Rick,

We bought "our" wagon a year and a half ago for my wife. We have since bought her a Taurus, so I drive the wagon. I LOVE this car. We paid 4k, the car had 200K miles, which in hindsight was a little too high considering its condition. We've had transmission trouble and a/c trouble. From experience I can tell you that when the tranny is ready to be replaced, bite the bullet and buy a factory rebuilt or better. Don't have a friend of a friend fix it. I do all the other work myself and have benefitted a great deal from the info on this site. My two cents: if the car is even in very good condition, the price seems reasonable. I drive mine 300 miles per week for my work commute and 2-4 times per year I take it on fishing trips, loaded with gear, lots of gravel and dirt roads. See my earlier post "Diesel Wagon Conquers Northern California".
Dave

__________________
Dave
1995 C280
1999 Triumph Daytona 955I - my speed fix.
1982 300TD - Gone, but not forgotten.