Sadly, I don't think a 10 year old Box makes for a good DD for you wife. It is a wonderful driving car but it is not a Honda or Toyota reliability wise.
My wife would put up with zero downtime on her DD but that is just her.
Good luck.
PS-I would fix the tranny as cheaply as I could if I were going to sell it. Trying to sell it as is will be very tough I think.
