![]() PS: the transmission oil filter assembly in this trans is not serviceable/replaceable with only the pan/valve body removal, it's done at a complete trans tear-down project. If your car has more service on it than that, it would be advisable to replace the fluid. Honda spec for the trans fluid drain/refill is 60,000 miles or 84 months. It wouldn't be unreasonable at prevailing labor rates for most of the USA to pay around $100 for this service at an independent shop. there's more to this than simply dropping a drain plug and pan and pulling/cleaning the oil filter screen off the valve body, there's fluid lines to be disconnected and a wiring harness to be disconnected to do the job properly. If a shop was doing no other service to your car at the time, it wouldn't be unreasonable to pay a minimum of 1/2 hour to do this service Honda spec calls for dropping the transmission valve body to clean out the trans fluid passages at the time of the service. With dealership price of the fluid running about $12/quart, even a drain/refill is $36 worth of fluid. ![]() Spec for your car on a drain and refill is about 3 quarts of fluid, with almost 8 quarts required for a complete change-out. The risk is poor shifting and vibration from the transmission when you use anything but the OE fluid. ![]() Honda spec says that you can use Dex 3 for a limited amount of time if the OE fluid isn't available, but I wouldn't put it in these cars unless I was selling the car immediately. The result of not using the OE fluid has been comebacks to the shops with transmission failures or shifting problems which weren't there when the car was brought in for the fluid change. I have seen aftermarket fluids which claim to meet the OE Honda fluid spec, but in the experience of the shops that I've seen use them, it's simply not as good as the Honda fluid. ![]() I think it’s a bit premature to say the dealer is ripping anyone off without knowing one thing about what that 500 dollars entails or the locale where the service is to be done.You didn't mention if your car has the 2.3 or 3.0 engine, but this series of car has an automatic transmission which is highly sensitive to having the correct spec OE trans fluid from the Dealer. The stupidity of that particular recommendation just amazes, or stupefies, me every time I hear it or read of it. The factory boys are also the ones who apparently can make a recommendation about an “audible valve lash” inspection without being even being embarassed over it. All car makers want to promote the perception their vehicles need little maintenance and they started this trend roughly back in the mid 80s to a somewhat minor degree and by the 90s it was becoming a full blown program. What the factory recommends and what is often really needed are 2 separate things. The shop flat rate charges easily run 125 dollars an hour in certain parts of the country.Ī 60k miles service is a major one on any vehicle and if one figured 2.5 hours on that service that puts the tab at over 300 dollars just on labor and excluding fluids/filters/etc. However, if you have an automatic transmission, I would use whichever one of these is appropriate. I use this power steering fluid and I use this oil in my manual transmission. I haven’t used Honda brand fluids in it in the last 100,000 miles. My 1998 Honda Civic has 207,000 miles on the odometer. Your independent mechanic can use Honda’s fluids too, especially if you find a mechanic will let you buy the fluids at a Honda dealership and bring them to the garage. You should use Honda’s automatic transmission fluid, but for everything else, it’s pretty easy to find fluids that meet Honda’s specifications. The line about Honda’s fluids is just fear-mongering. The 30,000 mile maintenance should be about $300-350, but they do a lot more at 60,000 miles than they do at 30,000 miles. Honestly, $500 for the 60,000 mile maintenance doesn’t sound too bad. After all of my warranties expired, I stopped going to dealerships. I was able to find dealerships in my area with reasonable prices, and it meant I didn’t have to save my maintenance records to maintain my warranty. I used Honda dealerships for all maintenance until all of the warranties (including the drivetrain warranty), expired.
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