Clarify Drivetrain Fluid Maintenance Interval
 

My '06 Turbo has 90K miles. Dealer says I need a $1500 trans fluid change. I have no transmission issues. The Porsche maintenance info I have for the 955 says change ATF at 160K or 16 years. Who's right?

I would change the transmission fluid at 90k if I were you. I would NOT pay $1,500 to do it though, LOL. They really fancy themselves and their fluid, don't they?

Not a chance that I'd pay that. It's ATF, not Type O- blood. I'm looking for a good Porsche indie here in Bend OR.

If you've got the skills it's definitely a DIY type of job. A bit on the messy side but I just changed my ATF filter and fluid on my 2011 for under $260.

Yeah, it's not that bad. I'd never done an ATF change before (all my cars have been manual), but while not "fun" it's not horrible. Definitely a fantastic cost savings vs. dealer. There is a good procedure documented at ECS (as well as other places). I posted a thread a few months ago when I did mine called "All the pig fluids", it has info on capacities and which fluids meet the specs for the various things.

cheers,
c

Oh, and to address your initial question, I would NOT wait until 160k, that interval was made-up to support the myth of maintenance-free. I did mine at 140k (when I bought it) and the fluid was darker than what I'd consider good.

cheers,
c