Hey Scotty,
I have a 2016 Subaru Legacy with 71k miles and a CVT transmission, I’m not sure if the tranny fluid has ever been changed so I wanted to have it done. Mechanic shop is saying it’ll be about $400 for the service. Drain and fill, and filter change. They also said they need to make sure the new fluid going in is at a certain temperature. My dad says this is crap, what are you thoughts? Thank you!
Well, when you drive 30k miles between fluid changes it’s alright to do it by your self and save money.
But over 60k miles, with how Subaru refuses to sell valve body parts and how sensitive they are to oil quality, you better do it at a mechanics shop with an extraction tool.
The fluid Subaru uses in the Legacy is quite expensive - about $15~$20 a litter, and this transmission needs a lot of it, about 12-13 litters.
$400 seems overpriced and I have never seen anyone worry about the fluid temperatures (unless it’s -40°C outside) - that shop sounds worse then the dealer.
I always don’t trust other mechanics that overprice their services, if they don’t mind screwing you over with the price - they won’t mind screwing you over with the quality of the service they give.
I’d find another shop that has an extractor, oem fluid and knowledge on servicing Subarus. I think (it really depends on where you live) most other shops will able to do it for $100-$150 less.
depending on how bad the fluid that comes out is, I’d consider cutting down the change interval - if it’s really bad then maybe even service it next time with a 15k interval.
Thank you. The shop stated they were going to do a drain and fill and filter change. I’m not sure if they are using an extraction tool or not.
Ya they say the fluid has to be a certain temperature because it expands with heat. Also you can't drain all the fluid with the drain plug, you have to pull the pan. I bought a 4 liter can of FE CVT fluid it was $98.00. I got the filter for $20.00 at orielly's. I should have done some research on that tranny before buying the car.
What they probably meant is that precisely setting the ATF level in the gearbox requires that the ATF, already filled into the gearbox, is at a specific temperature while you are setting that level. Not that the ATF shall necessarily have this temperature while they are pumping it in 🙂
