Allright, there's a 93 taurus in the trading post that I just had to checkout... It's about 30 min from me, and it would need to be toed back. Not much rust, just a little bit on the rockers, and on the bottom of the tailgate. The hood was repainted, and has more waves then a short buss on the way to dairy queen, but o well, rest of the car looks good.

Interior, no rips in the frount bench seat (BOYAH!!!) the back ones were folded down when I drove it, but it looked decent...

Good tires, good brakes, and it ran great. New starter and battery within a year, it's just the transmission is bad...

Dare I do it? The guy said $500 for the transmission to be done by a shop, but... what about me installing one?

Any tips/pointers/things to look for on theese cars?

How hard is it to do? What's all involved? I dont want to spend more then $250 on the transmission, because I could buy my uncles 89 tornado trofeo that's in great shape, for $800... Think I should find a transmission and put it in, or pass this one up?


Basicly, I need to ditch my truck, and this thing should get at least 20mpg in town... Also, since it's a wagon, I can haul crap in it also...

Thanks alot, 16 Y/O looking for a cheap ride to last through highschool and mabey into collage
~Nate

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95 Honda Shadow ACE 1100.
1999 Plymouth Neon Expresso. 2.4 swap, 10.5 to 1 comp, big cams. Autocross time attack vehicle!
2012 Escape, 'hunter" (5 sp 4cyl)

If it were a rear wheel drive, I would go for it. However, changing out a 4AXOD doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun to me. They're not cheap either...shop around for one first and get a price, before you commit to buy.

Which engine?

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It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so. Robert A. Heinlein


09 Jetta TDI
1985 300D

93 wagon... i see those all the time.. FWD.. loads of fun im trying to rember if we took the engine out of a FWD to change the transmission or now..(this was an MR2 not exactly FWD but used the same style transmission)...if their is enough room you should be able to unbolt it after removing the trans-axels and sliding it to the left or right... and it will pop off... IIRC

Sounds like a nightmare to me...simpler to spend more on one that doesn't need a big repair.

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2002 Ford ZX2
2 x 2013 Honda Civics

the problem with ones in the $600 range, is that they're running and driving rustbuckets. I'm done with rust, I HATE RUST!!! I'll be calling up the junkyards and transmission shops on monday, but ebay price on a used transmission is going on $300, new one with shift kit = $1000.......... no way in hell am I spending $1350 on a car right now.

the guy says if he cant get $350, he's not getting anything for it...


~Nate

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95 Honda Shadow ACE 1100.
1999 Plymouth Neon Expresso. 2.4 swap, 10.5 to 1 comp, big cams. Autocross time attack vehicle!
2012 Escape, 'hunter" (5 sp 4cyl)

Be carefull of those taurus trannies. If you can find one with some sort of warranty I'd say go for it. They have a high failure rate with little to no warning. I see them here real cheap with zero rust but junk trannies. I guess it's time to learn how to rebuild the axod.

I had a 96 Windstar(Taurus-based minivan). Went through 2 trannies in 5000 miles. Both were fine one minute, stopped at stop sign, tried to go, felt and sounded like it was in neutral the next moment. No warning at all. The dealer did both replacements, the second allegedly came off the production line and was an updated '98 trans...it fell apart too. The dealer had us in a Windstar loaner and the loaner started acting up too, so they put us in a Mercury Villager, which actually ran pretty reliably.

That van was the world's biggest POS. We had it for about a year, it was in service over 100 days. I started the lemon-law process, and a district rep called, offered a buyback, informally of course, with no admission on their part, book wholesale, if I would buy another vehicle at book wholesale...bought a Villager, which turned out to be a mechanically sound little van.

I saw the van perhaps a year after that, talked to the owner, said they hadn't had a lick of trouble with it?!

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2002 Ford ZX2
2 x 2013 Honda Civics

whats wrong with the truck? sucky fuel milage? certainly you can find a decent 240D in your area

8mpg in town, stuck proportioning valve, unknown/random wierd running issue (massive idle hunting)

no mercedes in my area that still run, and will continue to do so for <750

~Nate

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95 Honda Shadow ACE 1100.
1999 Plymouth Neon Expresso. 2.4 swap, 10.5 to 1 comp, big cams. Autocross time attack vehicle!
2012 Escape, 'hunter" (5 sp 4cyl)

have you checked your local craigslist

i need to park it in the school parking lot, and I need to drive it in winter...

I will subject no benz (however cheap) to that torture

~Nate

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95 Honda Shadow ACE 1100.
1999 Plymouth Neon Expresso. 2.4 swap, 10.5 to 1 comp, big cams. Autocross time attack vehicle!
2012 Escape, 'hunter" (5 sp 4cyl)

Nate, Those years of Taurus are about a 50% chance of getting a good or a bad one. Their trannies are a weak spot. This wagon might be very close to the end of its life.

If I were you I'd look for an old Caprice/CrownVic/Grand Marquis, RWD from about 1988 on up, it will probably be reliable and last you a few years with minimal trouble. These were used as Police and taxi cabs so they are safe and roomy. There are a few station wagons around. Might be hard to find a totally rust free ones in your area....

Good luck. You are really a smart guy, you'll do REAL well.

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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

nate- if you have the time and money go for it.

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"It's normal for these things to empty your wallet and break your heart in the process."
2012 SLK 350
1987 420 SEL

Windstar = Junk.
Villager = Nissan Quest = Bulletproof (not the new Quest though).

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08 W251 R350
97 W210 E320
91 W124 300E
86 W126 560SEL
85 W126 380SE Silver
85 W126 380SE Cranberry
79 W123 250
78 W123 280E
75 W114 280

Around here a Taurus transmission would be in the $1200 range. I saw one in the trans shop when one of these was getting fluid and filter and the entire front end, including all springs and steering components was removed from the vehicle to access the trans.