When I had my 2014 TL changing the automatic transmission fluid was usually around 100 if I remember correctly. On my now 2018 with push button transmission acura wanted 400 when I called in to book an appointment. Has anyone else heard this and what are the reasons for it.

 

because it's new....

supply and demand...the dealerships can DEMAND that price from it's customers.
If you are unhappy with the price, I'd suggest shopping around. check some independent mechanics with a full garage. they'll likely do it for much much cheaper

 

The fluid itself is (more) expensive, which is part of the reason. The V6 uses different ATF than the 4-cylinder. You can check how much more expensive it is (then there's dealership markup and labor) : https://acura.bernardiparts.com/Acur...RANSFLUID.aspx

The other part is because they can. lol. From what I've seen online, most dealerships are charging between $250 and $400. BTW, are you changing your transmission fluid because the car/maintenance minder told you it was time or because they told you? I'm asking because I've noticed dealers are pushing a lot of maintenance/replacement jobs outside of what the maintenance minder says. In other words, you'll end up spending a lot of money over the course of ownership that you probably shouldn't have.

 

Not going on the maintenance minder im around 50k kilometers and was started to think about changing it

 

Yeah, I think the maintenance minder will remind you to do it between 40,000 and 60,000 miles (64,000 - 96000km) or so. Dealerships are always pushing me to do fluid changes faster but I just go by what the manual and maintenance minder tell me. For them, they make a ton of money off a fluid change, and then if the maintenance minder comes on in another 10-30k miles, they'll say the maintenance minder is saying you need to change your transmission fluid, so now you're just unnecessarily changing you fluids. Just keep track of when you've changed what because you'll probably no longer be able to rely on your maintenance minder to tell you.

 

Changing the ZF 9-speed automatic transmission fluid requires the following:

3.5 quarts of ATF TYPE 3.1 (Acura P/N: 08200-9017A), which costs $48.52/quart list price.

New fill plug (only needed if you add fluid through the fill plug)

New level plug

New drain plug

A lift

The i-HDS diagnostic tool and following a special procedure, as listed in TSB 15-039 and in the Acura Tech2Tech video below.

bmv190802
Checking the Fluid Level in a 9-Speed Automatic Transmission
http://techinfo.honda.com/rjanisis/p...190802_720.mp4

 

Look at the tranny dipstick. That's free, easy and error-proof. If the fluid is translucent, pink, without black spots and splotches and doesn't smell burned, you're good. Otherwise, you're not.

 

Is there a tranny dipstick in the TLX?

 

No dipstick on the ZF9.

 

64k miles on my '16 TLX. Just had the transmission serviced for the first time. I inquired with the Acura dealer a year and a half ago and they told me that unless the maintenance indicator was telling me that I needed it serviced not to worry about it. Last September, I spoke with the Acura dealer again and was quoted $550 for the job. I passed. Also last September, I called my local Honda dealer and they quoted me $435. This week I called a different Acura dealer and they quoted $339 including tax. Called my Honda dealer and ended up using them. $200 was what they charged. They told me the price for the fluid that the 9-speed uses has come down considerably. By the way, my maintenance indicator never did come on but at 64k miles, I felt like it really needed to be done. $200 is a far cry from last year's quote of $550. Glad I got it done. Seems to be shifting as smoothly as ever. Still loving the car.

 

Just looked up prices and am pretty happy to see a quart is going for about $22-25 now depending on the source. That's significantly less than the original $32-40 a quart I was looking at about a year ago.

 

The reason for the transmission fluid change is so high first obviously the fluid charge secondly it has to be changed at a specific temperature not too hot not too cold once of the Acura Technician told me that. And that is the reason it also takes a longer time to do that. Hope this help.