Hey Scotty, big fan..
I've been watching your channel for a while and I've been watching another "Toyota" mechanic and you both are saying the same thing..
I have a 2021 Toyota highlander hybrid limited I bought new in August of 2021 its been doing great. I put 55k miles on it in 1 year (I'm an Uber driver) and I get in the ball park of 36 miles/gallon. Great for a 3 row big suv.
I've been wanting to change the transmission fluid at 75k miles. My dealership (which I use once a month) says its not recommended to "drain and fill" it. And they want me to sign a waiver before they do it. I'm not sure I want to sign that waiver but at the same time I want to try and keep this car for more than 200k miles without having to do much of any work on it.
Not sure what to do. Should I look for another dealership or should I listen to them? I know they want me to have to eventually buy a new transmission so they make money off of it.
Follow up question, I currently live in State college PA (home of Penn State university). But I grew up in Egypt. In Egypt, you go to a mechanic or dealership and they rip you off in almost anything they can. You ask for an oil change, they take the car to the back for 2 hours, charge for the time and just add a little bit of oil not change it. But charge you for it. How can I know if the dealership is doing the same thing or not? Now I know I can check the oil when I get it. (I do that all the time) but how would I know if they won't charge me for the transmission fluid, without changing it. Then when the transmission dies on me they tell me, "well you weren't supposed to drain and fill it" "that's why it went to the crapper".
Please advise me, thank you.
Vartan T.
Tip: Please put multiple questions in separate threads to get more visibility and answers.
Will do. Thanks. First time user on the website..
I would find another shop to do it. If you can't do it yourself. I would not sign a waiver that tells me they don't know what they are doing. If you do some research you could do it yourself. I did it on my Corolla its not difficult.
Either do it yourself or find a trusted independent mechanic to do it for you. As far as engine oil and filter it's the easiest thing one can do themselves and there are many online videos on how to do it based on the car you have.
As for the transmission fluid drain and fill is the best thing to do; don't do a flush. Take it to a good independent mechanic to do it for you (don't use these chain shops either). TheCarCareNut is a great YouTube channel for Toyota related stuff; check him out if you want to do it yourself.
The car care nut is the other guy I watch on YouTube. Its just being labor so cheap in a country like Egypt, I never turned car wrenches. So I have ZERO confidence when it comes to working on cars. Especially $50k cars. Lol
Then find a trusted independent mechanic; don't use the dealership unless for warranty work.