That's the point I've been trying to make. With 148,000 miles behind it and having already failed in the recent past due to grit loading, the thing isn't going to last long enough to justify the cost of refilling it with ATF, let alone risking that its last mile might just be wickedly expensive.

Knowhuddamean?

 

I'm with ya. When I was a young man with a family to support, I enrolled in the Fix It Cheap course offered by Adversity University, AKA School Of Hard Knocks, and graduated summa *** laude in just two years. The tuition for the accelerated coursework was outrageous. My Master's Thesis was entitled "The False Economy of Automotive Maintenance Frugality", and subtitled "Reality Doesn't Give A Damn What You're Hoping For".
AAAAAAA_MEN Brother.