Originally Posted by loepke72

The old wives' tale about not doing a transmission fluid service because it will cause a failure is just that, an old wives' tale. If you perform a transmission fluid service and somehow a problem happens, that transmission was headed for the rebuild bench already. At least at the dealer you are going to get the correct fluid used, and not some no-name stuff out of the bulk drum or worse, some kind of jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none "universal" transmission fluid.

I see once again the unwarranted bashing of professional technicians on this board. I say to you: Do you do your job correctly 100% of the time? I'm not going to make excuses for improper diagnosis here, but it seems to me that there are more than just a few people here that take every opportunity to single out auto techs, especially those that work at dealers as some sort of uncaring person interested in mediocrity. Yes, some of those people are found with a wrench in their hand, but they really are the minority.

As far as older cars at the dealer are concerned, there are good reasons for the techs to shy away from them. First, older cars tend to have things break easily, and then the shop gets blamed for it and ends up eating the cost more often than not. Second, as is often said, there is a shortage of knowledge regarding these vehicles. Parts are often not stocked and have to be ordered, service manuals may not be available, special tools and diagnostic equipment unavailable or not working, etc. Third, the shop gets blamed for each and every subsequent problem the customer has with the car. "You just fixed the oil leak, now the radio doesn't work" is not all that much of an exaggeration. Then they either have to flat out tell the customer they're wrong, or they try to make them feel good with more free repair work.