My name is Debbie, I am fifteen years old and there is a van that was offered to me for “free”. The transmission is broken, but everything else is fine. I need to pay for the transmission to be fixed. It is an older Ford Windstar. I would like to know if it would be possible to fix it and how much it would cost to get it repaired.
Thank You,
Debbie
Hi there Debbie,
The BEST way to approach this would be to see if your local Ford dealer parts department offers a rebuilt “AER Rebuilt Transmission” for this vehicle, if they do that would be my highest recommendation.
You will pay a little more for it rather than having your current transmission overhauled BUT you will get a Ford warranty guaranteed at any Ford dealer in the US and I have had the best luck with their rebuilt transmissions rather than the local transmission shop.
You buy the part from the parts department and have your local mechanic, or any repair shop install it for you. I would charge you about $575 to install it and take 1-2 days…..a transmission shop will keep your car for 4-5 days to overhaul your transmission and the warranty you get is only good at their shop, so if you are out of town….you are on your own.
This repair is going to cost a lot of money….like $2200-2500, BUT if you are sure the rest of the vehicle is ok, you will probably get your money back when you go to sell it one day. If you are not sure about the rest of the vehicle, you might want to spend that money on a down payment on a new or 2 year old used vehicle that still has a warranty.
Last alternative, buy a used transmission from a junk yard and have your mechanic install it, this is risky because you don’t know the condition of the transmission BUT sometimes the junk yard will sell you a warranty.
Best of luck!
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Blessings,
Austin Davis