I was just quoted $134 for a tranny fluid flush. I asked if they had the equipment to flush the fluid and if he was positive on the quote. He stated that he was positive. Can this be correct ? I was expecting it to be a bit more. In fact, the local Toyota dealer quoted me about $170 for the same service.

 

sounds like you are unsure of what you will get from the place with the lower quote. Unless you normally get your services done there, they do a good job and you trust them, I would suggest you go with Toyota/Lexus service. The extra $30+ dollars is worth the peace of mind for a small service like this since you won't be changing the tranny fluid again for a while. Over the next 15K, 30K, 60K, or 90K miles (depending on how often you change the fluid) the extra cost will not be that significant. I say pay more (if you can) and feel comfortable with the service.

You can also ask the service advisor is they can come down on the price for the dealership. I've done that for my GS and sometimes they give you a break.

 

Sorry, I neglected to mention that the quote was from a Lexus dealer which I have not yet visited.

Thanks for the response.

 

Bluesman, is this for the ES? I did the tranny flush on my '01 ES through Lexus about a month ago. Entire work costed $110 and a hour's wait. Funny thing was the local Toyota dealership quoted me $60 more than Lexus

One thing you have to keep in mind with this particular service work is that most of the time the dealership can only flush out the fluid from the engine/transmissions area, and not from the torque converter, due to the difficulty in completely draining the tranny fluid.

 

If you're inclined, the alternative would to be just to do it yourself--well, do a a drain and refill a couple of times. It's easier than doing an oil change, as you don't need to take out the filter. Each drain and fill process won't get all of the old fluid out, but do it about initially 4 times and you should be fine. I pretty much have changed the A/T fluid when I do an oil change (that was after 4 sequential drain and refills in one day (drain, refill, drive around 5 min--> repeat) to get a majority of the old fluid out). and I will only do it 1-2x a year.

Toyota ATF T-IV is anywhwer from $4-7, depending on where you buy it.

 

I am due for a tranny flush soon. I will keep your price quote in mind when I go to a Lexus place near me. Thanks for the info.

 

There are dozens, if not hundreds of posts on this subject, so do a search if you want to be more knowledgable on this issue.

Keep in mind there's the "drain all you can out of the drain plug" method, which only gets 2-3 quarts out, and the "hook up feed and drain hoses to the radiator lines and exchange ALL the fluid" method.

It is not always clear what method you are talking about when words such as "exchange", "change", and "flush" are used, as the posts above indicate.

 

I called my local Lexus dealer and they told me NOT to do a "power flush" (where you let the car run and drain/fill at the same time). Reason is that our cars have a really good filter that contains all the metal flakes. When you do a flush, it stirs up the pieces and causes more hurt than good. Bes5t thing to do is just drain and fill ($70 from my local Lexus). I didit myself, easier than changing the oil. Here's the process, jack up the car, undo the 17mm bolt on very center bottom of tranny (looks like a regular oil pan and plug). Let all the fluid drain for a while (I even lowered the car and raised it back up to slosh out any unwanted ATF). Re-insert the drain plug. Use a funnel to fill up the tranny fluid from the dipstick (orange one). Use about 1.5-2qts of TOYOTA TYPE I-V ATF ONLY!!! Put in a little at a time and check your dipstick, it's easy to overfill. The end (15 minute process). Do it when the cars hot and fill between to 2 hot marks on the dipstick.

 

Well, again, a good reason to take the time to do a search is the benefit of the experience of dozens of others, and not just one dealer service advisor who probably does not even have a power flush machine, so of course he is not gonna recommend you have such a procedure performed.

A properly adjusted "power flush" machine will only pump new ATF fluid into the tranny at the same rate that the existing AT pump feeds the radiator intake tube, so there is no "turbulence" introduced. Even if there was, there's minimal debris to "stir up"- most Lexus owners that have dropped the pan and examined the screen filter see only trace amounts of metal flakes, which is normal.

FYI- not all Lexus cars take Type IV ATF. The early SC300's, for example, use Dextron III.

 

Perry has a good point: If your car uses DII or DIII (Dexron type) A/T fluid, you MUST stick with it. Else, your car uses Toyota T-IV in it instead. See the PDF for info.

 

Yes, this is for the ES. I was quoted a bit higher for this service from the Toyota dealer as well (which is baffling to me). I prefer to flush it out as opposed to the drain/fill method this time around. I want to monitor the ATF as I have concern for my tranny. It's starting to shade more towards black than red. Hence, I'd rather remove and replace as much as possible. I've inquired with two Lexus dealers regarding this service. One dealership (which does not have the equipment to flush the ATF) recommended that I do not have this service done. The service rep stated that this is a potentially dangerous procedure. The other dealer has the equipment and quoted me as stated above. I've done research and I have shopped around. I was just a bit taken back that Lexus quoted a decent percentage lower price than Toyota. Finally, I'd like to add that I've decided to have Lexus perform the service before even receiving a quote. I asked the service rep at Toyota what ATF they would use. He stated Toyota Type IV. This is NOT the fluid to use on a 94 ES. Honestly, the flush service has me nervous, but I feel that I should go through with it.

 

Isn't it strange and unusual how 2 Lexus dealerships have differing views on the transmission fluid service? You'd think all Lexus dealerships think the same And yes, I agree that you should go with the service, especially if you haven't got the fluid changed in a long while. Most people change the tranny fluid at least every 30K.

 

I had the ATF flushed this weekend at the Toyota dealer. I went to the Lexus dealer to confirm the $134 price quote for my Saturday scheduled visit. You can say that I never trusted the quote. Despite the claims of the service man over the phone that this was for a tranny fluid flush, it was not the case. The quote was for a drain and fill. They did not even have the equipment to flush the ATF. They offered to manually flush the ATF for $230. No thanks. I canceled the appointment and went to the Toyota dealer to take them up on a $170 quote that I had received previously. They still had their $125 tranny flush special posted on the wall. The previous service rep told me the $125 special only applied to Toyota's and that my ES300 would cost $170. I inquired with a different rep when I went back to the dealer and he said that they would indeed do the service for my car for $125 and in fact, they did. Amazingly, every person I spoke to gave me a different claim\quote in this ordeal.

 

Bluesman -

Good for you.... sticking up for yourself. You got what you wanted at a very reasonable price. You have to wonder why it should cost $170 for your car when they will basically be doing the same to a Toyota for $125.

I guess there's a premium price for driving a Lexus.

Pete

 

On my GS, the owners manual and the transmission dip stick, say the fluid NEVER needs changing. My Lexus dealer wants to take out about 4 quarts or so every 15000 miles and replace the fluid.

Having pointing that out, at about 30000, I had a complete change, at Lexus. I'll not think of it again.