Auto Transmission Flush - Fair Price?

[hikeril]

I own a 2004 currently with 58K miles and after extensive research I have decided to flush the transmission. I received a coupon in the mail from my dealer showing a flush for $145. Is this a fair price? The postcard reads as follows.

Service Includes:

*Evacuate the contaminated fluid from entire system
*Removes debris and varnish deposits
*Add fluid supplement to resist breakdown
*Replace with new fluid

If this price seems high do you have any recommendations? I am willing to do some items myself but this is not one of them. Is it highly recommended the flush be done by a toyota dealer? Any thoughts on oil change companies who offer services such as a flush?

 

[CJ3Flyr]

I own a 2004 currently with 58K miles and after extensive research I have decided to flush the transmission. I received a coupon in the mail from my dealer showing a flush for $145. Is this a fair price? The postcard reads as follows.

Service Includes:

*Evacuate the contaminated fluid from entire system
*Removes debris and varnish deposits
*Add fluid supplement to resist breakdown
*Replace with new fluid

If this price seems high do you have any recommendations? I am willing to do some items myself but this is not one of them. Is it highly recommended the flush be done by a toyota dealer? Any thoughts on oil change companies who offer services such as a flush?

That price sounds reasonable. I always recommend fluid changes. At this age flushing should be good. Some have had bad experiences flushing; most of the time it turns out to be a high mileage, rode hard and never maintained trans. In other words it was going to have issues anyways.

Confirm they will do the service with the proper type IV fluid for that price.

If that's a more generic offer they may not include the semi-specialized fluid in that price. Read the fine print on the coupon and/or give a call.

I would hate for them to do it then tell you it's coupon price plus a surcharge; I so distrust dealers and my money...

:cheers:

 

[redninjazx11]

my toy dealer wants 168 with coupon. so I say you have a better deal.

 

[nc211]

....or you could just spend $50 bucks, buy a case of Type IV from the dealer, and do 3 or 4 "drain n' fills" yourself. It's probably one of the easiest things to do on a Toyota. Just confirm how much fluid comes out of the pan, and how much to put in. Just call a toyota shop and ask. Again, using my experiences on my old 95 LS, it was two quarts out, two quarts in. After three or four drain n' fills over a few hundred miles, the fluid was cherry red again and I never had a problem with the transmission. It shifted beautifully and performed beautifully all the way to the 132k miles of when I sold it in 2007. I've always been somewhat cautious of "flushing" a transmission, simply due to putting force through a system of gates, solenoids, and filter(s). I've always felt it's safer to let the forces of the transmission itself clean out the gunk with the added new fluids. But if you want to "flush" the system, then I'd suggest having the pan dropped and filter replaced. Otherwise, it just seems like a waste of money "in comparison to drain'n'fill". I've seen the results of a flush, where they say "the flush will clean the pan and filter". On the ones I've seen, it didn't clean either one, at all. Pan still had lots of crud build-up and the filter was "somewhat" clean, but not very.

 

[mochoajr]

I just had mine done for $154 before tax at a dealer.

Marco

 

[redninjazx11]

Has anyone considered the not changing the trans fluid under normal driving conditions? The label on the trans dipstick indicates this procedure doesn't have to be performed. I don't feel this is correct, does anyone else feel this label is wrong?