Pricey Transmission Fluid Change?

[plarsen111]

Bought '07 Mazda5 yesterday. My mechanic wants me to do a $250 transmission fluid change. Is this necessary?

Thanks,

Phil

[briando]

My first advice, find a new mechanic. You likely don't need a change your tranmission fluid and if you did, it wouldn't cost anywhere near $250. The only time you would need to change your transmission fluid is when you don't have the original transmission or the original pan gasket. How many mile are on your Mazda5? If you have more than 50K but less than 90K, you can opt for a transmission fluid exchange, but again, it's not necessary, and it shouldn't cost you more than $80 bucks.

[Saint_]

You do need an ATF change. The ATF change period (never) given in the user manuals only guarantees a failure-free transmission till the warranty expires. You should change your ATF every 30k miles with synthetic fluid.

The fluid shouldnt cost more than $20-30, labor is a tad harder than changing the engine oil. Total cost should be around $50. I think Mazda uses its propitiatory fluid after 2003, double check with your user manual. And beware of the brand of the ATF that will be used.

The cost of the ATF change every 30k miles will be amortized by the mpg gains. Not to mention you will not need a new tranny at 100-120k miles.

$250 could include not only a simple ATF change but also dropping the tranny pan, cleaning the magnets, changing the filter and so. You can do that at 90k miles change. But it still shouldnt cost $250.

It could also be a transmision flush in which they clean inside by running pressurized ATF through the system. I dont think you would need it.