my dads 97 continental he says is starting to shift worse. When you get just about to stop sometimes it drops into 1st. Also he says when letting off the gas it seems to kind of clunk or drop into the next gear. It has around 70k on it and I told him to get the tranny fluid changed. He said oh that might make it worse. Is that only on the old pan drop style or anyplace that does a cleaning flush before the exchange, or not at all?

I would get that tranny fluid changed ASAP. The worse that fluid gets the more damage it can cause. See if it still happens after the change.

Thats what I'm gonna do. Our dealer quoted 170 for a tranny change monroe like around 70. I'm kinda worried that the cheaper isn't mercon V so I think i'm gonna buy some amsoil universal and take it and have them use that at a local quick change that uses the t-tech machine and seems to be a descent place. Plus I can watch and make sure they use the right stuff.