Cost of front, rear differential and transfer case fluid change

My 2022 tacoma is reaching 30k mile.
Want to change the front, rear differential and transfer case fluid.
My dealer quoted me with almost 700 to change those 3 fluids.
Is it overpriced?
Has anyone changed those fluids at 30k mile? How much did it cost?

 

You'll get a lot of people here telling you to do it yourself.

That sounds expensive. Labor shouldn't be more than 1.5 hours, should be less. So say $250 labor max. Even if using the super-special and expensive Toyota transfer case oil, materials are probably around $100 at dealer prices. I would expect to spend less than half of what they quoted you.

 

As a data point, I paid $207 to Stevinson Toyota in Colorado last year for the service.

 

My experience with any vehicle is the dealer will charge 2-3 times what an independent shop will charge.
I found a shop that only works on Subaru for the wife's Forester.
I found a shop that only works on Toyota for my Tacoma.

Both are excellent shops, great people, experienced, and they charge 1/2 to 1/3 what a dealer would want.

Most of the crew at the Toyota shop drive Tacoma's - always a good sign they know it inside and out.

 

I like doing stuff myself (besides regular oil changes) but I’d pay that price for both diffs and the transfer case…

 

For $200 you can get all the required fluids, Lexus hex head front diff drain/fill plugs, and the few tools you'd need for the job assuming you don't have them now.

That said, $200 for the dealer to provide the service is a damn good deal. Hard to believe the fluids themselves weren't marked up beyond that price. The Ravenol kit from Blauparts is about $150 itself: https://www.blauparts.com/toyota-tacoma-transfer-case-differential-fluid-change-kit.html. I love the Ravenol bottles. They've got a fantastic internal straw that pulls out so you don't need any sort of transfer pump.

 

Literally did this on Monday, as the 15K special conditions maintenance so oil and tire rotation was part of it too, and it was only $400. That was after I specified I wanted the correct fluid, not the generic stuff that usually gets done, so that upped the price from around $370. I did still have a free oil change so I didn't pay for that part, though.

 

I was going to do myself but when they offered the $207 I decided I'd rather them do it.

 

That Ravenol kit is great, and agree on the bottles. That was a nice surprise and made it super simple. Plus that is the only proper transfer case fluid I could find outside of the Toyota fluid.

Either way, some people just aren't inclined to do it themselves. While my oldest daughter would likely give it a shot, there's no way my wife or younger daughter would ever attempt it.

 

Likely the easiest DIY job on the truck. Empty them, and fill them till it spills out... only a few tricks to it. Remove the fill plugs before draining, keep the truck on the wheels, and torque the plugs back on.

 

The region of the country really impacts the price along with the number of dealers close enough to be a easy drive.
The higher the overhead the more things are going to cost.

 

That price is HIGH! I just rolled 30,000+ this week on my 2021. I did my rear diff around 28,000 and it looked really clean... I might wait on the front, probably do the transfer case soon.

 

I think i paid around 300 for each diff and 700 for the transmission… was also around 700 for the spark plugs.

 

Tfer case labor and fluids cost me less than $100 bux a year and a half ago at an independent offroad shop I use.

They also charged me less than $40 for diff fluid, but labor I'm not sure about, as I was re-geared at the same time, so that was nearly $2k in labor.

I bet I would have been charged about the same as what @greenone paid, around $200 if I was only having those two things done.

Things have obviously gone up since then, and I feel I got a pretty good deal.

 

Might need to drop the spare tire to get the back diff full. I have to look but I think my skid plate will need to be removed to do the transfer case.

 

Wow. I'll come mow your lawn for $450 per 0.25 acres.

 

Ya ya, i know i got reamed up the pooper for what i paid… didnt know i was getting it good in the ass till i got home and looked up what everyone was paying.

 

Sorry, just giving you crap, lol. I'm just a cheap bastard that would rather spend money on more tools than paying someone else to do the work.

 

My dealer quoted about that much for that service + AT transmission fluid change. They also offered to do even less for more money if I went for the 60k mile service instead.

 

I’ve changed all three on my Sport, $163 plus shipping on the fluids for all three. Took about an hour and a half……took a few beer breaks.

There are some great videos on the section at the top of the page.