1995 Oldsmobile Achieva automatic transmission

We're all over the country so we don't know anything about shops or their reputations. What you might consider is looking for a nearby community college with an Automotive program. We were always looking for live work to give our kids real-world experience, and we had about a dozen community members who would sit on a broken car until we could use it because they knew the value it had to our program.

Be aware though, most schools only teach Automatic Transmissions once or twice per year, and you will have to wait until what you need fits what they're teaching. They won't do a brake system service in Air Conditioning class, for example. That's because there is way too much to cover already in the time they have, and taking unrelated work would put them in competition with the shops that are going to hire their graduates.

Parts are marked up a little to form a breakage fund in case they damage something, and in our case, we charged $10.00 per hour for what the job was supposed to take. It may actually takes weeks to get your car back, depending on how many hours per day they are actually in the shop. Also be aware they may not even want the job. In Automatic Transmission class they learn how to diagnose and repair problems, and how to rebuild the transmissions. Removing and replacing a transmission is something they're going to get plenty of already. There has to be a valid learning experience in it for the kids for them to accept the work.

You might try United Way's "First Call". Someone there will know where to send you. Also ask at the Salvation Army if they have places that offer discounts.

Again with the community colleges, the instructors there have a pretty good idea of what is going on the community, and they may know of some new and used car dealers that can help. The Chrysler dealer I used to work for repairs some of their less-attractive trade-ins and makes them available to people in need who are referred from other agencies. Those same dealers might be able to help with your transmission too.