Last chance-flush or drain?

Yes but the Prism (Corolla) doesn't have a filter. It uses a screen and when they drain they use a drain plug and don't remove the pan.

---MIKE---

How many miles on the car? When was the last time you had it serviced? Will they use the Real Deal, or 'Transmission fluid with the proper modifiers"?

A flush and fill is not a bad idea IF you have kept up the maintenance as scheduled and drained and filled at the right intervals.

Our experience has been, over 100,000 miles or so, the friction materal from the clutches and brakes is wearing off, and are being suspended in the fluid. By flushing the transmission your are removing all of that friction material, and the transmission starts slipping.

On a couple of Escorts (with Mazda transmissions) we had TOTAL FAILURE of the transmission, in one case within MILES of picking the car up! This particular car had 110,000 miles and we had no history whatsoever on the car!

So, if it's low mileage and has been serviced regularly, you should be ok with a flush and fill. But, bear in mind, they might not use the right stuff for your car (this especially applies to Chrysler owners! DON'T DO IT!!!), and since they're going to pump through 4-5 gallons of the stuff, it isn't going to be the best! A flush and fill ($89, IIRC) and then a DRAIN AND FILL would give you the best bet; you'll know the tranny has been serviced, and at least 1/4 of the T Fluid will be the Right Stuff!

I'd go with the flush.

---MIKE---

The car has 46000 miles and the transmission has never been serviced. The dealer will be using the approved fluid for a Toyota.

---MIKE---

If you're just going to do a drain and fill, this will be just fine. If you actually want to do a flush, then they should use the right stuff. The mileage is low enough for the trans to 'survive'!

---MIKE---

Since your Prism has low miles, and cost is not a concern, if it was my car, I'd go with the flush.

Another extremely important factor in the case-by-case determination of service type to use is not only mileage and service history, but condition of fluid. I've seen two year old cars with less then 30k that have trans fluid I wouldn't dream of flushing. If the fluid is black-ish with a thick consistancy and a burned odor, stay away from the flush. Sometimes you can also see particulate matter in the fluid; usually this is clutch material, and another reason to let it be. I may have already told this story, but several years back a guy came in with an old Camry demanding that he get a BG flush. We pulled it in, took one look at the dipstick, and declined to perform the service based on the conditions I described above. He persisted like a bastard, even getting the service director involved. He's a paying customer, so on and so forth. Anyway, the director had him sign on the repair order that we were not responsible for any bad juju that may arise from the service, and we flushed 16 qts of Dexron through it along with cleaner and conditioner. Buttoned it all up, put her on the ground, went to back it outside, and the car just sat there. Reverse, drive, there was nothing. All the clutch material was in the machine next to the car. The thing did engage (violently) at about 2500 rpm, but we pushed it out anyway. That was the dumbest hour of labor I think we ever earned. Haven't seen the guy back since.

I don't know if this matters but my driving is all country roads - somewhat hilly - but no city driving. I will check the dipstick and also ask the dealer to check the fluid BEFORE the decision is made.

---MIKE---

Thanks everyone for your responses. I checked the dipstick and the fluid appears to be red and clear so I guess I will go ahead with the flush.

---MIKE---