Blue01

Hi, Newbie here. I have a 2001 Legacy, 2.5 A/T with about 215,000 km on it. This past winter when the engine was cold, the transmission would hold in second longer than usual before going into third. As time went on, eventually the shift into third got a little longer and quite hard, with the shifts into fourth also quite hard. I did have the tranny fluid flushed at about 197,000 km. Before it got any worse, I parked the car for the summer, standard procedure as my transportation for the next 6 months is by motorcycle. Now I have to put the car on the road for a few weeks but would like to get this problem cleared up first. So I called a couple of A/T shops and got two different responses when I asked about having the tranny fluid changed. One said that the transmission filter was not accessible and to just have the fluid flushed. The other said that to access the filter, they just had to drop the pan, then change the fluid, but they would like to do a road test first. What are your thoughts on this problem, and on accessibility of the filter? Would changing the fluid correct the poor shifting? Thanks.