I finally got around to replacing my gearbox. I have a few options but I'm considering these two in particular:

1) $500 transmission, not sure what year car it's off of, if it's rebuilt or not etc. Programming would be up to me I think (I can reset and just drive until it reprograms itself right?)

2) $700 - $830 transmission supposedly from the US or England, from a 2008 car, includes original tranny fluid, programmed. This guy seems like he's a good mechanic, his place is a bit cleaner. If he budges on price I can get it for $700, and he may eat the cost of towing the car to his shop.

What do you guys think I should do. Does it matter? I get at best a 2 week to 1 month warranty, probably 2 weeks. Not sure if it shows up in my sig, but the car I'm gonna be doing this to is an '05 with 65K miles on it. Clean body and cold A/C and very minor problems I may fix while I'm at it (windshield jet thing and some electric or windows issues).

 

The OE fluid and programming makeup the price differential between the two units, cost wise. There is an old saying in transmission shops..."the dirt from an unclean shop will end up in your tranny..."

The ZF transmission pan also contains the filter. A change of both ATF and the pan/filter, together with the electrical connector sleeve, would be preferable.

 

I had a good paragraph reply, but I accidentally lost all I typed. Long post shortened, I agree with you. Gonna go with the cleaner place and $200 spent now is better than a headache down the road.

 

1st... make sure its a proper replacement part number.
2nd.. high miles and high temperature are a trannys enemy.

In life I've observed that trying to be cheap is usually more expensive in the long run.