Should I change the transmission fluid at 25K/3 years of ownership, or not?

I asked for the "Transmission fluid change" today at Advantage Toyota LI New York and was quoted 216+tax so I said no ..

then at the end of service the service person not the mechanic told me that it shouldn't be done early because that could destroy the tramission... she gave me an example that someone did that there and the trasmission seized up... when I said that there are different views on this she kept saying no you shouldn't do it and she is advising me for my benefit ... and then I just realized at home they did NOT smart rotate the TIRES (it was not on the inspection sheet so I asked and I was assured (without even asking the mech it was done) I have a visible repair on one of the tire I was looking for that I did not see on the front so I figured OK it is now on the back and left ... at home when the tire was in a different rotation BUM the repair is still on the front (I was pissed called back and they agreed to do it over in front of me ... )

so any one can tell me how much this transaxel fluid change should reasonable cost in the New York Area ???


thanks

 

^^^
Bizarro. I don't live in NY, but a change should cost ~$100 at a dealer. I posted my price at Changing Transaxle oil | Page 11 | PriusChat.

Your story is bizarre but it isn't the first time we've heard of dealers discouraging people from changing the PSD fluid, for some odd reason. I think I should've changed mine much earlier, changing by the UOA I've seen on PSD fluid more recently.

 

Before I bring my Prius in for the complementary service, I mark my tires. At one service I watched the monkeys rotate the tires one the side of the car facing me. I got distracted and did not see them rotate the tires not facing me. When I leave the service dept I always check the service performed like making sure they put oil back in the car. When I returned home I noticed that they did not rotate the tires on the right side of the car (the side not facing me in the service waiting room). I called the service manager immediately and he denied that his monkeys would only rotate the tires one one side but he would ask them anyway. When he got back on the phone he said that his monkeys did only rotate 2 tires because the other 2 did not need it. Needless to say I no longer take my Prius to Toyota for ANY maintenance...complementary or not.
As far as trans fluid change, with 32,000 miles I checked the fluid as per the instructions given by this forum. The fluid was pink and clean. I will check it again at 60,000 miles. If it needs changing at that time I will do it myself. I realize that you may not have the means or the desire to perform your own maintenance. Try to find a mechanic who you can trust for your Prius maintenance. Most of the routine maintenance on your Prius is the same as any other non-hybrid Toyota so any mechanic can perform it. Just be aware of the type of fluids it requires.

 

The labour's about the same as an oil change. The fluid is a bit more expensive. There's no oil filter cartridge to be changed. Since it's a relatively rare service, the price will tend to be higher, I'd think.

Maybe around $100?

 

I do have the desire to do this, but I only have a drive way I can not raise the car or have a ramp nothing. If I had a friend with a garage with lifting equipment I would do ALL this myself ... but now I will INSIST that it is done in front of me ....

May I ask HOW you find a mechanic to trust ???? they all work for these so called service centers ....

 

Word of mouth referral from someone you know is best.
Shop likely won't be shiny and new and next to the mall.
I use a hole in the wall shop in a marginal neighborhood that has been there for decades.
Not cheap, but I don't feel I need a pregnancy test when I leave.

Did my own ATF change.
I use ramps on my driveway. I have 2 different slopes in the drive, and use the change of slope point to set the ramp position for level.

 

At 32K it may look pink & clean on your finger but your not able to look at or clean the magnet. That's on the dump bolt. That's where all the debris resides especially the break in wear. Plus it won't look so pink & clean when you dump it in a bucket. All the heavier metal wear in solution settles to the bottom of the fluid after it has sat a while.

 

There are rare instances where tire wear patterns would suggest not rotating, but if they came across something unusual, I think they should have contacted you first for authorization, and documented the reason on the repair order.

This reminds me of a gentleman that came in for an oil change and tire rotation. After paying for the service, he says that the tires weren't rotated and demands to speak to the manager. The manager sends the car back into the shop, the tech insists that he rotated the tires, but rotates them again. The car is brought to the customer, who again states that the tires weren't rotated, he can tell because he marked them. The manager says he watched the tech rotate the tires, then asks the customer to show him the marks. The customer had marked the wheel covers. The manager explained that the wheel covers are removed when the tires are rotated, and do not follow the tires.

 

If the pattern of wear would suggest not rotating, I would accept that. Why would they only rotate the tires on one side of the car from front to back? If the tires are only worn on one side of the car, wouldn't they rotate them with the other side? The point is that it is incompetence at the dealership service dept. We take for granted the the work we are paying for is being performed. Sometimes it is, but sometimes it's not.

 

I changed the fluid at around 16,500mi. and it came out a dark magenta color.

 

Modern tires are rotated front to back. They do not switch sides. Alot of newer tires are even directional.
And to the other poster: if you can't even trust the dealer to rotate the tires so you mark them your having your car serviced at the wrong place.

 

He was complaining about the dealer having rotating on only one side of the car, not that the rotation was front to back. Of course, you have a pretty good point about needing to look for another service provider if you feel you have to mark your tires before going in!

 

I understand what he said and my point was they never swap sides.

 

I'm totally gonna get flamed for this... I am actually a service writer at a toyota dealer in pittsburgh and I own a prius. First. Changing the trans fluid early in these vehicles will not hurt them. Where most dealers make their mistake is when they try and use a machine to flush these transmissions and contaminate them with risidual dexron fluid or other type of fluid that may be in the machine. Second, WS fluid under goes a chemical reaction when introduced to oxygen and will turn a burgandy color after just a few days sitting out in an open container. This is not an indication of wear. To truly get an indication of wear I would recommend sending out to one of those oil analysis places. Third, these prius transmissions are pretty damned robust. Since I've been working here I honestly haven't seen one replaced. A couple hybrid batteries, an inverter or two, but not a transmission. Fourth, if you hear a dealer say "They have to get the transmission up to temperature using the scan tool and thats why its costs $90-$100 in labor or about 1 hr" this is semi true. A good technician will use the scan tool to moniter internal temperature of the transmission before he drains it. This will insure the fluid is flowly freely and will drain more dirty fluid and contaminates out and protects himself by seeing if their is a problem with the transmission before the maintenance is performed. I would personally recommend taking to a dealer or a HIGHLY competent mechanic to have this procedure done. This procedure shouldn't cost you more than $150 in total cost between technician labor and fluids. Anything more than 3-4 qts of fluid billed out on your order I would definately question.

 

First thanks for the inside ... very helpful ....

Can you elaborate on "get it to up to temperature means ??? runnig/driving/hook up to heater ???" and can some other work done during this 1 hour ??? I mean if you oil change tire rotation you already charged for raising the car etc ..

So at your estimation this should "add" 1 hour labor or would be 1 hour job in isolation ?? Big difference .... but someone commented that the labor more or less equivalent to an oil change.

Just curious each job charged separately ??? that makes no sense only if you milking the users...

OK so I am glad I said no for the 215+tax line item addition to the rest of the stuff they did ...

Also just since you are working for Toyota (whatever dealership) ... because of their error I got to inspection within days and guess what break lining was measured

on Saturday
LF 6 RF 6 LR 5 RF 5

on following Thursday
LF 9 RF 9 LR 9 RF 9

OK looks like both is passing "grade" with 40k on the car

but please this is substantial difference .. which one to believe ?? break pad grew 35-45%

Boy I will NEVER ever pre-pay for service again I am stuck with them since I payed already

I even doubt they did the oil change correctly ... my mpg went down (SG) 6-8 mpg over the same route same driver ... I suspect overfill hopefully the oil is right ...

 

Who says changing the fluid early will hurt the trans?

Oh no...your kidding really?....now your telling people the tech actually monitors trans fluid temp with a scan tool before he dumps the fluid which is just not true on the Prius. Please stop. You like so many other people are confusing the Prius with the Tundra truck auto which has temp senstive fluid replacement. There's enough stupid misinformation about the trans on this site.

You do not need to be HIGHLY competent or a dealer to change the fluid. It has a fill bolt and a dump bolt with a magnet on it. Clean the magnet. Its a manual gearbox. Dump the fluid and fill it back up till it dribbles back out the fill hole. Thats about it. If you think more will dribble out if its warmed up great. It doesn't. Its SAE 10 visc and is extremely thin to begin with. I've done mine twice in my driveway.

 

Per the owners manual: About every 30K mi the recommended service for the CVT is "Inspect transmission fluid".
As far as my dealer service rep and I can see no other service is recommended. This unit is not a conventional transmission. If it is not broken don't try to fix it!

 

No question about it. The manual isn't suggesting a change, unless the inspection produces a reason to change the fluid. The question here is more along the lines of this: "Is there any problem changing the fluid as part of regular maintenance?" On one hand, I think this is much more along the lines of changing your oil or oil and filter at 5,000 miles vs. 10,000 miles. On the other hand, I think it also is a question of when you change the fluid, not if. Supposing you aren't going to keep your car long term, then you may want to save $100 and let the next owner worry about it. If you are planning to keep your Prius for 100,000+ miles, then I think you may as well change sooner than 100,000 miles and enjoy longer transaxle life.

Correct. It is no where close to a conventional transmission. It also is much more expensive a proposition to replace or service than a conventional transmission, and I'm much more inclined to be more protective of it. I changed the fluid at 60,000, and it was very clear with only a slight darkening. I didn't need to change it, but when the hybrid tech said "It isn't recommended for change, but if it were my car I'd change every 50,000 or 60,000," I felt it wasn't a bad way to spend $100. (Even if the service writer wasn't interested in having me order the service.)

 

Well, we have 85,000 miles on our Prius. I plan on changing the transmission fluid
when I change my spark plugs.

 

100K?