Need To Have My Transmission Fluid Changed

Fishing for chain/shop advice, price points, things to watch out for, et al.

An educated consumer is the best customer.

 

Stay away from Jiffy Lube. Any good mechanic can do this. If you've had your car long enough to have the tranny serviced, you should be taking it to a good independent shop. If you don't have one, ask your friends. The dealer can do this, but they'll have the car all day and charge you up the butt for the privilege.

 

I think EZ Lube charged me about $99 last time I had the auto tranny service there.

Haven't really had any problems (with that shop or with my truck -- of course, who does with late-'90s Japanese models?)

But yeah, stay away from Jiffy Lube. Don't know anyone who's had a good experience with them.

 

I drive my cars well past 100,000 miles and have never had to change my transmission fluid.

You probably don't need to either.

 

don't let anyone talk you into getting your transmission (or your engine for that matter) flushed.

 

Thanks.

Know well what Jiffy Lube is. Took the pledge and will never go back there again,
after multiple diseased experience, culminating a year or so, ago.

 

Bingo.

And don't get me started on Jiffy Lube. Treated me like I was even dumber than I am ... and weren't smart enough to adjust when they were sinking themselves.

 

Is this a euphemism?

 

I was just about to ask that.

 

tranny fluid and the pcv valve = two of the biggest things you will get conned into replacing

 

I disagree that changing the transmission fluid is a scam. Every owners manual recommends it at a certain interval. If you plan on driving the car for a long, long time, I'd get it done.

I worked at a Jiffy Lube for awhile [/ducking]. This was a dozen years ago, but we did tons of transmission flushes and I don't remember a lot of problems or complaints. But the price, like Jiffy Lube's price for everything, was not competitive with other chains. We also recommended people get it done every 30,000 miles, which was wrong -- always go by the owners manual.

At a Chevy dealership I worked at, we never flushed the transmission, we just dropped the pan and changed the filter. That only replaces some of the fluid, but usually costs folks a lot less than a flush.

 

And with all the talk about the "tranny," it was venturing into interesting ground.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.