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Dear Jack,

We have a 2000 Honda Odyssey. We purchased it in September 2010. It had 75000km on the clock. It now has 130,000km on the clock. We have had it regularly serviced including having the transmission serviced every 20k. Recently the car, when cold, fails to shift out of first gear and when it does engage makes a clunking noise. Sometimes the transmission light starts to flash when it doesn't change. This stops when the car warms up. Also the car has taken to suddenly losing power while driving. We have had it looked at by an automatic transmission specialist who has said that the transmission either needs to be replaced or fully reconditioned at the cost of between $3,500 to $4,500. My question is given that we paid $10k for the car would we be better to cut our losses and sell the car as is where is and chalk it up to experience or invest almost half the purchase price into getting the transmission fixed?

If you have the transmission repaired then keeping it would be a better option but either way you will be losing money on this vehicle as it is only worth around $7000,00 in good running condition. If you can fetch around $3500,00 as is then it will be a fair outcome as you can put this money and the amount you would've spent on a repair towards another vehicle. But in this case fitting a good second hand gearbox (with a 3 month warranty) and selling the vehicle is the better option as it will be easier to sell in running order.