TL;DR - Bought a transmission from Cody and it ends up being sketchy. Politely ask to return it, won't take it back. Be careful if you buy anything from him.
Here is the for sale thread:
My old transmission got water in it during a deep crossing last year while getting the family to safety when Tropical Storm Imelda hit. I would usually do this kinda of work myself but things still aren't back to normal since our house flooded. I tow my Land Cruiser to Circle D in Houston to see if there is anything they can do, but it's DOA. I ask if they can rebuild it but told they aren't familiar with the transmission and would rather not attempt to rebuild it. They ask if I would let them try to source me a rebuilt transmission, sounds good to me I tell them! But they can't find one. They even offered to call around to other shops they know of who do good work and see if they would rebuild it, but no luck there either. They then offer to swap it out for me if I brought them a transmission.
After a short search on the forum, I find Cody only 5 hours away and he has a transmission with only 99k miles. I'm told it came from CruiserYard, it was a running vehicle and had no issues that he was aware of. Perfect!
After getting it back home and then dropping it off to Circle D, they suggested removing the pan and filter and seeing how it looks inside. I get a couple pictures later that day along with a recommendation to not install the transmission. There is a good amount of clutch material in the filter and the pan doesn't look any better. They say if this transmission didn't have issues before being pulled then it wouldn't have been long before it did if they swap it in.
I send Cody the pictures and asked if he would be willing to let me return it. He tells me no and that there is nothing that concerns him in the pictures. I should put a new filter in, flush it out, and install it. I ask if he would take the gamble, knowing that the shop that repairs and rebuilds transmission day in and day out, suggests not spending the money on a new torque converter and the labor to swap it all out. Cody says he wouldn't gamble all that money on it if he were in this situation.
I then get a lecture about how I'm taking profit from my mechanic by having him swap them out instead of rebuild mine. He also goes back and forth several times between the transmission is good and just go with it, and find someone to rebuild it.
To be fair, he did end up offering to give me any number of parts from his 5 other transmissions if there was something broken or unusable in the transmission.
Also to be fair, I know there is always a risk when buying used. He didn't guarantee anything, he's not obligated to take it back, he's not obligated to return the money. It's a bummer that the first time this happens is from a fellow Mud member. This is the kind of stuff that you'd expect from Craigslist.
Be careful out there fellas. I can share the text exchange if anyone is interested.
Here is the for sale thread:
SOLD - 80 series A343F Transmission (No valve bodies) TEXAS
Mudders, I have 5 used, a343f transmissions out of 95-97 fzj 80s. These transmissions really don't have many issues I've experienced or heard about, but I'm hoping I can help somebody out with parts that are otherwise headed to the scrap yard. I already sold all 5 valve bodies, those are...
forum.ih8mud.com
My old transmission got water in it during a deep crossing last year while getting the family to safety when Tropical Storm Imelda hit. I would usually do this kinda of work myself but things still aren't back to normal since our house flooded. I tow my Land Cruiser to Circle D in Houston to see if there is anything they can do, but it's DOA. I ask if they can rebuild it but told they aren't familiar with the transmission and would rather not attempt to rebuild it. They ask if I would let them try to source me a rebuilt transmission, sounds good to me I tell them! But they can't find one. They even offered to call around to other shops they know of who do good work and see if they would rebuild it, but no luck there either. They then offer to swap it out for me if I brought them a transmission.
After a short search on the forum, I find Cody only 5 hours away and he has a transmission with only 99k miles. I'm told it came from CruiserYard, it was a running vehicle and had no issues that he was aware of. Perfect!
After getting it back home and then dropping it off to Circle D, they suggested removing the pan and filter and seeing how it looks inside. I get a couple pictures later that day along with a recommendation to not install the transmission. There is a good amount of clutch material in the filter and the pan doesn't look any better. They say if this transmission didn't have issues before being pulled then it wouldn't have been long before it did if they swap it in.
I send Cody the pictures and asked if he would be willing to let me return it. He tells me no and that there is nothing that concerns him in the pictures. I should put a new filter in, flush it out, and install it. I ask if he would take the gamble, knowing that the shop that repairs and rebuilds transmission day in and day out, suggests not spending the money on a new torque converter and the labor to swap it all out. Cody says he wouldn't gamble all that money on it if he were in this situation.
I then get a lecture about how I'm taking profit from my mechanic by having him swap them out instead of rebuild mine. He also goes back and forth several times between the transmission is good and just go with it, and find someone to rebuild it.
To be fair, he did end up offering to give me any number of parts from his 5 other transmissions if there was something broken or unusable in the transmission.
Also to be fair, I know there is always a risk when buying used. He didn't guarantee anything, he's not obligated to take it back, he's not obligated to return the money. It's a bummer that the first time this happens is from a fellow Mud member. This is the kind of stuff that you'd expect from Craigslist.
Be careful out there fellas. I can share the text exchange if anyone is interested.