I have a mazda3 2010 how good is the automatic transmission on this car?

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And you wonder why you get Flagged for being off topic.

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I made sure to ask the necessary questions before I ended the call. lol.

I visited the LexusClub forum as well and the people over there were arguing over whether the transmission needs to be changed or not. Most said it is better to drain and refill rather than flush. But some said the dealer never want to drain and refill.

A subject like this is truly a challenging one and Iā€™ll go with your advice and get the transmission flushed by the dealer so I can get this off my chest.

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Back in 2009 we bought a new Toyota that had a transmission without a dipstick and it used the ā€œLifetimeā€ fluid. The maintenance guide did not list any need to change the trans fluid.

Shortly after getting the car, I called two Toyota dealerships and a transmission shop. All three told me not to worry about changing the trans fluid until 100K miles.

I listened to that advice at first. Although that car is still running fine at 200K miles, Iā€™ve since realized 100K is too long to wait if you want to keep your car for the long term.

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I had my olds in the transmission shop for a solenoid pack. I asked him about the lifetime fluid and he just smiled and said no such thing. So Iā€™ve been having mine changed every 30k.

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this confirms everything. its like the dentist office offering candy after your visit. dentists dont make money if you dont come back. likewise mechanics dont make money if you dont come back.

i dont get paid enough and have to work with really rude or ignorant people that act like their profession is somehow extremely difficult when you dont even need a degree for it. i cant afford a few hundred bucks or few thousand bucks for repairs that are under the guise of preventative maintenance. if my car runs it runs. society designed the cities to require that i need a car. i dont want a car if i have to spend all this money on it. i bought a car as an appliance to get me from point A to point B. would you want a cellphone if you needed to repair it every few months with parts breaking?

sorry but there is a reason why the general population feels ripped off by mechanics.

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see?? this is why manufacturers now say transmission maintenance is pointless. they work too well to require anything and most people dont do it anyways.

Then expect expensive repairs or having to replace your car. Your choice.

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unfortunately car insurance isnt like medical insurance. if youre too poor the government provides medical insurance and you can get yourself fixed if something comes up. car insurance companies are profiteers and if your car breaks down they dont pay for it. they only cover liabilities of accidents.

i cant wait for the day when all cars are robotaxis and nobody actually owns the cars just subscription service to use them. then you wont even need car insurance.

sir a few thousand bucks are likely to put people like me out on the streets. this isnt exactly fair. in those circumstances mechanics are like the mafia. they use fear tactics to take your money.

What costs a few thousand bucks? Not a transmission fluid change.

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You really have some strange ideas and you keep showing how little you know of things. Vehicle insurance covers the damage and injury to someone if you are at fault in an accident . Without it you would lose everything . It also has nothing to do with your vehicle breaking down.

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Wow, just WOW!!! And here ALL the pros have been trying our best to help you out with your vehicleā€¦ This is NOT the 1st time you have made a negative comment about pro mechanicsā€¦

Have fun with your vehiclesā€¦ :+1:

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ALL companyā€™s that are not non profits are profiteersā€¦ If a company does not make money, it can not stay in business, do you go to work and invest 20K to over100K dollars in tools and go to work to not get paidā€¦ You have NO clue how the real world worksā€¦

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Donā€™t get him started on farmersā€¦

I might just suggest going to YouTube and looking up Daveā€™s auto center. He has the largest engine repair and rebuilding service in Utah. He is very good and professional. A recent one on maintenance said to cut the manufacturers recommendations in half if you want your equipment to last. But do what you want.

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Asking for a friend . If someone does not want to do routine vehicle maintenance - thinks vehicle mechanics are pirates - does not want to pay the insurance rates - what are they doing Uber and Door Dash for ?

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+1
The old saying ofā€¦ You can pay me now, or you can pay me laterā€¦ comes to mind.

The OP needs to understand that the difference between now and later is that the ā€œnowā€ payment is probably something on the order of $200-$250 for trans service. The cost of the ā€œlaterā€ payment (replacing/overhauling a trans that wasnā€™t serviced) can easily run $3,000, or maybe more.

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Uber pretty much requires a late model vehicle. You can buy a new car and do virtually no maintenance and still get 50 or more thousand miles out of it. I donā€™t think this is the right place for those folks.

I use the dentist analogy quite regularly. I have a friend who gladly visits the dentist every 6 months and is happy to pay the $300-$500 per person it costs for cleaning, X-rays, fluoride, etc. Yet she asks me if itā€™s OK to skip the transmission fluid and differential fluid changes at 30K on the SUV she uses to tow a trailer. People value different things, and people afford what they want to afford.

You want your car to be an appliance? It is. And just like every other appliance you own, it requires maintenance and will surely break at some point.
Furnaceā€“Needs new filters.
Water Heaterā€“Needs to be drained and elements checked/replaced or burner inspected.
Refrigeratorā€“Needs water filter and condenser coils cleaned.
Toiletā€“Needs cleaning regularly and flapper thingy rarely lasts more than a few years.
And so onā€¦

In 32 years as a mechanic I often remarked that I canā€™t believe people pay this much to have their cars fixed. But itā€™s not like they are forced to. If you donā€™t want to pay a garage to fix your brakes, do it yourself. I donā€™t think it should cost me $2700 to replace 80 feet of my backyard fence, but I can pay the fence company or do it myself. Iā€™ll be installing a new toilet at home this weekend, because I know how and have the proper tools and equipment.

Of course not. But thatā€™s a bad comparison. The average car on the American road is now 12 years old. How many 12 year old cell phones are out there? So the answer is simple, lease a car. Go sign a 3 year lease, make your monthly payments, and at the end of 3 years start over again. I have a few acquaintances who live like that. One in particular states that she never wants to think about what kind of tires to buy, or when the car needs new brakes, or if it will make that road trip this summer. Leasing solves all those problems.

Some people do get ripped off by mechanics. My son started driving last year. I found a car for sale at a low price because it ā€œneeded a transmissionā€ according to a Ford dealer. I repaired the transmission with a $60 part. I donā€™t believe that customer was treated properly by the dealer. But I canā€™t fix the world. All I can do is do whatā€™s right in my little corner and hope someone sees it and acts the same.

On the other hand, people who seek out services based on price and not quality are usually the ones who pay the most in the end.

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