1995 900s AUTO TRANS FAILURE

[GREYCLOUD]

hi
new to this forum
1995 saab 900s vert. 150K miles. Auto fluid changed 3 months ago. Serviced 1 week ago. I watched the mechanic check auto trans fluid. Nice and pink and fluid level correct. No issues with finding gears, reverse , whining or rough gear changes. In fact 6 months ago , my mechanic said the Engine and Transmission were faultless.
Last weekend I am driving around very hilly coast town and 'check gearbox ' light comes on. Make it home ( about 2 miles in Limp Mode.). I check transmission fuse, no problem. I had a 'check gearbox' message 6 months ago and it appeared to be the fuse. O.K.
The next day after an hour on the freeway I loose all gears , nothing, no power to the transmission. I pull over on the verge , select every gear, and nothing..a few minutes later I restart the car and I drive about 200 hundred yards and stop. I ring my Mechanic, he says ' could be anything". As I am about 80 miles out of town , I make it to a unknown Saab mechanic . This trip involves drivng for a few minutes then the transmission fails. I do this about 8 times and make it to the mechanic, who puts the car on tech tool , and the reading is 'transmission mechanical failure". Subsequently a few days later the mechanic said he has driven the car from a cold start - the transmission engages , drives as normal then fails.
I have been driving auto boxes for 35 years. I was surprised that there was no warning, no difficulty with reverse, no slippage , no noisy or clunky gears shifts. I was really surprised that I was stranded on a busy freeway not able to move at all. Very unsafe. I have spoken to 3 saab mechanics, they all say this can happen. They all say its hard to find low mileage 2nd hand boxes, so it looks like I am going to spend $2K on a box with 110K miles on it. ( I also shopped around and couldn't find a lower mileage box.) OR , $3500 on a rebuild.

I am just wondering if anyone has experience in this tranny area. I don't really care if I get a 2nd hand box or not , but, is mechanical failure the problem, when the car can be driven for a short distance when cold?
Any thoughts are welcome.
I have to make a decision Monday morning ( Australia time)
cheers

[christian900se]

There is no way you should be spending anywhere near $2k for a used box with that many miles. I'd try to shop around a bit more and see if you can find another trans for less money, I'm sure they are out there.