# Effect of rebuilt motor/tranny on resale value



## Twenty five ought six (Mar 1, 2010)

I'm shopping around for a used truck, and keep running into trucks with rebuilt motors/transmissions.

I haven't exactly made up my mind on how I feel about how this should affect the resale value.  I wish I could put this up as a poll, but I have too many questions.  

We are talking about lightly used trucks in the 125-150,000 mile range.

So the basic question is how does a rebuild affect the price for your --up, down, not an issue.

Then, it seems that there are basically three categories of "rebuilds."   (1) Something from a nationally known source like Jasper or Aamco, with warranty and all, (2) Something from a good local shop that's in that business (3) Something Bubba did in the evenings in his spare time.  So the next question is does the source of the rebuilt part affect the value or your decision to purchase? -- and I'm only talking these two major components -- not add on's.


Then, does the overall mileage plus a rebuild raise a question beyond just the part replaced -- by that I mean if the truck has an engine or tranny that has been in production a long time, and doesn't have any known problems for longevity, and it's replaced at say 140,000 miles, does that make you wonder if it's been rode hard and put up wet so that you maybe should be suspect of other major components.


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## rjcruiser (Mar 1, 2010)

All really good questions...and one's that the buyer would have to take into account on a case by case basis.

For instance...lots of guys rebuild the Toyota motors on their own.  The V6 had many headgasket issues as well as the 22re.  Most of the time, a topend rebuild can be done by a shadetree mechanic.

As far as the Chevy 350 rebuilds and tranny's that I've seen on here...it makes me wonder.  Why would a 350 be rebuilt with 100k on the dial.  Either the truck wasn't taken care of or something else went out and a jasper engine was cheaper/easier to do than to rebuild it on their own.

As far as the value, I think it would increase the value of the vehicle.  However, most think that they can get the money that they pumped into it out of it.  For example...put a $3500 engine/tranny in a $1500 truck and ask $5k for it.  Sorry...but that just doesn't work for me.  Maybe increase the value by half of the cost of repairs...but you never get the full cost of repairs out of a used vehicle.

Also, something that I think is affecting the used car/truck market is the fact that with the $4k cash/clunker deal and the tough time dealers had last year, sticker price was never paid.  People were buying new trucks for $10-15k off of sticker plus the tax credit.  Now...they put up a 1 year old truck for $5k off of sticker and thinking they've priced it right.

Probably too much information....probably didn't answer your question....but it is what I think


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## Twenty five ought six (Mar 1, 2010)

> As far as the value, I think it would increase the value of the vehicle. However, most think that they can get the money that they pumped into it out of it. For example...put a $3500 engine/tranny in a $1500 truck and ask $5k for it. Sorry...but that just doesn't work for me. Maybe increase the value by half of the cost of repairs...but you never get the full cost of repairs out of a used vehicle.



Not too much information -- you really posted the question that I meant to ask.  Running into a lot of people that put a $3000 dollar engine into a $4000 truck, or rebuilt it themselves with upgraded parts, and now think it's a $7000.00 truck.  I just don't see it but I haven't purchased a truck in about 15 years, and wanted to see if I was totally out of touch.


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## rjcruiser (Mar 1, 2010)

Twenty five ought six said:


> Not too much information -- you really posted the question that I meant to ask.  Running into a lot of people that put a $3000 dollar engine into a $4000 truck, or rebuilt it themselves with upgraded parts, and now think it's a $7000.00 truck.  I just don't see it but I haven't purchased a truck in about 15 years, and wanted to see if I was totally out of touch.



Nope....I don't think you're out of touch.  Personally, with some of the prices I've seen for used trucks...I think the sellers are out of touch.

The "good" deals are fewer and farther in between, but they are still out there.  Saw a mid-late 90s Z-71 extended cab on here couple of weeks ago.  Less than 150,000 miles on it, few little things, but sold for around $4500.  I thought that was a good deal.  Much better than the same truck with a new tranny and engine for $13,500.


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## NGxplr22 (Mar 1, 2010)

rjcruiser said:


> Nope....I don't think you're out of touch.  Personally, with some of the prices I've seen for used trucks...I think the sellers are out of touch.



Even when I'm not looking to buy I'm always looking and rjcruiser is dead on.

Lately I've been looking a bit more seriously and I know times are hard, but some people don't understand that tough times doesn't equal a 25%(or more) markup on what they're selling.


As for as a vehicle with a rebuilt motor/tranny, if it's on a vehicle with 150K+/- miles and has a warranty or at least he has the receipts then it doesn't bother me if the rest of the truck looks like it's been taken care of.

On at truck with less than 100K then it makes me ask a lot more questions. I understand that mechanical breakage happens and that sometimes people get taken by crooked shops/dealerships for a new engine/tranny when all they need is a sensor or new filter.

On some specific models I expect that somethings been rebuilt at a lower mileage, such as the tranny on '94-whatever year dodge 1500s.

The only advice I offer is to give any vehicle with a rebuilt motor/tranny and low miles extra scrutiny. I tend to rely on my own limited knowledge on 
Chevrolet/Jeep/Dodge/Toyota/Ford trucks, but on Nissans/Hondas and most newer cars I try to take someone who knows something about them or arrange to take them to a mechanic.

My current DD had the motor replaced with less than 100K on it, by the dealership that originally sold it, and they did a crappy job with the details. The dipstick is not functional, they used the wrong size hoses and they modified two of the brackets for some reason.
That being said, I'm the third owner and it's still running at almost 300K. I've put at least $100K on it and haven't had any major issues........plus it was ony $250.


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## contender* (Mar 1, 2010)

On a truck under 100k IMO it's worth less than the same truck with the original engine unless there's documented proof that something odd happened. Todays vehicles at 100k should just be getting smoothed out so to speak. 
After 100k I'd say it's worth a little more but not the total cost of the engine or tranny replacement, maybe 1/2. All this for vehicles under 8-10 years old. Older than that all bets are off.


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## Vineyardhunter (Mar 3, 2010)

it always worries me when they say it was just rebuilt..... why go through the trouble of rebuilding just to sell? Unless you seen or did something during that rebuild and dont think its gonna last long lol


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