Where do you all change your transmission fluid?

They are trying to charge you for a flush like regular automatics on other Toyota cars...which is standard book. Press your Service Adviser to look it up again. Prius is just drain and fill like engine oil and normally ranges $100-$150 at the Dealership. I went through this once. Otherwise, the procedure is here and can be done anywhere the surface is flat...yourself.

 

Mine (gen3) wanted 375$, it was considered a trans-axle service.
The gen2 is a quick drain and fill.

 

They are both quick drain and fill. The Service Adviser is/was trying to pad the bill...his commission. These are the facts.

 

I do it myself--costs $40 for the fluid. It's little different from an oil change--more difficult to fill, but no filter. If I couldn't do it myself, I'd check with local garages and supply the fluid.

It's just a few gears and two motors sitting in an oil bath. It's not a traditional automatic transmission where the fluid does work under pressure shifting gears and in a torque converter. Way different duty and different maintenance requirements.

 

Luscious Garage in San Francisco is around the price range @frodoz737 mentioned, between $100-$150.

 

It is a VERY simple operation. If someone's telling you they'll do it for $400, do no use them, they are completely asea as to what's involved. Simple drain and fill. Maybe someone can PM you the second gen Repair Manual instruction?

It's on par with an oil change, the fluid (Toyota ATF-WS) slightly more cost than for an oil change, depending on what brand of motor oil you're using. Anything over $100 to get it done by pros is excessive, for sure.

 

Regarding cost, check this thread from October...

Transaxle fluid change -- Current $$$ from dealerships | PriusChat

 

Okay, four quarts of Toyota WS from a dealer is approximately $40-$44.
Four quarts of Valvoline Maxlife transmission fluid will bring that total down to $30 or so. Their spec sheet shows it to qualify as replacement for the original WS.
My procedure is to run the front tires up on ramps, put a carpenter's level on the driver's door sill, jack up the rear end until the bubble is centered on the level, and change the fluid.
Be SURE to loosen the filler plug to allow air to enter the case before you pull the drain plug unless you want a real mess all over! I learned that one the hard way......
Use a funnel with a skinny lower spout so you can shove some 3/8" clear tubing over it and thread it down from the front, through the hoses, etc., into the filler hole. At somewhere around 3.7 quarts added, give or take, fluid will start to back out of the hole. When it stops dripping, put the plug back in. Mind the torque values for those two plugs and make sure you keep the filler tubing CLEAN when you poke it into the transaxle case! That's all there is to it.
If you don't have a 10mm hex socket for the drain plug(Allen head) or a torque wrench, ramps, or a floor jack, let someone with a shop do it. BUT, take them the fluid and insist they use that spirit level on the door sill.
While up on the lift, he or she can tweak the car level with a transmission/muffler stand under either the front crossmember or the rear jack point depending on which way the bubble is drifting.
By the way, the drain plug for the hybrid drive is in dangerously close proximity to the transaxle plug, so MAKE SURE you pull the correct one! Trans is the one to the right (looking from the front of the car) and farther toward the rear of the vehicle.
Did my 3rd change at 120k and it gets faster each time with the tools all ready to go, now taking about 30 minutes.

 

If you've done your third change, and have 120k, there's no arguing with success. Still, I'd rather not gamble with alternative fluids, to save $10 every 2~3 years.

 

An independent Toyota shop did it for one hundred

 

I buy the fluid at Toyota for around $40. Put the front on ramps, jack up the back until level (I use a level in the door frame), place jack stands for additional safety. Open the filler nut on top, then open the drain plug. I allow to drain while I go do something else, then come back and fill using 3/8" clear tubing on a funnel. It takes 3.7 or so quarts. It's as easy, if not more so, than changing the oil. *** Make sure you do not crack the coolant plug. If it looks like water, you've got the wrong plug.***

 

Yeah, DOH! I actually had a mechanic tell me there was water in my transaxle fluid because of this. Obviously he was an idiot and I was a bigger idiot for thinking he knew what he was doing. Now I change it myself.

 

Not the Dealership I take it.

 

No. Although, they haven't been much better in my area. Hence why I now do my own work.

 

If you know what you're doing, that is always best. The problem with most folks is they can't or won't.

 

True, but I'm not most folks. I'm a woman with small hands and small stature with an even smaller wallet. I cannot/ will not pay for something I can do. Traction battery. NO way! Can't lift it. Have the knowledge to replace it. Struts, need extra muscle, but not hard to do. Same for both coolant loops. Of course, my stealership is convinced one can be electrocuted changing the oil on a Prius. Geez! I'm female, not stupid.

 

10% of golfers break 100, fewer drivers (%) change their transmission fluid, lighten up

 

I'm trying....this diet isn't working fast enough.... ;-)