My car shifts very rough when starting out fast, once it's beyond the first shift or when gently driven it has no problem. Can I drive it in drive position 3 all the time to avoid this and avoid a costly repair that's more than the value of the car.

What is your question?

The car clunks very rapidly when accelerating hard from a stop. When gently accelerating there is no problem. The Buick dealer says it's over $3000 to repair . The car runs well other than there is a gas smelll that the dealer says is a gas regulator. $268 to repair. I'm trying to just get this car to keep running for local trips, only 27000 miles on it since it's parked for 9 months of the year. It's my winter Florida car

What makes this problem better or worse?

Worse when engine and trans are warm

How long has your 1997 Buick Park Avenue had this problem?

A couple of years