Need some help making a decision..

98 Chevorlet Lumina

170,000 Miles

TCC Solenoid Problems

Took it to a shop and the guy said 1,100-1,300 dollars to fix.. I have a buddy that works at a salvage yard that said he will sell and install a tranny to me for 650.. The tranny has already been rebuilt by GM and has about 40,000 miles.. We don't plan to keep the car more that about a year or so.. What should I do?

Unless you know the transmission man I would go with your buddy. A lot of shops don't do a good rebuild.

have you tried a tranny flush? what type of problem is it? what does the car do "just sticking"? I would try a few things before commiting to 1k+ repair. specially if you're keeping it for only another year.

Not sure on the exact error code, but it says slippage in the TCC. He told me that a complete over hall would be done and have to rebuild the valve body.. *i think anyways*.. yeah she may only be keeping the car another year or so..

do the seafoam transtune trick. if that doesnt cure it, i read on here somewhere that you can disconnect the tcc and run without it for a while. dont remember the exact thread but its on here somewhere.
seafoam transtune trick = drain a pint of tranny fluid out, replace with a pint of seafoam transtune. run normally for a couple days, then flush the tranny. be sure to clean or replace the filter in the process. if the tcc is just sticking, this will cure it. "it did for mine"...
I also experienced a gurgling surge "loss of power" every so often that turned out to be a faulty fuel filter. had that replaced and runs great now.
seafoam transtune runs about $7. flush is about $75 unless you elect to do it yourself "much cheaper". cost of a gasket and new tranny fluid...
luminas are known for the sticky tcc.

I would try the flush. If that doesn't work then go with the used tranny.