I bought a car last May. New York requires a safety and emissions inspection every year which means I was due. I had it done today. It passed but the mechanic recommended replacing the transmission and brake fluid. I suppose I will have this done but it bothers me a bit that I have no idea whether it is really needed.
The car is a 2004 Toyota Solara. Like every car I have ever owned it has more than 100000 miles on it. This is because I am a cheapskate. This has some advantages but I overdo it. My previous car, a 1986 Toyota Celica, was in pretty bad shape when I belatedly replaced it.
The picture was taken last October. The car is parked on Quaker Bridge road with the Old Croton Aqueduct trail in the background.
Safety-related things like changing the brake fluid should be done every 50k and will never hurt. Changing a transmission is a costly step and unless you are having real tangible problems it seems unusual. Visiting another shop to get a second opinion has proven useful for me in the past, I am always surprised how far different expert opinions can diverge.
ReplyDeleteI grew to dislike the one-year NY policy -- every time one lets them look at the car it's like a fishing trip for them, and the least distinguishable pricing unit is $100 with garage shops (GARAGE_EPS), and $500 with dealers (STEALER_EPS).
To clarify it is just the transmission fluid they want to replace.
ReplyDeleteSorry :) in that case, it is not unusual, it's just prudent.
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