Transmission faulty.
Head gasket at 100,000.
When we purchased our van it was a one owner vehicle with 40,000 miles. It was a very reliable vehicle and only had to spend money on minor maintenance. The problems started at around 90,000 miles when the transmission started to act up. The van shifted hard from 1st to 2nd gear. The air conditioning gave out around the same time. At around 100,000 miles the head gasket blew and we opted to not fix the van, because the cost of repair outpaced the value of the vehicle. I liked the van very much. It drove well in the snow and never had any problems otherwise. Very disappointed though that we only got 100,000 miles out of it.
Sorry to hear about your problems with this Minivan. If you are not mechanically inclined, sometimes it is better to buy something newer, rather than taking a chance on an old junker and losing.
You never mentioned doing any routine maintenance to it. When you buy a used car, you have no idea how it was treated. Buying a used car can be a great deal, but you want to get all the fluids changed, and make sure that you're caught up on all the maintenance.
If you never changed, or even checked, the engine coolant, that would explain why you blew your head gasket. Honestly, how many times did you ever open the hood to check your fluids?
It continues to amaze me how people always blame the car, and never their own lack of knowledge about how to take care of a car.
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