How much does/should a new transmission cost?

This is by far the most often asked question. The straight answer is there is no way to know. You can always ask for a worst case scenario and many shops will give you a price over the phone for a complete replacement but most of the time that is not what you need. Think about it, how often in life do we run into the worst case. Not very often. Things are usually never as bad as they could be. With today’s computer controlled transmissions and engines, it might be something very minor like a switch or loose wire. There are cases in which a burned out tail light bulb can cause dramatic changes in the way a transmission shifts or doesn’t.

Why do they cost so much?

WOW we could do an hour video on this one, but let’s try a couple of possibilities. Today’s transmissions are very complex, computer controlled devices. They are intricately connected with the other systems in the car. The amount of highly technical training that goes into being able to diagnose and repair today’s transmissions is mind boggling and requires hours and hours of continuing training each year. The day of the shade tree mechanic being able to fix the newer model cars is a thing of the past. Add to this the rising cost of everything from shop space to insurance and government regulations, the cost of doing business has gone through the roof.

Is there any way to make it less expensive?

You should be given several choices when sold a repair job at a good shop. The most expensive is going to be to totally replace all worn out or out of specification parts with new OEM parts. By OEM I mean Original Equipment parts. These parts come from the dealers stock of new parts. OEM parts are the most expensive of all the available parts. That is because of all the overhead big companies have. Things like all the costs designing and developing the original part, liability insurance, big advertising budgets. union wages and other benefits, unfunded pension plans, and all the other expenses that go into keeping a large corporation solvent.

The next less expensive job would be by using high quality after-market parts but still replacing all the parts back to an as new condition. Then there are options like only fixing the broken or worn out parts. This is referred to as getting a patch job done. This may be an option for an older car or one you plan on getting rid of soon. the old unit and put

There is always the option of putting a used transmission in the car. Get one from a wrecking yard and have the shop take out the old unit and put in the used one. The downside of this is that you never know what you’re getting from the wrecking yard. You can spend a lot of money replacing transmissions until you get a good one.