the guy shows me a sample of my transmittion fluid, and it is brown, in comparison to the sample that he showed me of good/new transmittion fluid, which was red. He says I realy should get it changed. So I ask how much ts gunna cost, and he says 40 bucks(reasonable price?????). So I agree. Then about 30 minutes laster when theyre done with my car, he comes up to me and tells me that my transmittion fluid bolt or cap or whatever is stripped, and that I need to go to the dealer and get it fixed, becuase they cant change the fluid without removing this bolt/cap/whatever it is. So my questions are

-is this a major problem, or should it be easy to fix?
-do i really need to go to the dealer, or shoudl anyone be able to fix it?
-and how much should this repair cost?
-oh yeah, and is 40 bucks a reasonable price for a tranny fluid change???

thanks a lot

btw-its a 99 2.8 quattro

 

First problem you were at a cheap place like Jiffy Lube... I am assuming by the way you wrote about it.... and second off. You need to realize that it wouldnt take them 30 minutes to figure out its stripped. I am willing to bet money that they spent 30 minutes trying to get it off and were unsuccessful. You need to explain to the manager of where ever you took it that the Drain plug wasnt stripped earlier and they are the only ones that have tried to use it.

Just remember when you take your car to a place that hires high school drop outs and gives them ten minutes of training on Oil.. and how it should be dealt with. You are going to get shatty service.

Find an independant European Mechanic, and have them change it out, shouldnt take too long. Also have them change the transmission fluid... they know what to use

 

Not sure how they determined if your fluid was brown, as Audi's have a sealed unit and have no dipstick and you have to drain some out to check the color.

Anyway Audi automatic transmission fluid is honey colored, not red like "regular" transmission fluid.

audi automatic transmission fluid is about 15 bucks a quart, vs 39 cents for bulk stuff at Jiffy lube. Get your car to a mechanic who specializes in Audi.

BTW, if you are having someone else change your oil, make sure YOU supply the filter and use the bigger MANN OEM filter. and use only synthetic oil.

Beare of the Jiffylube "Upsale". This is the equivalent of the "You want fries with that Ma'am?" at burger joints.

 

Is your car manual or auto? ATF should be red, manual trans fluid is brown, me thinks.

 

MT, of course

 

go back and ask how they checked it... seriously I guarantee they screwed it up

 

most of those guys dont know anything about european cars. Audi has special fluid for everything. i would never let jiffy lube ro oil max touch my audi

 

good thing they couldnt get ur plug off because they would have put the wrong fluid in and royally screwed stuff up.

 

Find a very reputable Audi shop in your area (preferably Audi certified mechanics). If there is none then find a decent dealer, but I imagine there is one.

Call them up, explain the situation, build a relationship with this shop and get all your work done there if they do good work and treat you nice.

 

i changed my own fluid...

its a fukin little specialized bolt with a pattern on it that only audi sells (yet another goddam special tool)

they probally mistaked it for a metric hex head (or w.e its looks like) and stripped it

id make them pay for it, i hate goddam stupid mechanics