NEED DESPERATE TRANSMISSION HELP!!!

Hello.  So glad I found this spot.

Need help/advice:

transmission just blew on my '89 Merc 560SEL, with 190K miles.

My mechanic would charge supposedly 5K to do the job. Gasp!!! Does he "re-build" my tranny???  Someone recommended buying a trans from an auto-wrecking place. Checked it out.  But this guy says my "car can't take any newer than a '91 tranny."  He's offering to do the job for 1K. Should I do it?  If it's a 1990, this tranny could go out any day as well, couldn't it?

Advice???? I need it, as I am sans car at the moment!

Questions:  Is it true this year Merc can't take any newer than a '91 tranny?

Would this be reliable buying one in the first place from an auto-wrecking place?  Guy says it's from a '90 Merc.

Can my car's model, a 1989 560SEL hold a much newer tranny? like a '95-2000????

NEED HELP AND FAST   !

tHANKS,
Ingrid~

You can get those transmissions rebuilt.  I would if I were you...it's cheaper and should last you a long time.  Just make sure you take it to a place you does a good job on rebuilding it for you.  REBUILT AND REMANUFACTURED TRANS ARE TOTALLY DIFFERENT FROM EACH OTHER...JUST BARE THAT IN MIND.  It's cheaper to rebuild it than buying reman.  The gears on those transmissions are very good.  It's usually the seals, o-rings that goes out.
 
take care,
-mar-

Dear Mar:

Thanks!! At this auto wrecking place, the guy would be taking out a 1990 transmission and putting it in my car.  So it would be old and clunky just like mine which just blew out.  It would cost total $1,000.  Maybe it would last another couple years????

Isn't the total of a rebuilt one much more???? My Mercedes mechanic said around $5,000 to do the job.  What should be the usual and customary price of a rebuilt trans??? What roundabout figure should I expect?

From your experience, how long would a rebuilt one last??

Thank for any advice.

If I were to rebuild your transmission, it would cost you a little over $2K, and that's better than buying one from a junkyard.  Because whose to say that the junkyard transmission would last you a long time.  That's the problem that you're going to run into, and that's a gamble that I would not strongly recommend.  Invest on a rebuild transmission and it should last you a long time.
 
take care,
-mar-