The end of the road for the daily driver.

[Retroman1969]

Originally Posted by BIGJake111

Label it tranny for retro man and you'll get a ton of donations from unique communities.

LOL!

In all seriousness I couldn't take any money from anyone, but the gesture is moving and greatly appreciated, thank you!

The score so far....
No codes from the transmission. Records show that the service was done actually 30,000 miles ago, instead of 50,000. Fluid is full. My mechanic test drove it all day to get a good feel for what it was doing, and it's definitely acting very erratic, and is transmission related. He also said it otherwise drove beautifully for such a high milage car (I knew that) and it would be a shame to put it to pasture quite yet. (even though it's getting into that "dead man walking" territory)
Two things generally cause the behavior he was experiencing: Torque Converter or Valve Body. Not worth fixing at such mileage, he suggested another transmission service, where the valve body is taken out and really cleaned and checked thoroughly. See if it fixes or improves it, and either way, just driving it until it craps out.

I'm likely going to give it a shot, just to know for sure. It may sound like throwing good money after bad, but I've had at least two other vehicles in the past that experienced bad slipping and erratic behavior. In both cases a transmission flush and service fixed them. I'm not silly enough to forget that they had fewer miles than this car, but I think it's worth a shot.

P.S.: This helps get me off the fence about manual vs. auto.

Thanks again everyone! All advice and opinions certainly welcomed!

[itsnotanova]

There is a slight difference in a 1997-99 to 2000-04 tiptronic. I've had customers switch vice versa with no problems. I have one of each for $300 but both came from cars with a blown motor so I can't verify running condition. Drag your box down here and I'll help you replace it for beer and lunch

[Pdwight]

You will never find

[Gilles]

Originally Posted by itsnotanova

Drag your box down here and I'll help you replace it for beer and lunch

A Class Act, indeed

[Chuck W.]

Originally Posted by itsnotanova

I have one of each for $300 but both came from cars with a blown motor so I can't verify running condition. Drag your box down here and I'll help you replace it for beer and lunch

This type of offer from Woody doesn't surprise me at all. What a class act. And, I can't think of a better person to receive the offer. To cool. This is what makes this such a great place.