I am having my transmission fluid changed this week in my 2005 Elantra GT. The Hyundia dealer charges $189 and the mechanic I usually take the car to charges $269. I asked him why he charges $80 more than the dealer and he said that he uses BG products to flush the transmission and uses 16 quarts of required synthetic transmission fluid. He said that using the BG flush requires the car be driven 5 or 6 miles during the process and the dealer does not do this, meaning the dealer may or may not remove all the bad fluid. I have heard pros and cons regarding power flushing the transmission and some people recommend simply draining what's in the pan and refilling, meaning half of the bad fluid remains in the transmission. Any suggestions?

 

There's flushing and then there's power flushing. Power flushing forces fluid through the system (sometimes in reverse) while regular flushing uses the transmission pump to move the fluid. Avould "power" flushes.

The dealer may be just dropping the pan but some can do a flush. Personally, I like the flush more but it's not required.

 

The mechanic I'm taking it to just used the term "flush", not "power flush". He did mention he uses BG products and he always flushes the transmission in order to remove 100% of the old fluid. Do you know if the factory installed fluid is synthetic or is it regular fluid? My mechenic told me that it is synthetic and there is no option to use any other type. I called a transmission shop and his cost was $119 for regular fluid and $219 for synthetic. I called the dealer and they told me their cost was $189 and the fluid is synthetic. Getting different answers from different shops makes we wonder if they know what they are doing.

 

I do not believe the original fluid is synthetic. Make sure the mechanic uses ONLY SP-III trans fluid. All other fluid will damage your transmission.

 

He already cautioned me to make sure that whoever does the change uses the SP-III Hyundai trans fluid. Thanks for your help.