I just ran into this. My 2014 had a bad seal that wrecked my clutch. My dealer wanted $1800 to replace the clutch. Cost of the clutch itself was around half that IIRC. The seal isn't expensive, but they said they had to pull the tranny to replace it.

I got "lucky." The same dealer had replaced both my 5-spd manual and my clutch at the same time last fall. Turns out that the replacement tranny was defective and that's why the leak. In the end my dealer covered it all under the transmission warranty. Shout out to Hillsboro CDJR, Hillsborough, NH.

If you have a 5-spd manual and the seal is leaking, it is probably in the process of wrecking your clutch. In my case all the leaking was internal and I didn't know I had a problem until the clutch started slipping. By then the clutch was trash. If you have an automatic tranny, then my experience may not be comparable.

 

Yeah it doesn't seem easy at all. I saw a video of seal on YouTube , another vehicle , and yeah whole tranny needs pulled

 

I'm guessing the seller probably knows the cost of the repair and decided against it. They disclosed the leaky seal -- maybe that's just a CYA on their part. If a buyer looks up the cost of the part and doesn't know the cost of the labor, they could easily get snookered. You are wise to do your own research.

Doesn't mean you can't talk down the seller. If you otherwise like the vehicle, counter the asking price by deducting the cost of the needed repair. This is a helpful community here, so you've got a place to get advice should you run into other problems. There are lots on here who know more than I do -- I just happened to have had your problem.

PS My Patriot is at 200,000 miles and I've had no significant problems until the tranny started to whine about 190,000. I felt it was worth the repair as my previous Patriot crossed the 300,000 mile mark.

 

PPS, the reason my seal was leaking was because the bearing was so worn/sloppy that the seal couldn't do it's job. In that case the tranny may be dying, too. Definitely have the transmission checked by a trusted mechanic.

 

@damian5000, I never asked: What year is your Patriot? How many miles?

 

I didn't get it yet. It's a 2016 with 116k. I probably will not buy it. There's no telling what condition the drivetrain is in because it can't be driven.