My transmission has "left the building"

[angeno]

So, after 160K+ miles, one rebuilt 3.5, various and sundry other stuff you guys (and gals) are all too familiar with, last week, all of a sudden, my tranny started slipping --- badly. I barely made it home and ended up needing to have it towed to my local guy in Allendale, NJ. Long story short, I need a new / rebuilt transmission. Now for the real fun. It appears the going price starts at $2,500 and goes up precipitously from there. There is a trans specialist in Wykoff, NJ with a decent reputation. His cost is $3,600. Cha ching! Were this any other vehicle, I mean ANY other vehicle I would sell it SO FAST it would make your head spin. But my little boy has loved our VX since I first brought it home when he was just 18 months old. He even christened it "Monsty". So how can I sell something we've gone fishing in, chasing lizards in, etc. etc. etc. Some of his happiest childhood memories are tied up in this lumbering Isuzu. And mine too. So....

Here it sits. Waiting for the latest infusion of $$$$$. Now that I've told my sob story, I suppose you realize I'm hoping for a 'better option'. Make that an option that will fix my transmission but not cost me a lung and two kidneys in the process. Any realistic options here in the general NYC / NJ area would be most sincerely appreciated. And by the way, here's Monsty in better days:

[WormGod]

Hell, if you're gonna spend the $$, may as well do it right and go the manual route. That's my plan anyways. She gives the tranny ghost, I go stick.

Good luck chief.

[angeno]

Thanks Gary, for your reply. Sounds like there's really no way I'm going to get out of this without spending close to $4,000.

[ipd]

if "going manual" is "doing it right", then i'm happy to be wrong. permanently.

[WormGod]

if "going manual" is "doing it right", then i'm happy to be wrong. permanently.

Bah.... c'mon. I am even left leg handicap and drive a 6spd manual daily. Perhaps "doing it right" also translates to "not very smart", haha....

[blacksambo]

Curious about what transmission fluid type you were using? The VX tranny is used daily in the Gruman LLV, the US Post office' s hard to kill workhorse.

[ipd]

I've been using valvoline full-synthetic...same as I've used in my previous cars. But using the wrong TYPE of fluid is the quickest way to ruin an automatic--besides neutral drops. Oh, and I change it every 15k--fairly religiously.

[blacksambo]

What are neutral drops?

[ipd]

That's when an idiot who thinks he/she is driving a manual, decides to rev it in neutral & slam it into drive.

[blacksambo]

Oh!