage would increase the likelihood of the problem coming back.

I didn't ask him about a reconditioned tranny, but is it even worth it? It sounds very good, but I'm afraid to bring it up, although that would be my number one option. Alas, I would like to just fix it and screw the new tranny, but the idea of the problem coming back at a later time with twice the vengeance scares the crap out of me. What do you, or anyone more knowlegable suggest?

Oh, and searched up some other threads about this problem... what a nightmare..

 

what i dont get is, if your getting a new tranny...why do you need another torque converter? Auto trannys includes the torque converter.

its like buying a new car and expect to pay for a new motor.

 

This sucks to hear

I had my car checked for that radiator just to make sure it wasnt causin issues, but now I feel like I should just have it replaced JUST in case.

 

Mu - What will your insurance pay? And he talking BS - You don't need a new TCU - It's just an electronic component that either works or it doesn't. You can adapt an old TCU to a new GB - He's talking crap. Yes it needs adaption - that's all.

The radiator replacement is a Must. The Torque converter is a maybe - TC clutches may be damaged.

The difficulty is the tranny itself. It's hard to evaluate clutch pack condition, bearings etc. without a total tear down.

 

I am really doubting MB's auto trannys these days. I remember reading somewhere on here they were bulletproof and have been around for a long time. What can cause such problems even with proper maintainance? Are they just weak to start off with? Torque stress?

 

This problem was caused by a glycol leak from a POS French Valeo radiator.

 

glyn is right about the tcu. You can reflash the old files on old tcu to the new one with STAR. PSHEK did it for my car on his star machine.

 

I don't know, but as Glyn said it might be that it have already taken a ****? Cuz I drove with the CEL on for about 3 months and 3000 miles.. haha

I would too. I honestly thought that since my car has already went through so many miles, that the previous owners would've switched it out. It's like hte CPS; like hte CPS, the radiator doesn't cost that much, but the money it saves is ridiculous!

Insurance will pay for a rebuild of my tranny, which includes new radiator, torque converter, and flush, if I remember right? There might be some other things, but I would definitely have to pay for the TCU. So he is not being honest about the TCU? That part alone is about 900 coming out of my pocket, because my warranty won't cover it. Is it cheaper, to your understanding, to have a teardown and rebuild the tranny? And if it is rebuilt, will it last longer, or is it just another ticking time bomb?

It wasn't necessarily the tranny's fault, it was the radiator and the lines it shares with the tranny. I've done all the necessary mait. on time and frequently.

That sounds great.. I'm definitely going to give him a call and see what's up. But he seems like such an honest dude..

 

[QUOTE=Mu9enx;3858443]
Insurance will pay for a rebuild of my tranny, which includes new radiator, torque converter, and flush, if I remember right? There might be some other things, but I would definitely have to pay for the TCU. So he is not being honest about the TCU? That part alone is about 900 coming out of my pocket, because my warranty won't cover it. Is it cheaper, to your understanding, to have a teardown and rebuild the tranny? And if it is rebuilt, will it last longer, or is it just another ticking time bomb?
QUOTE]

Mu - you don't need a new TCU & if I'm not mistaken your TCU is not that old anyway. Just say NO!

I don't know the teardown & rebuild costs of a tranny in the US - your labour costs are quite high. If the transmission is properly rebuilt it could last longer than the rest of your car if properly maintained. There is no reason why it should be a ticking time bomb. People are scared of auto transmissions. They are not that complicated & are easily rebuilt to original spec & sometimes better because you will find that the OEM has improved some parts & the new clutch packs will likely be better than the original. And the new fluid is better than the original & so on.

 

If you need the info on the shop I took my car to get the engine fixed let me know. they're certified MB techs.

not sure how your extended warranty works tho.

 

Thanks Glyn for you always-informative posts. I'm going to tell him that I don't want to pay out of my pocket, and to just get it rebuilt, hopefully it will be an honest repair and not a half-assed one to get my car back into the dealership.

Frank, I think I will need the info, but for now my extended warranty is going to run out the moment I drive out of the dealership.. Lol, it has about 10-15 more miles before it runs out.. but maybe for the future. Thanks dude.

 

Alright,

So a little update on my situation. I called them today and told them to just do what they gotta do to get my tranny running smooth again. They said that they'll replace the radiator, the torque converter, and do a flush, along with some other miscellaneous items. I'm hoping the clutch packs/bearings are fine, because I want to keep this car for a long time. Wish me luck guys.

 

Why don't they put in a new set of clutch packs while they are about it? Are they too lazy?

 

It will cost more, and they would have to tear down the tranny.

So sad.

But Merry Xmas YALL!

 

Ah well Mu - keep them honest. Hope it's fine after this.

 

So hows the situations now Mu?

 

Hey, sorry for the late reply, LOL. Haven't really had time to check on the forums after the quarter started.

Situation update as of 2/1/10:

- Took the car in mid-December.
- Still there as of today.
- Had no car for the first two weeks of school.
- Finally got a loaner after two weeks of nagging, and boy, is it decent. 2009 Audi A4 2.0T, with less than 250 miles on the ODO. Now it's at 1050, lol.