Spare Part Prices For Transmission

[W201 sweden]

I am draining/refilling my gearbox, and considered taking the pan down to clean magnet and filter. The dealer told me there is no gasket, only a sealing compound that costs $70 for less than 100grams!

The lock-up solenoid costs an unbelievable $560, and the type IV oil was $87 for 5 litres (approx 5 qts).

Is it only in Sweden, or are these prices for real?

I've seen the prices for the hood struts are high in US, but here they cost $200/each, and the right hand mirror glass is a whopping $380!

/Alexander

[SKperformance]

The mirror is the right price , the tranny fluid is about $20 for 5 liters the sealant is a regular gasket seal which is available everywhere for $10 easily.

[W201 sweden]

Hello SKperformance!

Thanks for the reply!

I had to pay 690 SEK = approx 98$ this time for the Toyota Type IV oil, 088682025.

I am a bit puzzled regarding the sealant, though. My friend works for a company that among other specialized engine work also repairs automatic transmissions. He adviced me to never use the regular "silicon-based" blue or orange "gasket-in-a-tube" stuff when working with automatic trannys. Probably due to risk of stuff migrating into the oil path?

I know for instance SAAB has a special compound used for the work on the 900 cars. It clearly is not silicon-based, that I can tell. :)

Is the Toyota product really just a "branded" version of the generic silicone stuff? In that case, the price is plain robbery...

/Alexander

[blake918]

Alexander, I changed my transmission filter (and cleaned the solenoids) a couple years ago, and I just used the sealer that we had sitting in the garage. I can't remember what brand it was, but it wasn't anything special, and it has been fine for the past couple years and many miles.

The price they are charging you for the T-IV is really high too. I pay about $6/liter. I'm sure I can find a better price, but I usually don't think about it before hand. Wow, $400 for a set of hood struts, that's insane!!

[W201 sweden]

Thanks Blake!

I'm seriously considering starting to do all maintenance myself on this car, and use original parts from mail order. (Sewell's, I guess.)

I was surprised -to say the least- when the Lexus dealer's mechanic (somewhat a newbie, but still) told me he had never replace a tranny filter or a fuel filter on the LS!

Sure there are very few Lexus LS here, and even the official dealer workshop only has room for ONE car. (And some room for one more car for wash/wax/vacuum jobs.)

I don't doubt they do what they charge you for, but who says they follow the recommendations?

Then I trust myself more... ;)

/Alexander

[nc211]

Alex, correct me if I'm wrong, but I've heard Sweden is one of the most expensive countries to live in on the planet, due to your tax rates. Maybe your prices are higher than ours because of that? Maybe that tax hit the distributors of the parts are getting hit with are passing it along to the consumer. That's how it works around here. For instance, North Carolina is one of the most expensive places in the entire country to buy a gallon of gas, behind Hawaii and California. Hawaii is higher due to where it is and the cost to supply the islands. California is higher due to smog control guidelines which require a special blend of fuel. Then it's us, the good ole' boys who, for some reason, live along the coast, have state ports that receive fuel, yet are taxed in the 30%+ for a gallon of gas. And our roads still suck, and our schools are way underfunded, and we have litter everywhere "biggest embarassement of all time for us". Go figure