Am I getting screwed?

I have this 2000 Neon Auto. It is having problems getting into gear at times, I put it in Drive but sometimes it doesnt go into first or it will act like its in nuetral. I brought it to a mechanic and he said one of the cylinders is bad and that was the problem. He was asking for 2k to try to fix it or 4.3k to replace the trans. I call BS cuz it sounds too fishy. I had a Ford Escort before and it was doing the same thing, it only costs under 200 to fix. They had to clean out some box with ballbearings inside that air went through. I forgot the exact name of it.

I plan on bringing it to a transmission specialist shop and get a second opinion. If it will cost me 2-3k I rather get a new car.

Does it really cost that much to replace a cylinder in the trans?


Kindred