coolant $140
Power steering $130
Trans $200

Are these prices in the ball park? My car is currently at 42k miles. How urgent do I need these changes?

 

Do those prices come with a tube of Astroglide? Ouch. Trans is the only one I would buy into.

 

sounds fair to me

 

paid 120 for my auto tras fluid replacement on my 03 maxima a few months ago. Not sure what the differences are between auto and manual or from maxima to tl however.

 

I don't think you need a coolant change, and a power steering should be changed when its dirty. As far as the transmission, I paid 79.99 for a drain and refill of 3 qts.

 

I'd only pay that price if the mechanic was a hot chick who wanted "my fluid" in exchange

 

is this with a machine or manually?

 

Way too much. Take it to Honda for the tranny fluid exchange. $70-$100 tops. Radiator flush you can do yourself. Power steering fluid change only if it is dirty and Honda can do all 3 for half the price.

 

So, is the price $680 or $470? Either way, it is a lot of money for not a lot of work.

 

I paid Acura dealer $200 for transmission fluid change, so that's on target.

I thought about doing it myself, but 12 qts of fluid (I think that's the right number) at $7/qt didn't leave me saving enough to hassle with it.

If you wonder "geeze, why 12 qts?" it's because you have to fill/drain 4 qts 3 times.

Steve

 

Transmission change for $200 is only ok if they are doing a 3x3 drain and fill, otherwise it's a rip-off

 

My bad...its $470. The iPhone keyboard is tough to type on

 

$200 for new fluid makes me cringe.

You probably could go to 50-60k miles before needing to flush the tranny but it definitely wouldn't hurt to do it now, good preventive matinence. Also you might want to think about changing out your brake fluid while your at it too.

I'd say power steering is the less important of the 3 for sure.

Are these prices from the Acura Dealership? They are always higher than independent shops.

 

Agreed, and it was a 3x change. Of course their quoted cost for ATF on the bill was less than what they would sell it to me for.

 

Let's see. If you DIY:

Coolant: $20 radiator drain and fill. About 15 minutes of your time no tools required.

Powersteering: $25 for a few drain and refills using the turkey baster method that anyone could do without tools. 20 minutes of your time.

Trans: $20 per drain and fill (3 qts.). You jack up the car, remove a 10mm bolt, pull the plastic retaining things off to get the lower engine cover off. Undo the drain plug and replace when it's done draining. The only semi-tricky part would be having a long extension and funnel to get at the trans fill plug and the strength to break it free for the first time.


Of all 3 things, the trans service would be the only thing worth while for the price and that's only if they are doing a 3X3 and not just a 1X3. Their coolant charge is unbelievable.

I'm not against doing mantenance to the car ahead of schedule, in fact I'm waaaay ahead of schedule on everything. But isn't the coolant 10yr/120,000 miles, the trans 60,000 miles in severe service and the powersteering also >100,000 miles? I think the service intervals set by Acura are way too long but just wondering why this dealer makes their own schedule.

 

I did it 2 weeks ago because I'm at 52K and the fluid when I checked the fluid it was brown, so yea, given the reputation of our transmissions, not something I'd like to push,

Another note, I'm usually a DYI guy, but 12 qts of fluid would've been around $80-90 + me trying to jack my car up, drain, lower car, drive around X3 (which would've been about 4-6 hours) was well worth 1 hour at the dealer and essentially $100 in labor. Just my