2001 Pathy Transmission does not engage in DRIVE position

[binar]

Fellow Forum Members,
I have a rear wheel drive 2001 Pathfinder LE with 182,000 miles on it. For the last 4 months it has been experiencing a problem which is been getting worse. The problem is when I change the shifter to the DRIVE position the transmission does not engage. It behaves as though it was in NEUTRAL and not in DRIVE. My work around for right now is to move the shifter to position "1" and then the transmission engages. I then have to drive the car around for a block in first gear then pull to the side of the road and move the shifter to DRIVE. Only then does the transmission successfully engage to the DRIVE position.

I know I need my transmission worked on to fix this problem. However, my hope is forum members reading this post can educate me as to what a fair price is to fix this problem? Should I be paying somewhere in the $1,000 range? $2,000 range? Or the $3,000 range. From what I gather rebuilt transmissions for a 2001 Pathy are not available. So I need to go to a transmission shop that specializing in rebuilding the original transmission. Is going down this road economically smart? Or will I be better off just buying a 2004 Pathfinder with 100,000 miles on it for $4,000 and scrap the one with the transmission problem? Lastly, does the possiblity exist I only have a defective shifter that needs to be changed? Any opinions welcome.

[Rockwood]

Its been a while since you posted this - have you figured out your problem?