AHHH!! My transmission died! Need advice/help!

[MinisterofDOOM]

I was driving along, accelerating from a driveway. The car shifted into 3rd (auto transmission), shuddered BAD, the tires locking and skidding, but it got into third. Now it's stuck there. No reverse, no neutral, only third. I drove it to my dad's place where there is room to park it, and being the dumbass I am, I pulled forward into a parking spot. Now she's stuck there without a tow. Dammit. Double dammit.

Anyway. The car is a '93 Max GXE, so it has the VG30E. My question is, do any of you have experience with third gen transmission problems? Do you know what I should expect to pay. Is it going to be expensive enough that I might as well just hunt down a VQ35 and transmission and have those swapped in? This really sucks. My baby is not running...first time EVER for a non-batter problem. I've got the old Ranger and Ram to drive...but I already miss my baby, and its been four hours. I have been quoted prices from 3-500 for a repair to almost 2000 for a new transmission. For 2000 I could almost have a whole new engine installed! I don't have that kind of money...I don't have ANY money, and rent is due this week anyway. I'll be driving the Ford for months saving to fix my Maxima. But I WILL NOT just sell it or part it out. I can't. I really need some help...although I don't think there's a lot anyone can do. DAMMIT!

Thanks guys.

[574-240sx]

you are looking for 300-600 for a junkyard trans and still putting it in. The repair option sound cheap though, what does that include. I would hit the junkyards first and get some prices.

[MinisterofDOOM]

The repair just basically means they open it up and replace what is wrong/broken without needing to remove the transmission and all that garbage that ends up costing so much labor (well actually, now that I think of it, it'd be hard to work on a transmission while it's in the car...I wonder if they pull it and then repair it--I've never dealt with transmission troubles before, so I have no idea). I'd also save on parts. Of course, seeing as the car is still parked in a parking lot, these are all just guesses from the transmission places (one of them is Tanner transmissions--the cheaper place who wants to repair. The other is a local place who says a 1500+ full replacement would be better). But the guys who want to replace it say minimum of 650 for labor plus parts. And I've already been checking junkyards around here for a trunk lid...there are NO third gen Maximas at all within a hundred miles of my house that I can find. So I'd be paying full price.

Also, Tanner, they cheaper place, includes a full lifetime warantee for anything they do on the transmission. The replacement guys will only warrant it for 2 years. To me, that's the clincher right there. I intend to have this car for a long time to come, so that will ensure that at 400,000 mi I'm not going to be out another $1000 or whatever for a transmission.

Fortunately, this happened between my apartment and my parents house (about a ten minute drive when stuck in third gear with a 20 MPH max speed) and not on the freeway on the way home from work tomorrow.

And the car has 176k on the odo. The guy at the Local place about passed out when he heard it lasted that long. "Man, those Nissans don't break too often, do they?" That doesn't make him sound too knowlegable about this sort of thing...kind of scares me away.

[Fezzik]

That sucks man. I had a 93 gxe and we had to get the transmission replaced at 100k. I talked with a nissan tech and he said they get a lot of 3rd gen autos that go bad.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Maybe I should have them do a five speed swap. Is that something that they could just switch out, or would that require a special shop? I'd rather have a 5 speed anyway. If I ended up having to get a whole new transmisison, I think that's what I'd do. Especially if the manual was cheaper...which I'd assume it would be, right?

[MinisterofDOOM]

From what I have been hearing, this is likely to get very very expensive (beyond $2000). I love my car...a lot...but I don't know if that is worth it. The engine probably doesn't have a whole lot of life left in it. I think I'm to the point in the car's life where I can either put a lot of money into one thing after another, or just suck it up and find another. I'm now considering finding a fourth gen Maxima with a five speed. Any input from you fourth gen guys (I know theres a ****load of you) on things to look for, etc. I wish I could stick with my third gen, the J30 is my favorite Max, but the A32 has a VQ30, and I can maybe afford it, so I think I'll survive

A side note: not even sure if I can afford a fourth gen. Dammit this sucks. I want a Maxima. I definitely can't settle for a Sentra or Altima and 240's are too hard to come by around here...

My name is Chris, and I'm a Maxima addict. Now someone give me my freakin' fix!!!!

[574-240sx]

good luck finding a forth gen manual. They are hard to find and you usually pay top dollar. You might get lucky. Keep looking. Check autotrader.com and local paper daily. I had to travel 3 hours to get my SE 5-speed.

[MinisterofDOOM]

I don't mind driving a while to get it. That just means I get to drive it more on the way back

Looks like that's the way I'm going to do it, though. I'm not sure how much more I can get out of this one, and I've just been quoted a minimum of $1500 for repairs. $390 and they'll install any transmission I provide them with, and I have found three or four for under $600. So absolute bare minimum will be about $1000. For a car that could poop out for good in the next $30k. I think it's time to take out a loan for a new car...