I have a 2015 Hyundai Genesis with 54,000 miles, and I recently visited my local dealer and asked them how much they would charge to change my atf. I have an 8-speed, but it's a sealed unit. This was the dealer's excuse. They said because it was a sealed unit, it doesn't need to be changed. Now, I take care of my cars religiously. Is this typical from a dealership? Has anyone experienced this and, if so, what or how did you get your tranny fluid changed?
Is this typical from a dealership?
first time?
Yes, especially a car with a sealed unit. I'm pretty young so my dad mostly takes care of all the cars.
ok then you're excused, haha.
But seriously, dealerships would much rather that your transmission fails out of warranty so they can sell you a new one. And unfortunately, this being Hyundai, the chances of that are very high. It could even fail this year.
Instead, I would go find a dedicated transmission shop to service it.
See the FAQ for more info. There are Scotty videos where he talks exactly about your "sealed" transmission.
Toyota Dealership said the same thing to me about my 2013 prius, "it is lifetime fluid, you never need to change it."
Thankfully changing a prius cvt is as easy as a differential. Drain bolt and fill bolt is all it has, and it changes out all of it.
Likely yours is not that easy unfortunately.
There is no such thing as lifetime fluid. Unless they mean, when it breaks, that was the lifetime.
Had a Ford dealer tell my girlfriend they don't recommend changing the fluid in her Mustang's 6-speed automatic until 150k. If I were there, I would have asked if they intend to replace the transmission if it goes out from dirty fluid before that. Of course with the 5 year, 60k mi warranty, they won't do it. Typical dealer trying to set you up to sell you a new car down the road.
Pretty common attitude among manufacturers these days. If you change your fluid, you void whatever warranty you have left. But if you don’t change it, (like all fluids) it will eventually break down.
new fluid is unlikely to matter in the first 100k miles, it’s the long term (200k+) where changing fluid really makes a difference. So after reading many opinions on the subject, the best advice I have heard is to leave the transmission alone until it is off warranty (I’m guessing that’s 100k for you), then change the fluid every 30-60k thereafter.
