Fraud at the dealer on transmission service

key phrase: 'they don't care'. neither foes the ag or consumer affairs. and there aren't enough prius to get a newspaper or tv station involved.
they aren't all doing the same thing, but most are doing one of the 4 poll choices.
i think it's more about ignorance than fraud. although, one suspects anything going on in a dealership is some type of fraud.

 

Having worked in the past for Toyota I know that service underwriters, at least at many Toyota dealerships, get commission on the services they write up. This is truly unfortunate. :-(

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

I think the debates with service writers stem from Toyota's policy that the Prius transaxle fluid never needs a fluid change. The dealerships more typically are changing transmission fluid on a variety of other Toyota models, which perhaps have more involved/complex fluid change procedure, and the service writer, in an attempt to appear knowledgeable, falls back on what he/she does know about those transmissions.

Funny thing, if they'd care to look, the very simple drain/fill procedure is in the Repair Manual (see attachment)

I can't respond to the survey as it's formatted, since I've only done my own transaxle fluid changes. Maybe add a choice for that?

 

I think it's pretty common knowledge that most (all?) service advisors work on commission. The mechanics have some kind of strange setup going too, regarding "billable labor hours" but I'm not sure how it works. One internet blog written by a former dealer manager, said the service writer and the mechanics are in kahoots together, and write up the work order in such a way that both share in the commission? Wish I could find that article again.

I always opt for the simple drain & refill. Usually $80 or $90. The supposedly "flush" is about $180 or so. I tried that one time with an older car, but never again. I don't think they actually flushed anything. They just drained it. With my 2016 Prius, I am only going to do the service which is specified in the owners manual/maintenance schedule. Pretty much just oil changes, tire rotations, and put in clean filters. (The only difference is, I change the oil sooner than 10,000 miles.) One of the main selling points for the Prius, is that it is a "low maintenance" vehicle. I intend to keep it that way as much as possible.

 

One Toyota of Oakland tried the same thing with me. I think they wanted over $300.

 

So dumbing this down......

Service writer will say, "you need a flush"

We should say, "no thank you, please just drain and fill."

Is that about right?

 

No, it's more like this:
Service writer says: "You need a flush"
You say, "It's impossible to flush the
Prius transaxle. It can only be drained and refilled."
Service writer says, "Wrong, we have to attach a machine to the transmission lines to flush the fluid out of the torque converter."
You say, "The Prius doesn't have transmission lines nor a torque converter."
Service writer says, "You're misinformed."
You say, "You're trying to cheat me. Here's my middle finger. Good bye."

 

At Holman Toyota I asked for a tranny drain & fill. While waiting for the car the Service Advisor(?) visited to point out the tranny fluid is lifetime. I told him that I understood and that I wanted it changed anyway. I don't remember what I paid for the service.

 

As far as I know, flushing an automatic is just repetive drain-and-fill, say three of them. Or, it can be just that.

That can be done to the Prius transaxle, but really should be reserved for instances when you want to dispel contamination, say you accidentaly poured motor oil in. Full disclosure: I've done that with a previous car, poured in maybe 4 oz of motor oil before I woke up. I then bought enough fluid for three drain-and-fills, did a drive around the block after each one.

If you have the wherewithal, DIY is the THE way to go. If the service writers are that dense, the mechanics are likely unfamiliar as well, and may well screw something up, say use the wrong fluid for example.

 

It could be, but there are transmissions with torque converters and transmission coolers and fluid lines, and the preferred method is to flush new fluid through until it's clear, although repetitive drain/fills could come close.

 

If you DIY, you basically just do a "drain and fill." It's good enough.

 

Yes, unlike a conventional automatic, about 90% drains. Even with with a conventional automatic, where you're maybe draining 60% (at the most), I'd still only do a single drain and fill, albeit a bit more frequently.

 

I'm no expert, but I'd just do a single drain and fill as well. I've been in the automotive sector for about 30 years. I do almost all of my own service. After that many years seeing first hand how shops operate I'm just not inclined to trust them. There are honest and well run shops out there, like I always tried to run, but it's hard to tell them apart without standing over them. As far the transmission service goes, if they wanted to get more fluid out they would they would have designed it differently. A flush is not needed. Do you flush your oil when you change it? I normally use the lines on my cars that have automatic transmissions on them to change my fluid. I disconnect the lines from the radiator and run 1 gallon of fluid out into a jug by adding a piece of clear tubing to the outlet. I connect a funnel to the inlet line with the same type of tubing and dump the new fluid in as the old fluid runs out. When the gallon is out and the gallon is in, I shut the car off and I reconnect the lines and roll. I leave the new fluid outside in the car overnight and have the engine cold when I do this so they should not have a volume differential based upon temp, but a gallon is a gallon. This is normally a two person process by the way. Its hard to start and stop the car and dump fluid at the same time. FWIW, I hate removing the transmission pan, I just don't think the possible issues justify the rewards. They are the most likely place for a leak, and the pans have a tendency to warp or bend when prying them off or reinstalling them. I also kind of feel that if there are pieces big enough in there that they are going to block the filter or pickup tube, your probably to late to save anything anyway. I'm not sure about doing the transmission service on the Prius yet, I'm new to this vehicle. I'll try and give feedback after I do it. I plan on doing it soon, it's got 84000 miles on it.

 

Howdy, first post on this forum. And yes, I know this thread is old. That being said, I'm a vet of SET (Southeast Toyota) and being a ASE and Toyota Cert Tech, the dealer I was at dubbed it "Hybrid Transaxle Service. Its nothing more that 2 Allen bolts, for the fill and drain. We simply loosened the top (fill) plug for ventilation and removed the bottom (drain) bolt. Of all that I did in my time (50+) the fluid never came out dirty/blackened. To replace it, I used a oversized turkey baster and filled through the top plug until it overran. It's a 30 minute job at best, even on jackstands. Is the job totally needed, ehhh, but it's a piece of mind to owners that every thing is fresh and new, but is it worth $200+ at a shop, not at all.

 

$80~90 would be reasonable.

(Done my own 3 times now. Apart from the first time really could have stretched the interval more.)

 

Thanks for the info, HybridDad. I'll just do mine that way. Heck, I don't even know if the prius even has cooler lines. I'm going to go ahead and do it this weekend while I do my first oil change and tire rotation on it. I appreciate the info from someone who works or worked at a dealer. Thank you.

 

The Prius transmission (transaxle) has no torque converter or coolant lines. You CAN'T flush it. That's why a dealer who wants $350 to flush a Prius transmission is defrauding their customers.

There are cars with torque converters and transmission coolant lines. Prius isn't one of them.

 

I recently changed the eCVT fluid in our Prius myself. Car had just under 50,000 miles.
Not a big deal at all. Just like a manual trans fluid change.
I sampled the fluid and had an analysis done.
Report shows normal "wear metals" present... nothing of concern.
It could have run longer but from what I understand this fluid is in contact with the electric motors so I wanted to ensure clean fluid.
I run my cars a long time and oil changes are cheap; transmissions are not.

 

Guess I'm lucky Daytona Toyota told me it's drain and fill sorta like a manual transmission car she said Charge was $65