Shifting Problem – Gets Stuck in Gear Sometimes

I am posting this here for Amber who submitted it to the comment section.

Any recommendations on finding a good shop in MN, south of the Twin Cities? I had to, not wanted to, had to trade in my 2007 Honda, manual for an automatic due to a left knee injury (shifting kinda killed it). The only car I could afford at the time was a 2006 Kia Sorento (I believe that’s the model) with more miles than I would have liked. Due to the mileage there was no warranty. No one could tell me if the timing belt had ever been done and the transmission fluid didn’t look like it had been done.

After experiencing some shifting problems I got the transmission fluid flushed and did the timing belt at the same time and that seemed to work, but then it went back to having shifting problems. It doesn’t always happen, but at times it doesn’t want to shift to the next gear when it should and the car doesn’t accelerate as fast as it should. It did get stuck in a gear at one point but that was before I got the transmission fluid done. I’ve been to two different shops and like them both, the one I got the transmission fluid done at quoted me higher than they actually charged but even their quote was lower than the other shop.

I know they’d have to find the problem before they could fix it, if they could fix it without a replacement, but how do I figure out which one will charge less once they find the problem? I can’t have both shops look at it to get a quote and I’m pretty much broke right now, which is why I had to go with this car instead of one with less miles that was more expensive. And I can’t afford a new car at this time or I’d just do that. Any help?