Friday, July 1, 2022

 My Daughter took her Mustang 120 miles away. Part Three. 

The guys at the transmission shop were very good at contacting me before each step. I suppose that they want the customer to feel that they have some control over the process. The customer isn't just sucked into an expensive repair. But realistically, what would the customer do once they were into the repair process? Would they decide that the cost was too much and tell the shop to just throw the parts in the trunk, and haul the car to the wreckers? 

They had the car for almost a week before I got the call that they had found some major carnage in the overdrive part of the transmission. The tech described a seized and chewed up planetary gearset that was going to need a lot of replacement parts.  I was cringing and was bracing for the worst, and a price higher than the initial estimate. I was pleasantly surprised when the total came out exactly what had been quoted for a complete rebuild.

The tech showed me all the chewed up parts that they had replaced. It just reinforced my belief that I would leave transmission repair to the pros.

Unfortunately, the tech that handled the differential repairs was going to be gone for a month. I'd have to arrange for that repair in the future.

After I picked up the car, I was faced with a new problem. Getting the car back to Sacramento. 

For many reasons, my Daughter wasn't going to be able drive it back.

I wasn't going to rent a trailer to tow the thing back. I needed to put the hundred miles down as a shakedown check anyway. So I reached out to my Son who agreed to pick me up after I deposited the car at my daughter's workplace. 

I had cleaned out the car a bit, and then ran it though the car wash. I couldn't/wouldn't  drive a car that filthy. I do have my standards. 

Despite the traffic and delays the trip back was quite pleasant. The car is very comfortable to drive on longer trips. It tracks well, rides smoothly enough, has plenty of power, and is quiet. It also has the optional Shaker 600 sound system. I'd put on well over 150,000 miles on the car while it was our family transport. I will tell you sincerely, these 2005-09 Mustang V6 models are truly underappreciated bargains. They look great, will do anything that you could want performance wise, cruise comfortably at high speeds, as well as return decent fuel economy. I'd also left a Brian Setzer CD in the player so I had some of "my" music to listen too on the way up. 

The junkyard seat was pretty comfortable and I think that these fabric covered seats might be better than leather. This is the base model seat, unlike the fabric sport seats in my '96, which was an upgraded interior option. 

I dropped the car off at my Daughter's workplace, where my Son met me. We stopped for lunch before leaving. I did appreciate the ride back. It is true that Sacramento isn't getting any closer. 

Now I've got to find the parts to fix the original seat that is sitting in my garage.

This update closes out the episode of my Daughter's '07 Mustang transmission rebuild.

My last post closed out the episode of engine problems with my '96 Mustang.

This has been a short update, but don't be fooled into thinking that things have slowed down behind the scenes.

There is quite a bit of change that will be coming up.




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