HELP PLEASE! TRANS PROBLEM!

[GTBWAGON]

My wife drives a 1992 Liberty wagon. Its an auto, and we have had issues with the trans slipping out of gear and reverse being jumpy. Other symptoms are its jerky when engaged into drive or reverse, and can take a while to engage the gear.
Coming from only ever driving manuals, I have no experience with the auto trans! We have had it looked at by a trans specialist, and he has stated the trans is old and worn out, and will need to be replaced. The vehicle has only done 130,XXXkms! The quite for a new trans was 5k and not sure yet on a second hand option!
This seems hugely expensive, and im not convinced, as we are in darwin and he has a captive market!
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated, as I cant justify spending that sort of money when the car isnt worth much more than that! Is it possible to recondition a transmission?

Cheers,

Sam

[marki]

I had an integra when i was 18, after 3 years the transmission began slipping and redlining, the car was old then (1990) and obviously a new transmisson wasnt available, and to rebuild it worked out to pricey . So i rang around a few jap wreckers, ended up getting a second hand auto, out of another integra, and they even delivered it to my mechanic for $400.00- ready to be installed

[smythie]

IMO second hand is the better bet for your circumstances. I'd double check the transmission oil level too before jumping to expensive transplants. those symptoms sound similar to those I have experienced in the past with older autos where the oil level was simply low.