I can't really say how much the labor on removing/reinstalling the
tranny unit should cost, as I do all the my own work, but I purchased
a rebuilt transmission and torque converter with a 6 month warranty
from German Transaxle <www.gtainc.biz> four weeks ago for $520 plus
$200 refundable core charge. This price included shipping to my
workplace here on San Vicente in Brentwood, so I imagine you'd pay
about the same, being in Santa Monica. $2500 sounds awful steep if
it's JUST the transmission unit. If the final drive section needs
replacing I imagine that might as much as double the cost, as it's a
big cast iron case item slightly bigger and heavier than the
transmission unit itself. But if that $2500 doesn't include labor to
pull and install, then that's DEFINITELY too high. His "worst case"
estimate may be so up there because maybe he's never had one of these
auto trannies rebuilt before, and is just quoting what the manual
model (which are $$$ to fix) might cost.

> The automatic transmission in my '88 Westy has started to stick and slip,
> apparently indicating the impending end of its natural life. My regular
> mechanic (whom I trust) says that a "worst case" price to repair it is
> $2,500. Note that he doesn't work on transmissions himself, but rather
> removes it from the vehicle and then sends it out to a specialist. The price
> quoted came from that specialist.
> 
> The key phrase is obviously "worst case", but I'd like to hear from any
> other listees who have had this repair done whether that sounds commensurate
> with what you paid so I can decide whether I need to take it somewhere else
> for repair.
> 
> Thanks for any help.
> 
> Chris Paquette
> Santa Monica, CA
> '88 Westy, "Rocinante"
>