I took my 850(105,000 miles) to a dealer run repair clinic on Saturday to double check my maintenance inspection and have free coffee and donuts.

I know I will have to replace my heater core in the Spring, however, I was not prepared to hear that a seal in my transmission case leaks (they allowed me to inspect it while on the lift). According to the Volvo techs, they have not seen this problem before and there is no seal available to repair the leak. The transmission must be replaced to solve the problem at a cost of $3500. The bolts were slightly tightened and I will monitor the rate of leakage.

Has anyone out there had this type of problem and what have you done about it? I know dealer prices are stratospheric, so I am figuring two hours of labor to remove and two more to reinstall the transmission plus the cost of new or used transmission. What is the cost of a new or used transmission?

The blue book on this vehicle is about $3500-4000. With a transmission and possible evaporator (the original still works-but don't they all fail sooner or later?) on the horizon, is a Honda or Toyota in my not too distant future?

Dan