JAFCO

My independent tech recently changed my transmission fluid for the first time at 98,000 miles and said it was like grease. He also charged me $800. That seemed expensive but he did spend alot of time on it.

Any comments?

Tony_AMG

too much. Dealer could have charged you that amount on the same year and model. difference is he may claimed it probably was sensitive because it was tiptronic or some other excuse. I mean don't get me wrong, but for that amount, Take it to dealer and if something went wrong, they could have fix it and practically kiss your feet for paying $800 for trans service. Thats profit for a dealer or any indy shop. But I mean, to each his own lesson learned.

glenmorenee

You are lucky the tranny still works so count your blessings. A dealer may have even refused to do it after you told them it hadn't been done once ever. They have probably seen their share of "Lifetime fill" cars coming in for service.

The 722.6 tranny was originally sold as "Lifetime fill". Some people's cars have had a very long service life with the tranny rarely serviced. Some have not.

It is now recommended that the fluid be changed every 60m or so.

Possibility: You have an honest indie and he had to flush your tranny 2-3 times with very expensive MB tranny fluid to get all the old crap out. If you were to do it yourself, the fluid alone for one pass is over $100.