Fix this car or cut losses?

[Goose612]

Two years ago we were gifted a 2008 VW Eos with 130,000 miles on it.
Since it was free we spent a bit putting a new stereo, plugs, window tint, and some seat repairs.
In the 18 months since we’ve had to replace the timing belt, AC, alternator, and tires.
Now the car is having transmission problems. Hasn’t been to the shop yet, but I know this can get costly. Am I just throwing good money after bad at this point? I could have paid for 1/3 of a civic by now.

[Sandtrap]

Sell ASAP.
Get a Honda, or Toyota. Gas motor.
j

[TallBoy29er]

Cut bait and run.

[Grt2bOutdoors]

Dump it! Get yourself a slighly used Honda, easy on the pedal and the transmission shouldn't blow out.

[IMO]

OP: This is the problem when a car gets to around 130,000 miles when a repair is needed. It just becomes a big gamble on if the repair will pay off or not.

A few yrs ago before moving we had an older sedan with about 110,000 miles that was sort of an extra car at this point. Transmission was acting up, sometimes it wouldn't go into gear. Never got it looked at (transmission fluid looked fine) and don't know why that happened but then seemed to run okay for no apparent reason. However, figured why spend money on the car and figure we'll donate the car to a charity at that point. A neighbor however asked if his child could have the car to go off to college in another state. So they put a little money into it fixing things (probably $1000) that weren't even transmission related. Last check with the neighbor 6 months ago, the car ran just fine for the the kid for 3 years (coming/going out of state) and then the kid sold it to a friend and it is apparently still running fine. Bottom line: you just never know if it's worth it or not to put money into a car with over 100K miles.

It probably doesn't hurt to take the car to a specific transmission shop and say, "Transmission seems to be acting up some. I think I'm just going to get rid of car vs. fix it, but thought I'd get an estimate regardless." This may end up in more honest estimate because the shop knows you are willing to walk away from the car if the estimate is too much for you.

[adamthesmythe]

Two years ago we were gifted a 2008 VW Eos with 130,000 miles on it.
Since it was free we spent a bit putting a new stereo, plugs, window tint, and some seat repairs.
In the 18 months since we’ve had to replace the timing belt, AC, alternator, and tires.
Now the car is having transmission problems. Hasn’t been to the shop yet, but I know this can get costly. Am I just throwing good money after bad at this point? I could have paid for 1/3 of a civic by now.

So you got two years use out of a free car that was expensive to maintain. Anything you spent so far is a sunk cost. The question is whether a transmission repair (if needed) is worthwhile.

What you have is an oddball car that might be attractive to a few. Personally I would not pay to keep it going unless I really wanted an unusual car. And had the $ to spare, and didn't really need for it to be working on any given day.

Was it a gift from someone who wished you well??

[andypanda]

Is it the convertible with the V6?

I'd probably still dump it. Maybe. But I'd keep my 4Runner.

[bob60014]

Sometimes a gift isnt a gift. Time to move on.

[tvubpwcisla]

I would offload it for a Toyota. Sorry to hear about your losses. Better now than later. Just get it over with.

[panhead]

Two years ago we were gifted a 2008 VW Eos with 130,000 miles on it.
Since it was free we spent a bit putting a new stereo, plugs, window tint, and some seat repairs.
In the 18 months since we’ve had to replace the timing belt, AC, alternator, and tires.
Now the car is having transmission problems. Hasn’t been to the shop yet, but I know this can get costly. Am I just throwing good money after bad at this point? I could have paid for 1/3 of a civic by now.

This needs to be looked at a bit more objectively.
The stereo, window tint, and seat repairs were unnecessary so don't count this as money the car cost you.
The timing belt, plugs, and tires are maintenance items that all cars will need (at least ones with timing belts)
The alternator and AC (pump I presume, plus associated parts) are things that are going to wear out on any higher mileage car and are fairly trivial to replace in most vehicles, tho AC can get pricey.

So, up until now these are what I would consider normal costs.
I would have the car looked at by a shop and see what they say about the transmission. It might be worth fixing it if you like the car and want to save some $$. Depending on how serous the issues you are experiencing are, it might be just a fluid and filter change resolves the issue (yes, another maintenance item, assuming its an automatic). It sounds like it already went 130k miles without any serious failures, so with the transmission issue resolved it might get another 100k out of it. Be aware that if not done yet you are eventually going to need things like radiator hoses, possibly a radiator, a water pump if not done when you did timing belt (which probably would have been a good idea), brakes, shocks, possibly some front end parts, etc. This is all part of running a higher mileage car.

[capsaicinguy]

I would do what another poster said and take it to a reputable transmission shop and spend a few dollars to have them look at it. Could be any one of a number of simple/cheap things and you'd feel pretty silly unloading a free car if all it was was the fluid was low from a slow leak from an axle seal or something. It also sounds like most of what you've had to do is normal maintenance for a car with 130k on it. I don't know vw's recommended change interval for timing belts but on previous cars of mine it has been a maintenance item every 60k miles. Stereo and window tint were optional unless the stereo was broken. Tires wear out. A/c systems need to be recharged periodically. A bad 10 year old battery can kill an alternator (i hope you checked that at the same time). Just my .02, you could have had to do a lot of these items on any used car.

[GeoffD]

Assuming this is an automatic, the 2008 Eos had the DSG dual clutch automatic manual transmission. I had one in a 2007 GTI and this likely has the same 2.0T 200 hp 4 cylinder turbo. Most transmission shops won’t know how to deal with it. The most common issue is that the clutches eventually wear out. A 12 year old Eos? It would cost more to put the transmission on the bench and repair it than the car is worth.

[lthenderson]

Two years ago we were gifted a 2008 VW Eos with 130,000 miles on it.
Since it was free we spent a bit putting a new stereo, plugs, window tint, and some seat repairs.
In the 18 months since we’ve had to replace the timing belt, AC, alternator, and tires.
Now the car is having transmission problems. Hasn’t been to the shop yet, but I know this can get costly. Am I just throwing good money after bad at this point? I could have paid for 1/3 of a civic by now.

This needs to be looked at a bit more objectively.
The stereo, window tint, and seat repairs were unnecessary so don't count this as money the car cost you.
The timing belt, plugs, and tires are maintenance items that all cars will need (at least ones with timing belts)
The alternator and AC (pump I presume, plus associated parts) are things that are going to wear out on any higher mileage car and are fairly trivial to replace in most vehicles, tho AC can get pricey.

So, up until now these are what I would consider normal costs.

+1 Nothing seems to point towards this being a lemon car. I had my transmission rebuilt in a previous car and drove it for another decade before selling it and it might still be out there on the road. It was money well spent.

[Goose612]

So, just to post an update.
It’s a good point that high mileage cars do have expected maintenance, and it has been running well besides the very specific problems that have all been addressed up until this point. We have decided to keep the car.
We have a trusted VW mechanic that gave very similar information as GeoffD, and is confident that the car is otherwise in good condition. Even if it costs several thousand to fix, it should still have plenty of life in it, and will cost less than a new car.