Don't bring it to AAMCO but bring to this Indy shop specialized foreign cars ... they should be able to give you good advice. I will start by the cheapest, changing the tranny fluid & filter. The tranny manufacturer ZF also recommends to change the tranny fluid at 60k-80k miles.

Cordel Foreign Motors Inc.
8616 L St.
Omaha, NE 68127
402-592-2288

Transmission Service Repair

http://www.cordelforeignmotors.com/

 

I agree, take it to an independant shop rather than a tranny shop. A tranny shop is going to jump to a tranny rebuild rather than troubleshooting the actual car, because that is what they do (rebuilding) and where they make their money.

You ever hear of a guy who pulls into a tranny shop and asks if he needs a rebuild, only to be told "nope, your tranny is just fine"?

My Dad came to me broken hearted because he took his minivan into a tranny shop and asked that exact question because it was shifting funny. They quoted him something like 6 grand without even diagnosing the issue (just told him that they see this all the time and know exactly what it is). Fortunately, he came to me before he had them do the work. I found an electrical plug on the tranny that was full of water. Problem solved for $0.00 and less than an hour of my time.


Also, you mentioned that they spoke of a sensor that was showing an error. Any chance that the tranny shop was talking about a "speed sensor"? I was thinking that something like that might be used to tell the tranny when to shift, and if it was faulty then maybe it would still work if shifting manually. Just a thought...