Is my dealership is dishonest?. Another transmission service.
 

Good evening guys. I have been servicing my car at a local Nissan dealership because the closest Infiniti dealer is almost 4 hours away. After having my oil change, the advisor told me I needed a transmission service at 60k miles. I remembered having my transmission serviced not too long ago and decided to check my records and I can confirm that my transmission was serviced at 50k miles. The description states that "Flushed entire transmission fluid and replace with new fluid." I did not go in depth with the service advisor just yet because I want to get some thoughts and inputs. Is there another service the transmission needs besides the fluid flush? I am no car expert but from what I know the fluid does not have to be change that often. The service for the flush cost $400 and I don't want to shell out another $400 if my car does not need it. Thanks for your time.

If the Dealership had those records and still insisted that that ATF service was needed then yes, I'd say they are trying to pull one over on you. It's possible they didn't have the previous service on their record or failed to look it up and just went by mileage on your car. FWIW I wouldn't get it flushed next time around (in another 50-60k miles) but get the 3x drain & fill as per the FSM, and should be less than $400, $250 seems to be a typical charge for that service.

They shouldn't even be doing flush services anymore. Nissan sent out a tsb back in 08ish saying not to do it anymore

The service writers are service sales people, not technicians or even car guys in most cases. They recommend “needed” services based on the mileage of your car. It’s very possible (likely IMO) that the guy pushing transmission service at 60K is simply doing so because that’s a recommended service at that mileage. He probably didn’t look at your service history to see that you already performed that service in the car early at 50K.

I have a company truck that’s leased. I take it to the nearest Ford dealership to get routine maintenance. They’re kind of scumbags. I changed the air filter myself once. I take it in about 3 weeks later (1600 miles) to get an oil change. It must have been at or near the recommended air filter change interval. Service writer comes in and says I really need to change the air filter because it’s long overdue. It will cause the truck to get bad gas mileage and misfire and maybe throw a code if I don’t change it out now for $50. “Oh really? Can I see how bad it looks?” Goes out and takes a while. She comes back in with a filthy Motorcraft OEM air filter and tells me “This is what a filter looks like when it goes too long between replacement.” Clearly not the Wix filter I’d just put in a few weeks ago. I told her to go ahead and keep that one and I’d stick with the clean air filter that I just put in that’s still in my air filter housing. The one that’s a different brand and color than the one she’s showing me, and that I wrote the mileage on. She looked very embarrassed. I told her not to worry, I’m sure that trick works most of the time on most people.

What an idiot. She forgot to use the Jedi mind trick with hand gestures I bet. Strong is the force with you.

Is there any specific consequences for performing the flush? I am now a bit worried that it may damage my car's transmission.

Damn! that is very embarrassing on her part. I read somewhere that service writers get commission for selling specific services to customers. I am now wondering weather I really needed rear brake pads or not. I brought my car in last month and the adviser informed me that I needed to get my rear brake pads serviced ASAP because it was rubbing metal to metal. I just had them do the service and it cost a hefty amount, which was around $370.

Absolutely not


Did you check the pads yourself or ask to see them before agreeing to go through with replacing them? Metal on metal is easy to hear and feel.

I asked about it at my infiniti dealer, and was told there is no need for a trans service due to the fluid is good for the life of the tranny. I said i wanted it changed anyway and he said it would run about $200 I believe that was just a 1x drain and fill.


I did the 3x drain and fill myself.

Did they hook your car up to that machine to flush transmission? Or did they do 3x drain and fill?

nissan no flush bulletin

Mine was flushed twice. 1st they put in BG fluid, so I asked them to put in the factory stuff. Seems fine..

I did not look at the pads but I did notice some sort of noise from the rear when braking, turning, and backing up. I also felt shudders when braking a bit hard. They told me about 6 months earlier that I may need my brakes serviced.

I am honestly not so sure. I will ask the service writer the next time I go back for an oil change. I really hope no damage will be done to my transmission! Everything has been good though. Smooth and steady shift. It is just lazy to down shift at times!

people still using flush and drain/fill interchangeably? i hate that