Transmission and Differential issues are rare & expensive enough that most mechanics don't have the expertise to go in, locate broken parts, and replace individual components. Therefore, with these types of major issues, most mechanics will advise that you replace the entire transmission, or entire axle assembly, rather than fixing the specific problem.
In my case, my '04 Dodge Ram had a bad rear differential, and I received a quote of $2600 from another shop to replace my rear end with the rear end off an old ram axle/differential from a junk yard truck. I looked for a place that specialized in transmissions and differentials, and ended up speaking to Ed on the phone. He explained to me that for my particular truck, it was cheaper to rebuild the entire differential from scratch with brand new parts than it was to obtain a used rear end shipped from a junk yard, not even including installation. I made some phone calls to local junk yard inventories, and found that he was correct.
Ed quoted me $1200-$1500 for the job, and called me halfway through the job to let me know that there weren't as many damaged components as they had anticipated, and the final cost would be less than the original quote. I ended up paying less than $1000 for a job that I originally feared would cost over $2500.
My truck has been running great for 3,000 miles since the repair. It is great to find honest mechanics. They easily could have charged me another $400-$500 without me ever knowing the difference. They also left all the old broken/replaced parts in a box in the truck without me even asking for it. That is a sign of an honest mechanic - it proves they replaced the broken parts, and to allow you to see exactly what the damage was to the old ones if you care to take a look.
They are a full service shop that does traditional, non-transmission/differential work as well. I have never used them for traditional service, but I plan to the next time something comes up that I'm not able to take care of myself. read more
