BC is the only province with pay at the pumps first.

When I drop off the car, just a signature is needed.

No free dentists. :(

Thank Gord my wife has a good dental plan. Of course, our dentist takes full use of it. I had 4 small repairs done, along the gum line from grinding my chompers at night. (Probably thinking about Lambo doors.) Start to finish, 20 minutes. Bill - $850. (Paid his Hummer payment in the time it takes to go for a good dump.)

36000 mile tranny fluid change ? yeah weird .. is that what the manual specifies ? I thought for sure it was at least double that ....

With Synthetic you can go even farther. Hyundai recommends 7500 miles between oil changes with just conventional oil. I do mine two times a year. In Nov and in May.

Hyundai rocommends 7.500 miles for oil changes unless you drive in any of the "severe" driving conditions (about 12 of them), for which they then recommend 3,000 miles..

75% of people drive in one of those "severe" conditions... stop & go driving, short distances, severe cold or heat, dusty or sandy conditions, etc, etc, etc...

that being said, I actually do drive in "optimal conditions" and I still am changing it around 4,000 or 4,300 miles... i might go to Synth on one of my next oil changes and push it to 7,000 or 7,500...

my mechanic told me that once I go to Synthetic, I cant really go back to dino oil.. is that true?

That was true about 20 years ago. Now you can switch every oil change, if you desire. It had something to do with oil seals swelling, and then shrinking with the old oil, or something like that. Your mechanic's name isn't COOTER, is it???

LOL, no, and our town cop's name is not Roscoe P. Coltraine either.... (i did read up on the whole "swelling and then leakage" stuff after I posted)

and he didnt tell me i CANT go back (like i said before), he said i "shouldnt"... which i guess is a whole different kettle of fish...

You can always put a bottle of Chevron Techron in the gas yourself.Does a major clean up of the fuel injectors,valves and combustion chamber.
Available at wally world.

I use Mobil1 Extended Synthetic (15K interval type). I used to use Amsoil but was tired of that no one sold it and had to order online. I use a Hyundai filter and change at 7500 interval with this oil.

I've used Mobil 1 (plain vanilla) for 33 years since it came on the market in 1975.

No complaints yet. And Walmart started stocking the 5W-20 stuff in 5 quart containers recently.

This post has been edited by kn5owa: May 22 2008, 10:39 PM

Did you change the tranny fluid yourself? I have the 2006 V6 Sonata with automatic and would like to do a drain and replace. Does anyone know if there is a drain plug in this car for the transmission? If I do a drain and replace on this 3.3L V6 about how much make up fluid would I need to use? Thanks, Stanley stan1911@comcast.net

Hmm.. I may just do that. What exactly should I get?

I just replaced the tranny fluid on my Accord (drain/fill 2x, w/10mi in between) at 75k miles, and to be honest, it probably could have gone another 40-50k... It was still pretty red.

I don't know anything about Hyundai's and their trannies (still researching that as well) but i'm sure it's pretty similar; either way, i agree that sometimes the stealership is attempting to get some sales during a slower day.

i believe for tranny fluid (as it's NOT an OIL persay) is spent when it looks burned... if it looks like coffee, then you're too far gone... def. replace it, but expect some slipping and possible failure depending on how long it ran like that. Otherwise, if it looks decent, then there's no real reason to replace it.

motor oil does NOT follow this convention.

Oh also, my specs call for 5w20, but i often use 5w30 in order to prevent more vibrations and slight knocking. it won't harm the engine, just be a tad more viscous.

You guys are starting to worry me with these STEALER stories, Fortunetly, when I bought my Sonata, the dealer gave us 3 years of free oil changes, I got 2 1/2 years left before they start getting into my pocket. But at each oil change they (supposedly) give the car a 24 point check and wash the car when they are done, unless it is raining. I like to have the dealer do all of the servicing( both warranty and non warranty) cause then they have a record. I heard lots of horror stories from people who do their own servicing and get told that their warranty is void because they can't prove that the service was done. Even when they had their own records. Shortly before I traded our 2000 Elantra for the New Sonata, I took it in for a recall issue (exauast manifold repair) and front end noise. At 97,000 miles they replaced both front axels under warranty. I took it to the dealer I always go to and they had the service record on file.

It always amazes me - read your maintenance schedule that comes with your vehicle - any vehicle !!!!
Any shop including your dealer will tell you any story you want to hear as long as you buy what they are selling. My dealer has a 60K service listed for $1150 !!! I was curious and called around to see what every one else was charging and the going rate was $800 -1200 included everything up to a timing belt replacement. Maintenance manual calls for 2 items which are about $120 for the 60K at any shop. That is all that is required for the warranty. On top of that I do not open my tranny, rear end, fuel system or engine unless I SUSPECT a problem. Do you know how much people spend just on maintenance ???? Always read the maintenance manual before you purchase a car - you can be robbed blind by maintenance costs. As far as keeping my fuel system clean I add a basic additive every 10K for about $3 - Change my oil every 5K and keep my engine area clean - never had a failed tranny, engine, rear end or fuel system in about 750K miles driven.......money stays in my pocket :):):):):). Of course I havent bought a Yugo, Fiat or the like......

This post has been edited by Heinz57: Aug 18 2008, 06:40 PM

Another idea - always look at the car before you purchase to see what the maintenance would be like. For example, the location of the dipsticks, the oil filter, the engine air filter, and the cabin air filter (if any). Then, if at all possible do the work yourself.

My LX's are not too hard to maintain, but I just leased a Ford Taurus which is almost laughably easy to maintain - one of the reasons I got it.

And people in my area - Northern Virginia - are getting robbed blind on just about everything - would love to give a few examples but a little off topic.

I would like to hear about it. :)

I live in the Northern VA area, outside DC (Georgetown). People do charge a lot in our area for the tax and I'm sure the location of some of these repair shopts are expensive too.

I am not sure if I'm allowed to post up a business. BUT, you should try the Liberty Gas Station in Alexandria Virginia. Its located off Franconia road about a mile from the intersection of Franconia and Van Dorne.

They worked on my wrangler and are now working on my sonata. They have a lot of business. You might need to drop your car off for a few hours. Overall this is just some information. You will have to determine if its the right shop for you.