They got back to me again, and spoke to the tech. Once again, no details given. He stated that the only way to actually determine what is wrong with the transmission, is to take it apart. At that point, he would only do a rebuild, and would determine what is actually bad, so it would be less than $11k, but that is the figure he gives to start with.
I still feel it is inflated, and I am nowhere past where the dealer was with respect to actual diagnostics. I've checked around, and everywhere is priced ridiculously, or don't know this transmission well enough to even want to service it.
I have no good options now. Some advice or help would be great.
1. Pay $4k each way to have my truck shipped and have
@NickTransmissions take a stab at it. Be without my truck for a very long time. $8k + parts.
2. Pay $2300 for VB, $2700 for TC if that doesn't work, and still might not fix the issue. This is the dealer.
3. Pay $11k for transmission rebuild. 3rd party.
4. Pay $12k for a new, factory transmission. Dealer.
The sad thing is that the most attractive option is to throw a valve body at it and see if it fixes the problem. $450 (after core return), fluid and a new filter.