Ok, so I am new here (woohoo!), just bought a 2001 Grand Prix GT with 151000kms on it(about 94000 miles) from the first owner, very well kept, rust-proofed, garage stored etc.

Now after a little while of owning the car and driving it a lot I have noticed the following tranny problem. When I cold-start the car and start driving, it shifts like new, smooth as silk, after awhile though, when the car heats up the early gears become a bit bumpy/jerky to get into. I then scrambled on the internet to try and get peace of mind, including lurking around here. The vast majority of resources I found seemed to point to a PCS, and I was relieved at this.

This morning before work though I took it into Mister Transmission(a franchise tranny shop that every mechanic I talked to pointed me to) to get a diagnosis, so as soon as I walked in and explained the issue, the serviceman started to go on about a valve body, a $1500 job! I asked if it could be a PCS or a flash, he shrugged that off as if I was from the moon for asking. But then we did the free road test, besides the guy almost running reds by paying too much attention to his little computer, he started to break my heart. He starts to tell me something about a "max adapt" going on in the computer and finally the dreaded word "rebuild". My heart sank but at the same time this all seemed fishy to me. The desk guy offered me 10% off the labour if I get it started that morning, and now we are taking about a $2500 job. He started scaring me by saying how it could break at any point and then the repair would be $3000.

I then called smaller shops and then they chewed up Mister Transmission's diagnosis and gave me a different(equally expensive) diagnosis, I don't know who to trust.

I am no tranny expert but I have had enough baseball cards stolen as a kid to know when i'm being played. Some advice here would be greatly appreciated.