Hi,

I took my 1980 vanagon pop-top to get smog checked and I get a call
back the next day saying that there was something wrong with my emergency
brake and that the transmission was "stuck between gears". When I
told them I had just had the rear breaks replaced they said "oh, we'll
get our buddy over here who works on these cars and get back to you".

After a couple of days I get a call and they say that the transmission
needs to be re-built for $650! I asked the mechanic if anyone had driven 
the car with the emergency break on or mis-handled it because there wasn't 
any indication of a problem before. He hemmed and hawed something about
the gear indicator on the stick being off, but I have to talk to the
owner of the shop.

Do these transmissions normally just go without indication? Are they
that fragile that a little mis-treatment would bust them, or is likely
it was about ready to go anyways. Is $650 reasonable? I don't have the
time or inclination to do it myself.

Thanx in advance for any advice,
Brian L.