Dear Scotty,
I bought my 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland 5.7 new twelve years ago, it now has 36000 miles on it. I opted for the “lifetime” warranty by Chrysler (I asked how long is life time and they said that if the repair is greater than the value of the jeep, Chrysler will send me a check for the jeep’s value and I keep the jeep). Here is my dilemma… I’ve watched your show and when it comes to transmissions I remember you telling your audience not to flush but to change the ATF and filter.
I called a couple of dealerships to get price quotes and I got $700.00 and $1015.00. The dealership with the highest figure said not to change the fluid because a lot of people who had it done complained of problems afterwards. I asked did they flush the transmission and they said “no”. They told me that the fluid is “lifetime” and as I leaned from you, I replied lifetime means up to the warranty period.
The other dealership told me that if I’m not having problems with the transmission don’t change the fluid. His reasoning was if I have metal filings they are keeping the transmission from slipping.
Scotty, I don’t know what to think. I can’t imagine a business turning away $700 to $1000. I am not experiencing any transmission problems, I’m just trying to stay ahead of things. I don’t care for any of the new stuff on the market today and I want to keep my jeep for as long as I can. I take very good care of it and enjoy what it offers.
I would be happy to hear what you think I should do.
Thank you.
Norm in the Finger Lakes NY
What I don't appreciate is when somebody that he relies on to help him with his mission gives comic book answers to legitimate questions.
What you apparently do not realize is that you were given a perfectly legitimate answer. Did you look at the FAQ? It is there for a reason. "Should I change my transmission fluid" is hands down the most frequent question asked here. With over 66,000 topics posted in this forum since its inception it would be no exaggeration to state that the question has been asked here thousands of times.
Therefore, instead of writing the same answers over and over and over again as individual responses, detailed information on the issues involved in changing transmission fluid in various types of transmissions has been placed in the maintenance section of the site FAQ. That way anyone can access the information and make an informed decision on whether it should be done and how to do it.
@chucktobias I have a lot of respect for Scotty and the information he provides. What I don't appreciate is when somebody that he relies on to help him with his mission gives comic book answers to legitimate questions.
@chucktobias This is the best you got "Answers to questions about specifications, how to operate your vehicle etc. can be found in your owner's manual or manufacturer's website. Please don't ask us to look it up for you." This is the reason I asked my question 1) the manual states that I do not need to change the ATF, it is "lifetime" 2) when I called different jeep dealerships to schedule changing the ATF they recommend against it
This is the best you got "Answers to questions about specifications, how to operate your vehicle etc. can be found in your owner's manual or manufacturer's website. Please don't ask us to look it up for you."
I'm not sure what you are talking about, I did not say that here. However, everyone here is a volunteer with limited time to devote to answering questions and looking up information. With some exceptions, the information provided by the manufacturer can be what's needed.
1) the manual states that I do not need to change the ATF, it is "lifetime"
If you have watched Scotty's videos or used the search function here, or read the FAQ, you would realize that there is no such thing as "lifetime" fluid. That has been discussed to death here.
2) when I called different jeep dealerships to schedule changing the ATF they recommend against it
The FAQ has the detailed information you need to make a determination as to whether a fluid change is advisable.
Really, if you are dissatisfied with the service here your subscription fee will be cheerfully refunded. I would alert site management (@imperator) to your complaints but I see he has already chimed in.
This is the best you got
well, you'll have spend more than 1 second looking and read past the headline. It's a lot of work, I know. 🤷♂️ Hope you can manage.
