My dealer wants me to do a transmission flush for $139 on my 2006 Pontiac Vibe with 38,000 miles. This is not listed in the owners manual.
Is this necessary?
No and it never will be. Follow the owners manual service schedule. A dealer who wants to flush a vehicle transmission with 38K on the clock is a con artist in my opinion. Congratulations on knowing what an owners manual is. A lot of drivers are clueless to the power of that little book.
At your mileage and age it is time to have the fluid drained and replaced and the filter replaced if it has one. Not flushed. And you don’t have to go to the dealer. Your owner’s manual probably says to have the fluid changed at some point, but the pros recommend every 20-30,000.
Ignore what your owner’s manual says about transmission service (with the exception of what type of fluid to put in it). As Jeffmw05 said, have the pan dropped and filter replaced every 30K - and you don’t need a dealer. If you follow that you can also safely ignore anyone who wants to flush it.
Except for a coolant system flush for neglected cooling systems, the only flush that’s going on, is the one they’re trying to perform on your wallet.
Just have the pan dropped and the filter changed and refill. This service needs to be done every 25-30k miles regardless of what the owners manual says.
transman