Hi, here is the story in a nutshell...

My wife and I buy a 97 855 T5 after having it checked by my mechanic (independant Volvo/BMW). We have the rear main seal replaced, timing belt changed, and ATF fluid flushed/changed by the dealer (who quoted me a lower price than my indie mechanic-also thought it would be good to have the dealer check it out, look at prior history, recalls, etc). 13 miles and 2 days after the dealer touched it, the car loses power up a hill, starts to shudder, and limps in to my wifes parking lot-she also has a really hard time getting into reverse. Convinced that the dealer tech left his socket set in the trans, I have the Volvo towed to Volvo, where they find black ATF with metal shavings. Nice. So I get the, "You need a new tranny-$2500 yahdah yahdah yahdah". What to do? Is it a horrible and unfortunate coincidence that this happened after getting it serviced (and paying $700 labor for the rear main)? How could this have been prevented-my mechanic suggested the fluid be flushed because it was dirty, but it drove fine.

I got it for way under blue book $9400 (now I know why?) and it still is a really sweet wagon with 87000 miles, but the thought of spending this much more cash is freaking me out. I also need a new cat converter for $1100-no aftermarket cats allowed in California on OBDII cars. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks for listening-I feel better already.