78,000-Mile Service - 2007 Dodge Charger SRT8 Long-Term Road Test

Comments

• chase300 Member Posts: 6

  April 2016

  I think I'd have disputed the 2nd inspection/fluid top off charge of $42 also.

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• throwback Member Posts: 445

  April 2016

  Typical dealer practice unfortunately.

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• garfield__1 Member Posts: 4

  April 2016

  I have a 2006 srt charger and the reliability is amazing. For the 30k miles I've owned it I've changed brake pads and tires once, two hoses, a thermostat and typical oil changes.

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• kirkhilles1 Member Posts: 863

  April 2016

  $249 for the Transmission Flush seems like a lot. Do they actually "flush" it with pressure? If so, is that really even recommended now adays? It seems like I've heard of people that start having transmission problems right after the flush. Would seem to be more appropriate to replace the fluid and maybe next year do it again if it hasn't been touched recently.

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• bankerdanny Member Posts: 1,021

  April 2016

  chase300 said:

  I think I'd have disputed the 2nd inspection/fluid top off charge of $42 also.

  I was thinking the same thing.

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• sodaguy Member Posts: 84

  April 2016

  I think the $42 was the labor charge for the oil change and tire rotation. The other items were just parts.

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• s197gt Member Posts: 486

  April 2016

  so i talked to a long-time mechanic years ago (retired a couple of years ago after 30 years, a finger gone, two knee replacements, and constant pain medication for back pain) about transmission flushes. he used to work at a firestone service center and did hundreds of transmission flushes with no issue except one car and that car was having transmission problems already so they tried a flush as a last option before major service.
  
  thus i did a flush on a 2005 grand cherokee that we owned at the time when it clicked over 100k miles. never had any problems for the next 10-15k miles until we traded it in. my understanding is that there is no "extra" pressure used. they simply cycle through new fluid using the transmission's own oil pump.
  
  and you have to know what you are paying for. there is a difference between a flush and a drain/refill. flush replaces all the fluid. drain/refill only replaces somewhere over half or so; depending on the transmission.
  
  i talked to my local bmw indie and they feel comfortable doing flushes up to 150k miles if never done before.

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• stever Guest Posts: 52,454

  April 2016

  My understanding is that there's also a power flush where you hook the car up to an external pump gizmo and flush the fluid that way. Sometimes chemicals are used in the flush. That's the "power flush" I'd be leery of.

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• roadburner Member Posts: 17,345

  April 2016

  I just do a drain and fill every 60,000 miles on my wife's truck- it's now at 185,000 miles and going strong.

  Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport; 2020 C43; 2021 Sahara 4xe 1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica Wife's: 2015 X1 xDrive28i Son's: 2009 328i; 2018 330i xDrive

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• cah11705 Member Posts: 12

  April 2016

  kirkhilles1 said:

  $249 for the Transmission Flush seems like a lot. Do they actually "flush" it with pressure? If so, is that really even recommended now adays? It seems like I've heard of people that start having transmission problems right after the flush. Would seem to be more appropriate to replace the fluid and maybe next year do it again if it hasn't been touched recently.

  Flushes are generally not recommended. Usually prefer just a fluid exchange. FCA actually advises against flushes for newer vehicles.
  
  That seems like a lot of money for the service that was done. Tire rotation should be 10-15 bucks, oil change should be about $80. Not sure what transmission fluid exchange would cost though.

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