My sister has a 2002 WRX wagon that she bought new. It has ~80k miles on it and is completely stock.

She had a problem with 2nd gear sticking in gear and the shop claims it needs a rebuild.

She's considering dumping the car as the cost of the rebuilt and R&R would be about what the car is worth.

Any idea where she could get a transmission in good working condition on the cheap to swap in? Perhaps someone going from a 5-speed to a 6-speed?

Alternatively, any shops in the bay area that we can trust to do good transmission work?

Thanks,
Jason

PS - any ideas what a 2002 WRX wagon that is completely stock, never beat on, would be worth as a roller with a bad transmission?

 

Aww man - that's a bummer. I went through this a couple years ago with my 2002 WRX sedan. I ended up getting a used gearbox from Mike's Subaru in SoCal. I got a late '04 5spd which is a better gearbox, but the downside is that I also needed to get new axles as the fitment is different.

There is also a shop in the Sac area that can rebuild it with I believe an updated gearset. Someone else may be able to comment better on that.

I did a quick search on Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market and found a few on there. Looks like 2002 transmissions were around $1100-$1300 and late '04 are more like $1500-$1700. Take a look on there. A used one is also a gamble of course because it could fail.

The later gearboxes are a little stronger than the 2002 so they should be a better bet. Hope that helps a little.

 

My advice is this....


Find a used one on one of the forums. Or have one rebuilt by FW Motorsports using LGT gears. It's gonna cost you about the same as what these other guys are charging and you'll end up with a WAY better transmission.

If you're going 6spd plan on spending at least $6000 if you're having a shop do it.

But since it's stock... I wouldn't bother. Just find yourself a transmission on the forums and install it. And do you're clutch while you're in there.

 

+1.

Heard good things about the 09 wrx gears too?

 

Think they're the same?

I think that's Paul's go to actually... the 09 gears. Good call.

 

Great advice - and yes - that is the job and the shop. I believe the gearset is the same. Thank you for chiming in!

 

She opted for a rebuild of the tranny, I think with a better gearset. Thanks everyone!

JP

 

I am very late to the party, but how did they diagnose it as a rebuilt? I assume they tried flushing, changing fluids and inspecting the shift linkage?