Although many people wish to do maintenance service on their cars, lot’s of folks consider $99 for this “service” to be a wallet flush. I’m one of them. I save money in places people don’t even think about. 
CSA
Agreed. That’s why I questioned whether or not my coolant exchange method would work on a Hyundai.
My cars have a cap at the top of the tank, outboard of the core. I believe I’ve seen some foreign cars that have the cap centered above the core and some have no cap at all on the radiator, but located elsewhere.
CSA
Art, I could not the video you saw on removing the lower radiator hose from a Sonata. But while searching saw on a Tiburon they have an orange or red plug that unscrews to drain the radiator.
Rule 1: NEVER use irony or sarcasm in a text post.
I thought “wallet flush” in the title would alert people that I was sort-of kidding. In my years of lurking here lots of the resident experts have opined that transmission flush (rather than drain and refill) is an unneeded upsell, notably from quick lube places, and have called it a “wallet flush.” I was just echoing that.
(Of course, my confusing of transmission flush and coolant flush caused a lot of misunderstanding. There also seems to be some varying understanding of what coolant flush means. Some people seem to think that drain-and-refill coolant is a flush. PLEASE DO NOT START ARGUING ABOUT THAT ON THIS THREAD. :>) )
Yes, coolant replacement and transmission fluid replacement are necessary service. (So is brake fluid replacement.) Is either of them worth $99? YMMV.
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Yeah good point. It’s hard to see expressions over the net and some really jump to conclusions fast. It wouldn’t be the first time even face to face where I have simply made a joke agreeing with someone and I thought they were going to go ballistic.
At any rate, I know some good mechanics swear by transmission flushes but from what I have read, several more quarts than the trans holds need to be exchanged in a flush. I discussed with my trusted trans shop they said just drain and refill changing the filter, then if it looks bad, go from there. If you change at 30K, you never get to the point where it looks bad. I think it costs me about $125 for the whole job with synthetic “lifetime” fluid, and while I wait. I don’t trust the GM dealer though which is another story.
And as Keith says in another thread, always use the OEM fluid.
For coolant replacement, either way is probably fine. Since coolant replacement it is such a simple job for a diy’er, I’ve always just drained the old coolant out the bottom of the radiator , then flushed plenty of water through the radiator with a garden hose until it runs clear. Then I refill the radiator with water, start the engine for 2 or 3 minutes, stop, and do it again. That sort of down-flush action powered by gravity should sweep most of the loose debris inside the radiator and drain it out. Trying to accomplish that from the top of the radiator , not sure if that would work as well at getting at the gunk residing at the bottom.
If anything more complicated is needed to clear a gunked up radiator, I just remove the whole thing from the car, tip it upside down and do a reverse flush.
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I was waiting for that. I have no “gunk” in the bottom of my radiators! I use clear containers and get to observe what settles to the bottom after a few days. Nothing! Expansion tank… same thing, nothing but clear, clean coolant!
I use nothing but the manufacturer’s specified long-life coolant that has a 5 year/150,000 suggested change interval, but I do this every 2 or 3 years anyhow. The stuff is fantastic.
I’ve had lots of cars, driven hundreds of thousands of miles, and never any residue and of course no cooling system blockage, restrictions, or problems of any kind.
My proof is in my pudding!
CSA
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Here’s what I don’t understand.
The services talked about only occur every three or four years. It’s not like an annual requirement.
So if a coolant flush costs $100.00, or if a tranny flush costs $200.00, if you look at the overall cost of owning/operating a vehicle, these prices are peanuts.
Plus! They make the vehicle last longer!
Tester
Exactly. Scheduled maintenance, even over-maintaining a car, is pennies.
I see people pondering if they really need to spend that extra $3/quart for the correct oil or use the octane fuel their car requires or whether to spend $99 on a cooling system service and think “What the…?” I can’t take my wife out to drinks and dinner for $99 but people are wondering whether maintenance on the car is a worthwhile expense.
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I will supply the missing information. I have 5 cars on the road. I am thrifty and save money, lots of it. I have other things I enjoy besides cars, that require money. 
A hundred here, two hundred there, multiplied by 5, and pretty soon you’re talking real money!
CSA
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I haven’t been out for dinner in decades. I consider that to be a wallet flush, also. Besides, I couldn’t get anything healthful to eat if I did that.
CSA
According to the OP there is a lot of work to get to the lower radiator hose.
I could not find the video he cited or any other info on a 2009 Sonata related to steps involved.
Reminds me of an old country western thing,
HE: I can pick you up at 6:30, unless you want dinner first.
SHE: I would love dinner first.
HE: Fine I’ll pick you up at 7:30 to give you time to eat.
Now being a Friday and we are talking about relationships, good times and hard times, She thinks I steal cars, Pinkard and Bowden
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OK, good one. Glad to see some humor here. Not to be a copy cat but . . .
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I’m of a different opinion than some others
I always prefer the radiator petcock over removing the lower hose, if there is a choice. We don’t have a coolant service machine at our shop, anyways
Less of a mess, especially if you can attach an appropriately sized hose to the petcock and aim it into a bucket or tub
Removing a splash guard or airdam only takes a few minutes
A simple drain and refill with 50-50 is quite sufficient. I don’t know about my colleagues, but I generally keep to a 5 year schedule . . . meaning coolant drain and refill every 5 years. I personally don’t buy into that idea that the coolant is initially good for 10 years, then every 5 years thereafter. I do NOT wait 10 years. That’s right up there with “lifetime atf” as far as I’m concerned
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If flushing fluids, rather than drain-and-refill on schedule, makes a vehicle last longer, I’d like some proof, because I’m not convinced.
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CSA, where you live is so remote that going out to eat is cooking whatever you trapped that day back at the camp ground. 
I hitched up and drove the team to town today. I trapped some bananas at Wal-Mart and went to the library and returned books (made from trees!) for my wife.
She headed to FL with her sister. I’m supposed to pick her up at an airport in the Big City a couple hundred miles from here next week-end, stop for a wedding in OH and drive to FL for a spell. I’m a bachelor for a few days. Life is tough at the camp.
CSA
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At least you have the oxen and dog team to keep you company.
Say, when are you moving to the Sunshine State?
The living in the boondocks reference reminds me of a fellow tech co-worker, hailing from the mountain country of Georgia. The family house there where he grew up and the parents still lived had no electricity, which is sort of ironic b/c he was an electrical engineer. Anyway, one summer vacation he went back home to visit his mom and dad. Besides no electricity, the home had no indoor plumbing. The only source of water was a well about 50 yards up the hill from the home. The mom and dad hauled water from the well to the home in buckets as required. Thinking he’d do a helpful service for his parents, he took time off from his holiday to install a PVC pipe from the well to the home, so the parents could turn a spigot right outside the front door for water. He was very pleased with himself indeed for being such a good son! When he got back to California he phoned up his parents and asked them how the pipe was working. The dad told him “mom made me remove it, she didn’t like the taste of the water” … lol …