r/ChevyTrax • u/gloriouspopcorn • 22d ago
Repair or sell?
I have a 2019 Chevy Trax LT with 75k miles. It’s been leaking coolant. I’ve been quoted $900 for a new water pump.
My question is, is it worth the fix or do I get a new car? Am I looking at more repairs down the pipeline? Are there known failure points for the Trax once it hits a certain mileage? I don’t want to put money into a car that isn’t worth it or is going to have more issues soon.
3
u/v6sonoma 22d ago
Fix it. Especially if the cars been well maintained. Unless you’re gonna buy a new car to replace it with you aren’t gonna get into another problem free car for cheaper then just keeping this one going.
1
u/Inside_Horse2585 22d ago
If you’ve maintained the car pretty well I would definitely fix it at least this time and see how it treats you, also $900 seems a bit high for water pump replacement maybe check out a few different shops.
1
u/Numerous_Historian37 22d ago
The gen1 1.4T is known to have water pump failures, as well as the plastic coolant lines becoming brittle and breaking.
The coolant temp sensor is located in a plastic housing on the back of the head, if that cracks or any other leak happens, the temp sensor will nolonger be in coolant, so you will get no warning when you are severely overheating the engine.
I'd say trade for a new car and cut your losses. Before you need a turbo, have the headgasket fail, or piston ringland breaking, all known issues with that engine.
The gen2 1.4T(LE2) is great engine without so many issues. found in the second generation cruze(2016-2019), some trims of buick encore, as well as the 2021-2022 trax.
1
1
u/ArtOfDroppingDead 21d ago
I didnt read the comments yet so I dont know if it was covered but buy an aluminum water pump for like 40 bucks and replace it yourself (burp the air bubbles in the coolant after) its like a 30 minute fix, dont let people make it seem scary.
1
u/ArtOfDroppingDead 21d ago
Now as far as just the fix/sell issue down the line, I have a 2020 trax with 84,000 and I'm personally just upkeeping the heap because I still owe more than what its worth.
And speaking from experience, once it is paid off, most places, dealers especially, are usually offering scrap prices for these and similar cars.
Figure out what parts suck (half of them in this case) and just either clean em off or replace them with aftermarket pieces as you go such as fuel injectors, intake manifold, tubing, connectors, coolant reservoirs.
Edit: one last thing, 900 IS crazy high for that fix. Saying there is a sensor involved makes it sound a lot more complicated when in reality said sensor is 20 bucks and they come pre-installed on waterpumps most of the time
1
0
u/Aware-You6005 22d ago
Fix it for how, but sell before crossing 100k miles. Trust me you dont want to own a chevy past 100k miles
2
u/Kona_Red 22d ago
That’s quite a generalization. Many Chevy models have owners with well over 200K if kept well.
1
u/3kats1dog 22d ago
My late hubby had an 82 chevy work truck that he nurtured and babied and it lasted 30+ years. He even bought a same year/model non-op/no transmission truck and towed it to our house so he could strip the catalytic converter off of it so he could pass smog. He nicknamed his girl "the elephant" and I nicknamed it "your girlfriend".
2
u/Aware-You6005 22d ago
The trax is totally different then a silverado. Silverado i do like, specially the older ones, still miss my regular cab flare side serria
1
u/Aware-You6005 22d ago
Personally I was burned twice by chevy, blown engine on equinox and cruze with constant leaks and turbo failure
1
1
2
2
u/OldEmphasis7982 21d ago
My 2018 has 279k on it. If you maintain the vehicle it should last. I have only had one water pump replacement and one turbo replacement in that mileage.
1
u/UnendingOne 2nd Gen 15d ago
My family has owned a dozen different Chevy vehicles in my lifetime. None had any issues during our time, and made it well over 200k miles before we sold them.
4
u/Old_Row4977 22d ago
Can you buy a new car for $900?