Car Fluids Change

Gotta give you car guys something to chew on…

Took my Wife’s Honda to the Dealer… not my norm but the problem seemed specific to the Honda… the dealer more likely had experience with it.

The Dealer visit went exceptionally well.

Several Days later I get a call from a young lady at the Dealer which was upsell but likely valid… offering a 10% discount from the Dealer regular price.

Th 2013 Odyssey has 60,000 miles. It rides like new.
She does not drive a lot but keeps up with her annual oil change.

Anyway the suggestion was that we change the Brake, Transmission and Power Steering Fluids and the Coolant…
Wife does not recall changing any of them… unless they were included in an oil change.

3 Questions…
Are those things needed?
Where is the best place to get it done if needed. These Services do not require special Honda Dealer Knowledge.
What is a fair price?

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In another string I mentioned the terrible free oil change I got from the Subaru dealer. My guess is the guy who did it was a minimally trained new hire… lot of that going on today. The Dealer made it right but could Jiffy lube have done worse?

Got your owner’s manual? It has specific recommendations for fluid change frequencies. I would follow that.

Yeah the trans fluid can be important, refer to owners manual. The other two I have never changed and have put as much as 300k on a vehicle. If you have to bleed the brakes when you do a brake job, a small amount of the brake fluid is replaced.

A quick google check shows it recommended every 30k miles. If that’s accurate, I would get it changed.

I have a 2013 Hyundai with 105k miles that also runs and drives like new (it’s my first brand new car ever). The only one of those fluids I’ve ever changed on that car is the coolant, and that was because a racoon decided to take out the radiator at -80 mph. The body shop refilled the coolant when they replaced the radiator.

If you don’t have a good shop that you trust, I highly recommend finding one. They’d be able to advise you better than internet randos about what makes sense for your car.

I looked at the online manual. Page 329 shows your Maintenance Minder displays and the code for replacing coolant and xmission fluid. It does not show mileage but rather computer generated information that replacement is needed.

Note, I could not find any reference to changing brake or pwr steering fluid.

I recommend using your Maintenance Minder / Service codes.

codes

I had 2 Hondas that I took to the Honda dealer for oil changes, inspection etc for over 12 years. Stopped going after local Honda lied that they gave me a free tire rotation. Put it on service envelope & email to check slow leak on rear tire. Spent almost $500 on that visit because they talked me into having brake fluid & other fluids replaced. Anyway a few days tire in same location was going flat. Took it to a reputable tire shop and asked them to check other tires to see if they were repaired. Nope. Sent a complaint to Honda but waiting over a year for a reply. Looking thru the service Manuel the dealer lied about what mileage all fluids should be changed by up to 50%. Will never go back to Honda for service or a new car.

Pls note my post above. Honda user manual does NOT show replacing brake fluid as normal maintenance.

Thanks. Believe they told me it should be replaced every 30,000 miles. Just can not trust many people that get sales commissions from down right lying. Back in the 1970’s worked for a year repairing office machines & was told that I would make a lot of extra money thru the 10% on all parts that you sold. Other guys sold parts every week but I only sold a part if it was needed. Most machines were new & under warranty so no commission there. First check was for 17 cents after they deducted 4 cents in tax. Rather hungry then lie & chest anybody for money.