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The Avalon is FWD. It's not available in AWD. The link you posted contains nothing at all whatsoever about the Avalon except an unanswered question at the bottom from someone asking if the Avalon is available in AWD.
Well, I have considered repairs, though the car is 14 years old with 140,000 miles. Other than a dented hood and basic wear and tear, it's in decent condition. If I spend money ($3,000 or more) to get the transmission fixed/replaced, that certainly would be better than $20,000+, but the car at this point is only worth maybe $500, and I imagine there will only be more repair issues down the road. Additionally, I was sort of planning to replace the car at 150,000 miles (15 years) anyway because I'd like something sturdier with newer features (my current car doesn't even have cruise control).
So yeah, I feel that I'm at a crossroads with this car. I could repair and hope it goes for another couple of years, repair and maybe keep it for longer without newer features, donate it and acquire something a little safer and solid, etc.
I feel that eventually (in the next 5 years or so) I'm going to have to spend some money ($20,000 for new, less for used) on a car anyhow, and am not sure that keeping this going for 1-5 more years (with delayed expenditure of money) will enhance my life significantly.
But that's part of the quandary, I guess.
You really need to look further in (financially speaking) than my car is only worth $500 and it has a $2-3000 repair. The replacement cost right now is $20,000 (budgeted/planned) that's 17,000 more than repairing it and driving it. 20,000 will cover a lot of repairs.
Now if the trans was bad, you had emissions issues and a rod knock and valve ticking, leaked oil everywhere got rear ended by a Mack truck the interior was chewed by hungry rats (sorry I'm feeling like I'm almost describing a brand new GM vehicle jk)
Then yes I would say buy another vehicle.
What I would do if I just had to have a new car is go to a dealer and bring a friend. Start driving their off lease, new and used cars. Then ask the sales guy for his card and walk away. Repeat this at different dealers. Once you narrowed down the brand and model it's time to work the dealers
Now go research all the options on the car you want. Write down the options you want to have. Once you got that go build your car on the manufacturers website. Contact every dealer s online purchasing department and give them your list of the car and options. Send the email separately to each dealer. Hell pick 10 dealers.
Tell them you want a out the door price quote and that you are ready to buy as long as they have the best out the door price. And tell them you contacted numerous dealers. Aldo tell them you will not come in until the price is firmly nailed down.
When you get a out the door price all the jumbo jumbo tap dancing finance games stop. Go to your bank or credit union and get your financing in order. Your rate will depend of n your credit. Forget the bs "we can get you 0% financing". Most people do not have the credit to qualify. Sure some do but it's not everyone. Also when you do 0% there are some "cash back" rebates you don't qualify for. Personally I take the rebates and lower price as I have good credit and if I do a loan the rate is very very low. Last time I bought a car on loan I got 2.6% financing and that was in 2005. Paid the car off in two years but I got the car for 7500 off MSRP
Anyway now get the quotes back and start working one dealer against the other. They all want to sell cars.
Once you get the lowest price walk in, make sure your car has every option you ordered, no flaws etc. anything that you see write it up and get them to fix it. But make sure you get it in writing. There are specific forms for that not just a blank paper.
I had a buddy use this tactic with Lexus. He got on average 10k off MSRP. He usually shopped for cars at the end of the year and got leftover models.
The Avalon is FWD. It's not available in AWD. The link you posted contains nothing at all whatsoever about the Avalon except an unanswered question at the bottom from someone asking if the Avalon is available in AWD.
I think the biggest reason to update your car is for the dramatic improvements in safety features since 2004. Things like crash protection, ESC, collision avoidance systems, better braking, AWD, etc. are becoming standard in more and more cars.
Sure, you can patch up any old car and keep it running indefinitely. But there comes a point where it just doesn't make sense anymore. If you have the money to spend, it would be short sighted to not take advantage of modern technology.
Only downside are repair costs in newer vehicles no longer under warranty. Mine is first generation electronics, there are sensors everywhere. Expensive sensors to replace, as I found out.
You really need to look further in (financially speaking) than my car is only worth $500 and it has a $2-3000 repair. The replacement cost right now is $20,000 (budgeted/planned) that's 17,000 more than repairing it and driving it. 20,000 will cover a lot of repairs.
Now if the trans was bad, you had emissions issues and a rod knock and valve ticking, leaked oil everywhere got rear ended by a Mack truck the interior was chewed by hungry rats (sorry I'm feeling like I'm almost describing a brand new GM vehicle jk)
Then yes I would say buy another vehicle.
What I would do if I just had to have a new car is go to a dealer and bring a friend. Start driving their off lease, new and used cars. Then ask the sales guy for his card and walk away. Repeat this at different dealers. Once you narrowed down the brand and model it's time to work the dealers
Now go research all the options on the car you want. Write down the options you want to have. Once you got that go build your car on the manufacturers website. Contact every dealer s online purchasing department and give them your list of the car and options. Send the email separately to each dealer. Hell pick 10 dealers.
Tell them you want a out the door price quote and that you are ready to buy as long as they have the best out the door price. And tell them you contacted numerous dealers. Aldo tell them you will not come in until the price is firmly nailed down.
When you get a out the door price all the jumbo jumbo tap dancing finance games stop. Go to your bank or credit union and get your financing in order. Your rate will depend of n your credit. Forget the bs "we can get you 0% financing". Most people do not have the credit to qualify. Sure some do but it's not everyone. Also when you do 0% there are some "cash back" rebates you don't qualify for. Personally I take the rebates and lower price as I have good credit and if I do a loan the rate is very very low. Last time I bought a car on loan I got 2.6% financing and that was in 2005. Paid the car off in two years but I got the car for 7500 off MSRP
Anyway now get the quotes back and start working one dealer against the other. They all want to sell cars.
Once you get the lowest price walk in, make sure your car has every option you ordered, no flaws etc. anything that you see write it up and get them to fix it. But make sure you get it in writing. There are specific forms for that not just a blank paper.
I had a buddy use this tactic with Lexus. He got on average 10k off MSRP. He usually shopped for cars at the end of the year and got leftover models.
A great description of the reason I just hate to shop ,or buy, a car of any kind. To much BS just to buy a hunk of metal mounted on rubber.
Get that transmission checked out. Sometimes it's just some problem with a replaceable sensor, a broken wire or something. It might be an inexpensive repair.
so OP, I would suggest you get the best Acura with Sh-AWD. Quality Japanese , cant go wrong.
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