I need your thoughts / '04 Aztek

[Jaren]

About a month ago, I purchased a 2004 Aztek with 119k miles and a bad transmission. After taking it to a few transmission shops, the cheapest price I could get was $4k for a whole transmission replacement. Not only do I think this price is a little high, I'm worried that I'll run into more problems with the car in the future, and I'm not sure if it's worth the risk. I've heard that head gasket failures are common with the Aztek, and that's not a cheap fix. If I was told that I wouldn't run into any /major/ problems after this transmission replacement, then I think I'd go for it, as I only bought the car for $900. What do you all think?

[Frosty]

Hmmm…I think that is a tad high. A good remanufactured 4T65E should run around $1800. The rest has to be labor - removing the engine/transmission cradle to remove and swap the transmission in and out. I’d ask for a breakdown of the charges and the shops hourly rate.

Azteks may develop an intake manifold gaskets failure. Cost is about $600 to fix, including labor.

[JUSTA6]

Most any shop worth dealing with will offer you a used option as well on the trans.  Directly from a junkyard with generally a 3 month warranty. Agree with Frosty on asking for a breakdown of charges.

[Jaren]

They're charging about $2100 for a remanufactured transmission, the rest is labor. However, the warranty is solid: 2 years, 24,000 miles. 

[Frosty]

Check online for companies like Jasper for reman'd transmission. I think you could cut that down a few hundred bucks. I can appreciate having a warranty though.