I just had a ATF flush performed at an Infiniti dealership. Let me preface all of this by saying that I did not read G35driver forums before doing so.

I was quoted 190.00 for a ATF full flush using their machine. I inquired if the whole disconnecting the hose and drain and fill would be performed and he said that their machine would do a reverse evacuation and get more junk out, and there was little risk since the engine would be off (wrt possibly damaging pressure). This made sense to me since I called a local Nissan dealership and he quoted me 180.00 and said that the hose drain and fill method would burn the transmission.

Now I have previously purchased 4 quarts Matic J at a Nissan dealership at a cost of roughly 10-11 dollars each with every intention to do a simple pan drain and fill, but after losing my job I figured I needed to make everything I have last longer, etc. blah blah (e.g. a flush). I was at 58k miles and never had a transmission fluid change.

When I got to the dealership, the service consultant told me that 15 quarts was necessary to perform the flush with the machine. I asked again how much it would cost in total and he reiterated about $190. I asked him if they would use Matic J and he said yes. So I definitely gave him the nod.

When I got my invoice, I saw listed under parts, Bulk Matic J/S Fluid - 2229, for 15 quarts at 3.92 each for a total of 58.80.

$3.92?? Can this be true? Did I walk off with a steal or does something sound fishy?

 

Well the AT only holds something just under 11 quarts so you were charged for something they might not have used. I am not a big fan of the machine flushes but I am under the impression that there is some loss with using the machine. Essentially they have to put more fluid in the machine than the AT holds because it is not 100% efficient. The new fluid from Nissan is known as S Matic, which replaced J.

 

My dealer charges $18 a quart! I need an alternative to the Matic-J ( or S ) because I refuse to pay $18 for something that costs them $4.

 

honestly, its not exactly all nissan fluids.

I was a dealership tech for a while and i had to a madza ATF flush, they gave me 8qts of some random dexron stuff and filled the machine up and did it from the lower hose.

Yea, if your tranny dies and they open it up and found fluid to be non-nissan its your money but not exactly, if you get it done at a the dealership. They dealership takes care of the warranty claim. After that its not your problem its the dealerships.

The only diffrence between matic whatever and ATF is the additives. And of course the obvious blends. If one was bold enough to put down nissan matic whatever on their bottles, i would say that i would trust it 85%. I think amsoil and one other company does it, its a red bottle maybe made by castrol.

did you get a deal? yes and no. a drain and fill would cost your $50 in fluid and about 1 hour of time. There is NO RISK in doing that as long as you fill it back up properly. If you get paid $30 an hour and it would roughly cost you $80 of your labor, if your slow $110 for 2 hours. And the results would be similiar.

I just googled matic J and came up this thread, somewhat agrees with my saying. http://www.titantalk.com/forums/tita...9-matic-j.html this is very similiar to buying a K/N filter for a celica at $50 and buying a TRD filter which is a K/N rebadged for $110, toyota forums gutted and found that out.

 

Wow...$$$. I got the Matic_S a couple months ago at about $11 or $12 a quart.

I am not sure if Infiniti charges a higher price for the same fluids but I got mines at a Nissan dealer.

 

I know they do in my area, not only for parts but for service as well. 4 wheel alignment at the Nissan dealer $69.99 and $119.99 for the same alignment with the same rack down the street at the Infiniti dealer. I think there was close to a $2 difference on the S matic when I called yesterday in the favor of the Nissan dealer.

 

Just doesn't make too much sense to me. Do they actually think that we don't know Nissan owns Infiniti and the parts are Nissan parts. Obviously they see alot of Infinitis stopping by to get service.

 

Do the stealers really get J/S Matic in bulk?.... I suspect a switcharoo... with some standard bulk dextron ATF. But I never trust stealers so don't take my word for it.

 

Well they do incur higher costs such as providing loaners, free car washes, nicer facilities, etc. I could careless about bringing my car to Nissan for an alignment or picking up parts there since I do most of the work myself.

 

Yeah screw the dealers. I try to do what I can myself (not much but I can handle swapping out all the fluids, etc and some easy diy). We should all do that . Or at least bring it to an outside mechanic and pocket the difference. Dealers = Stealers.

 

^ not in all cases.... they can back u up at times. Like for engine replacement due to oil consumption. They could "good-will warranty" stuff when you are clearly out of warranty for being a nice customer. They could do a lot of things all pending on your exact relationship with the dealership.

but most dealers are in it to steal.

 

Yup, they are good for warranty stuff. I am sure they don't want to honor it if they have a choice. As for good will warranty, I've never came across anyone that I've known that had it.

 

The Amsoil ATF is listed as compatible with matic-J and is superior to every other ATF I'm familiar with. I've used it on a whole bunch of cars and the results have always been positive. Btw it's cheaper than matic J too.

 

It's been a few threads about the same price issue. There is a couple of dealer tha sell the Matic S online for around $8.00 per qt plus shipping. Last time I paid $74 for 8 qts of this ATF shipped.

 

Where can i buy some online? I need to do a drain and fill. 4 quarts should be fine right? Or should i get 5?