Just need some advice. A reputable local Trans. shop wants $1000 to drop the trans and fix leaks in a couple of places. Does this seem correct? And if not, does any one know a reputable trans shop in Northern NJ?
It depends on what is leaking. If the bushing is out of the torque converter, dropping the transaxle and putting in a new seal won't fix it and you'll be paying for unnecessary labor.
Axle seals and most else are accessible without dropping the transaxle, I think bare minimum you should get a 2nd opinion from another transmission place.
Sometimes the pin that holds the spider gears in place works itself lose and as it rotates the pins cuts a tear in the bellhousing causing it to leak. They could tack the bolt in place and weld up the bellhousing then replace all the gaskets and seals and it'd be good as new and you wouldn't have problems again.
Assuming you have 41TE - by the book, it takes ~6 hours of labor to remove the trans, change out the front pump seal and reinstall the trans back in the van... and ~12 hours to rebuild it (multiply the shop rate $/hr by time and add parts... ex: 6*$75/hr + $200 in parts = $650)
You need to know exactly what the quote is for.. (complete overhaul, specific problem fix etc..) then you can decide 1) is the diagnosis likely to cure the problem & 2) is it worth the $..
How much is it leaking and how many miles do you have on the transmission?
If the leak is small, e.g. 4 oz per month and the miles are high, e.g. 140K miles, I'd just wait. The transmission will likely fail at about 150K miles and a rebuilt costs about $2K.
To pay $1K to fix a leak would be a huge waste if you need a total rebuild soon.
How many hours of labour are they quoting or did they not provide a breakdown? I would be requesting a labor / material breakdow so you know what you are getting.