Hello, Mr. Scotty..

Mother of 3 from Riverside, CA. I need your honest and best advice. I drive a 2005 Hyundai accent GT- hatchback; 4 cylinder, with 134,586 miles. I believe I am the third owner of this car as it was an out of state car when I purchased it from a private party here in my city. I was unaware of any kind of issues with this car when I bought it. I just made some little upgrades on my own like replaced a cracked windshield, bought new tires and did tire rotation, an alignment, oil change and spark plugs; change the cabin air filter, recently replace the AC compressor and just other cosmetic things like tinting windows and putting aftermarket radio. Now this car has never given me any mechanical issues to recently. Not one. I've had it since 2019. My father is mechanic. he reolaced my front & back brakes for me the whole shebang. He did say the only thing he noticed about the car, is there is a terrible amount of rust under the car and that was it. he mainly works on American cars and is not very familiar with my car, So I have been taking it to a local automotive place for anything that I need and that's the only place I've been too. Recently, coming home from work, I was only doing about 40mph, when I heard What sounded like a switch of something going off, and then followed by a bunch of ticking. I noticed it only made the ticking when I pressed the gas, and it got faster and louder as I accelerated; and when I took my foot off the gas it slowed and then stopped. I haven't driven it since. My father said it sounded to him like the axles,  but to go take it in. He also said the ticking stops while it's in second gear, but I can't drive it like that. I do recall once or twice driving to visit a relative about 50 miles from here that while inclining up hill, it jerked a little when it shifted to make it up that hill, like it struggled and sputtered.. maybe that may have contributed to whatever happened, Or was a warning. Im so stupid, I didn't think of it at the time. I took it in The mechanics and they gave me three different diagnostics, and I'm not sure which one to believe. I'm not sure they're being honest. up to this point I do not want to go back to that place now. I thought they were on good people but they can't even tell me what the problem is. they charged me only $90 for the diagnostic. First they said it was a bearing, Then they said it was the axles, Then finally they told me it was a gear in the transmission that had blown due to me not changing transmission fluid. Silly me I didn't even know anything about the transmission fluid I know it's silly but I thought it was the same thing as changing the oil. (my father apologized and said he didn't even realize that I had to do that as his own car does not need transmission fluid) They told me that I need a new transmission or to just junk the car. Now I know might be hard for you to even realize what that noise is without you seeing my car, But if this is familiar to you in any way I just want your best and honest advice. It's the only car I have I don't know if I should waste my entire tax money on replacing the transmission as I've looked up some transmissions and found a few here and some in Canada that are between $700 and $1,500 for a used one. I don't know what to do, I even had to quit my job because I couldn't get there without my car. if you can please give me your advice I'd appreciate that greatly. I appreciate your time and enjoy and am grateful for your videos. I watch them to learn what I can. Peace and best wishes. -nm