replacement transmission question...

There's a 2007 Lucerne a couple of hours away that looks really nice except the seller is claiming it needs a transmission.  Can anyone give me a ballpark idea of how much a new/rebuilt plus installation would cost...?

I would call a local shop, prices are everywhere. 

In reply to stroker :

Do you recognize the shop in the pictures?  If you can recognize the shop, I would call that shop and see what they will tell you about the quote they gave the seller.  Or, ask the seller what quote the shop gave to him.  

All done, this is probably a $5k car.  My guess is you'll have $2k into getting the trans fixed.  Buy for $2k and add $2k = $4k which is less than $5k.  But, I'd try to buy it for less than $2k.  

Another side note...These Buicks came with either a V6, 3800 or a V8 Northstar.  Visually, the V8 got 4 port holes per side (total of 8) and the V6 got 3 per side.  This car only has 3 per side so 3800.  That's good.  Its a better engine than the Northstar.  

The FB ad has the car listed as Ballwin, MO but the car wears IL plates.  I wonder if this IL car broke down in MO and is sitting at the MO repair shop.  If so, the shop is not going to take kindly to this non-runner sitting there.  This may really motivate the seller to offload the car cheap. 

4t65e..... easy 2500$ for a trans rebuild and r&r.

But really I'd like to see chief complaint, some dtc's, and live data before pulling money for a rebuild.

I used to run a chain of trans repair shops many years ago (early 2000s).  Back then, you wouldn't get out of my shop for less than 2500 legit dollars.  I used to quote jobs one of two ways.  If I had an hourly tech, I would do parts cost times about 10.  If I had a flag-hour tech, I would do a more complicated calculation of my cost for parts/labor being no more than 50% of the total invoice.  That 50% number was the basic ceiling of being able to pay rent, payroll, insurance, etc.

The Lucerne labor times are a bit nebulous because it wasn't a popular vehicle, so it's hard to google it, but let's say it's a 7 hour job to R&R, so there's $900.  Let's say it's a $1000 rebuild.  $1900 bare minimum.

There is also a misconception about transmission rebuilds.  A rebuild is taking it apart, replacing the clutches, and putting it back together, but there are thousands of parts.  If they tear it apart and find that you also have a cracked input drum, a bad planet set, a galled valve body, and a bad pump, all bets are off the table.  That was the worst part of my job... telling people that I can do a rebuild for $2186.54 but adding all the caveats.... if, but, maybe.  

Then there's the question of why it failed.  Is the PCM fried?  Did the solenoids fail?  Is the case cracked from a collision?  Did the cooling circuit get clogged meaning that your new rebuild will self-destruct after 500 miles?  Can you extrapolate why I'm no longer in transmission repair?

The good news is that it's a pretty common transmission.  I would find a low-mileage used 4T65E from some compatible car that was t-boned at a local junkyard.  Then you're buying a used transmission for $500-750 with a (potentially) 30-day warranty and you can pay a shop to install it for $800 (or whatever)