Dealer does not want to do Transmission Fluid change early?

I bought my '07 Tacoma Certified Used so it has the 100,000 mi. warranty. Now it has 75,000 mi on it and I want to have the ATF serviced but they say wait til it gets to 100,000 mi. They won't tell me why. I want to have it done now so that if the trans doesnt like the new fluid I'll still have warranty. I suspect this is also why THEY dont want to me to have it changed.

 

If you're paying for it, just tell them to get it done. Why wouldn't the trans not like the new fluid?

 

Who cares what they want? It's my truck, I'm writing the check. Get it done or I'll find someone who will.

 

I've heard lots of stories about changing/flushing ATF and then the transmission failing shortly after. ( not necessarily toyota's ) but I've heard that it happens.

 

It's usually from the flush not the actual fluid. A tech from an Acura dealership told me they don't do flushes on the MDX's any more, only drain and fill. Too much waranty work after the flush.

 

Hmmm.... I'm pretty sure my husband just had his transmission serviced & flushed a month ago on his MDX.

Sounds kinda 'fishy' to me. Sounds like someone doesn't want to be hassled with using the equipment.

 

Well now I have called 3 Toyota dealers in the metro area and 2 out of the 3 say the trans fluid on my truck generally does not need changing. and they don't recommend it unless it has been abused alot. They all said the WS fluid is super good.

 

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I like to keep my transmission serviced and talked to my dealer to and they do not want to touch the transmission. They also would not use a synthetic fluid and only wanted to use the OEM WS fluid.

I am a bit OCD on keeping all the lubricants fresh in the vehicles.

Honda Mowers are just now starting to recommend synthetic oil in their mowers ... this took them forever too.
.

 

You said you bought it used... you don't know if it has been abused or not

 

They are telling you to wait till 100k because Toyota advised an oil change at that point, but Toyota now recommends a change at 60k. If you do a lot of hauling and offroading, 50k would be better. But you're past that point, so take it in now and change.

I'm not sure why they care, they try to hassle people all the time to try to do unnecessary work all the time.

 

I agree with ya man. I don't understand the run around. I was really taken back when the 2 different dealers said it never needs to be done.

 

Yeah, it's weird. Just take it in and tell them to change it, if they say it's not time yet, tell them "I don't care, change it anyways, are you going to do it, or am I going to give someone else my money to do it?".

 

After hearing these stories about dealerships not wanting to touch the 2nd generation auto tranmissions it kinda makes you wonder if they even know how to service them.

 

its over due for a change now....toyota changed the interval to 60k.i drain and fill mine every 15k..........3.2 quarts

 

lol, you may have something there.

 

There is some truth to this. If you have a transmission that is starting to slip and fail, 9 times out of 10 flushing it will cause it to fail almost immediately. You are better off leaving the fluid as-is under those circumstances, as the transmission can last a while longer. If you reach that point, its not a matter of if, but when you get a new transmission.

My old 2005 Tacoma had a transmission that would slip every now and then. It had about 80K miles on it at the time. I had wanted to flush the tranny at 50K, but the dealership always gave me the same 100K BS line. I ended up trading the truck for my 2010 shortly there after, so I don't know what ever became of the tranny. I will tell you though, that my 2010 is getting it's tranny flushed at 50K.

 

I was thinking that every 20-25k sounds like a great time to flush the transmission in my truck since you'll avoid the whole problem of grungy oil in the transmission in the first place as its always being changed out and also avoid the "I cant flush my old oil out at 100k because the dirt and crap in the oil I left in there for 100k has destroyed my transmission and if I remove the grunge, it wont work anymore" problem...

Seems like a pretty simple and inexpensive insurance to me on my $30k investment, right?

 

I agree... but my technical sarcasm says the transmission is actually only a $2,500 investment