I just had the same thing happen to my wife's 1991 300TE. We were only a couple of miles from home, but since I couldn't decide which side of the road to drive on when you're going in reverse, we just coasted into a parking lot and had them pick it up there. They replaced the band, the piston, and some of the clutch discs. The total came to $1900 US. The only prior indication that something might be amiss was a couple of days before my wife said the car would not back up when she put it it reverse. The next day when I went out to try it, it worked fine. My question is could anything have been done to prevent it and can I expect this sort of deal in the future?