How much should a mechanic charge me to change the transmissions oil?

Question

I have a 2001 PTCruiser and I need to change the transmission oil but I don't want the mechanics to give take advantage of me since I'm a girl. So can anyone give me an estimate of how much they should charge rather than how much they want to charge me.

Answer 1

Rickinmn is correct when he says that you need to use ATF+4 on your car! Do NOT allow any other fluid to be used!

Do not allow a flush with anything other than ATF+4. You will shorten the life of your transmission more than not having the service done at all!

To do it right, you are looking at somewhere in the $150 range, depending on your area and labor rate!!

Answer 2

The local Sear shop round here (Upstate NY) Charges $125 for a flush and fill. Not sure if this also includes a new filter which I think is probably a no. I have personally changed many tranny filter/fluid on many different car/trucks. The filter/gasket kits are usually $15-$20 at the local Advance Auto. The fluid is another $15 or so. If you could find someone to change the filter and then go get the flush/fill that would probably be the best thing to do. This will replace most if not all of the old fluid and give you a new filter and gasket.

Answer 3

Manual Transmission or Automatic Transmission?

Automatic Transmission, it uses Mopar AFT+4 fluid. That is about $7 - $10 qt.

If you only change the fluid in the pan, with a pan drop, you will have a pan gasket / filter set that can cost $25 -$75. Plus you would need about 4 qts of fluid so the total parts would be about $60 - $115 in parts plus, about an 1.25 hours labor. So it could cost about $150 - $250.

If you do a fluid flush, which is what I would typically do on my vehicles. This vehicle would hold about 8 -10 qts of fluid, so you would only have parts cost of fluid $56 - $100, plus labor of about 1 hour. For a total cost of about $125 - $200.

A fluid flush changes virtually all the fluid in an automatic transmission, a pan drop only changes the fluid in the pan. Dropping the pan only, does not change the fluid in the torque converter or the oil cooler & cooler lines. This is where the bulk of the fluid is.

Would you change you motor oil would you only change 2 qts of the typical 5 qts? No, you owuldn't, that is like the difference of doing a Transmission Fluid Flush or a Pan drop, the Fluid flush is superior.

Answer 4

There are two ways to change transmission fluid: One way is to remove the pan and drain the transmission. That way they can replace the filter. The problem with that method is that you can only drain about 1/3 to 1/2 of the fluid.

The other way is to do a fluid flush where they inject new fluid into the transmission without removing the pan. There are a few problems with this method. First, they won't be changing your filter. Second, there are cases where the new fluid has stirred up any sediment at the bottom of the transmission and people have had transmission problems after that. The third issue is that Chrysler transmission fluid is expensive. The new ATF+4 fluid is about $6/quart. So shops use a cheap fluid to flush with and then pour in a bottle of "converter" to supposedly bring it back into spec. No car manufacturer recommends this approach. If the shop wants to flush your transmission, insist that they use ATF+4 fluid for the entire operation.

Now to your question. To drop the pan, replace the filter, and refill should cost about $100. To do a fluid flush with the cheap fluid runs around $149. To do it with the right fluid costs around $180.

Here's a link to an article that explains everything you need to know about transmission fluid changes.


http://free-auto-repair-advice.blogspot.com/2007/05/transmission-fluid-exchangeflushis-it.html

Rick

I'm a retired ASE Master/L-1 Technician. I still keep current with the latest automotive technology. Visit my blog for cool articles and TSB's: http://free-auto-repair-advice.blogspot.com

Answer 5

Please bear in mind that i do not know how much tranny fluid a PT Cruiser uses. But, the trannys i have changed have always needed about 2 gallons of fluid. At $2 a quart that is $16 just for the fluid. The trans Filter kits used to be in the neighborhood of $30. Now they are most likely more. Since most shops have to pay for the lights, heat, phone, wages, insurance, waiting lounge, Ect; ect; ect. Most likely will have a minimum of $60 labor. So you should be looking at a neighborhood figure of $100. Give or take a few bucks. Just remember, when you pay a shop to do it. "IF" they forget to do something that results in a tranny failure. They will fix it. That's part of the peace of mind that comes with going to a Reputable shop. $19.95 does not even cover the cost of the filter.

Answer 6

this is much more expensive than changing the regular oil in a car,you have to drop the pan and clean it out,they usually charge around anywhere from 70 -100 bucks to service a transmission,its not as easy as changing the engine oil,and takes a lot longer to do,i wouldn't pay nothing over 100 bucks to get it done though that's plenty for it,good luck with it.

Answer 7

Usually this is a fixed price around $40. Depending on the condition of the gasket/filter they may want to change that as well. That's for an automatic trans.

For a real trans it's much cheaper.

Answer 8

its the amount of the stuff that they but 4 ur car!
example- you need to change the belt on ur car, it cost $15.00 so they charge 15.00 labor.. so the total would be $30..00
my daddy has been a machanic for 22 years

Answer 9

I would just do it yourself big guy, a lot cheaper than bringing it to a shop :p lot of labor, but worth the money that you could spend on some good audio equipment

Answer 10

This can cost up to around $50