East TN, in the Smokies.
My wife lived up in Grayling MI as a kid...her mom is from there. She's got lots of relatives in North MI and the U.P. Been years since I've been back up there, though.

 

$2000 for the tranny flush, why is it so expensive?
I had a 99 A6 and they said it was had life time tranny fluid, is this the same story?
it cost me $400 at an indy shop to do the flush back then.

 

"Lifetime fluid" is a term made up by car companies (Audi), which means it stays in there till your transmission dies. ZF, the trans producer, never called it that..as I understand. If it dies outside Audi's warranty or 100K miles, it was a lifetime in their opinion.

Brozee was quoting dealer price: https://www.audiforums.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=157447
The D3's use a much more expensive fluid. ..why?: It's blue, glows in the dark and makes a mean frozen Daiquiri

The lifetime thing is a subject of great controversy and there are 2 schools of thought, with no clear winner. Example: Two D2 (same model) owners I know, both had trans failures at 185K miles...one did fluid/filter service every 30K miles...the other one NEVER touched his.

With all I've read, I've never seen a clear answer...to do preventive maintenance or not. If there's a problem/symptom, it should be addressed, though.

Don't know about D3's, but D2's trans seem to die not matter what anywhere from 120-190K...190K is about the longest I've ever heard of one making it, with OR without ATF service...there are probably exceptions out there, though.
There are a whole lotta D2's I know of that have never had ATF/filter service at over 150K and still goin. There are also a whole lot of em that failed before 120K WITH regular ATF service.

My personal opinion is right in the middle. I'm at 102K, no problems and never serviced, so I'm scared to touch it. There are also many many credible stories out there about finishing off high mileage transmissions simply by doing ATF/filter service (esp with a full flush) for the first time at high mileage, when there were no issues with it before(?).

Depends on who you talk to, including transmission repair people, and both sides will argue their belief just as strongly. Another discussion on the subject: http://forums.quattroworld.com/a8/msgs/32126.phtml

 

If it weren't for the shudder noise and vibration I wouldn't have flushed the transmission. I don't believe in changing fluids, only ones I would change is the tranny fluid and on an audi I personally would flush it at 100k; only because of the prevent maint. as well as all the crap that is in a tranny.

 

There ya go...I neither agree nor disagree. I like absolutes and everything else about cars are absolutes. Auto trans's drive me nuts. I fully understand how they work and wouldn't worry so much if I had the facilities and tools to do the work myself...then I wouldn't worry about a failure, regardless of what caused it.
Smart people and techs on both sides have logical things to say about both philosophies and solid evidence goes both ways, too.

Everyone seems to agree that auto tran's Do build up crap and turn ATF black with time. Real evidence discovered by trans techs show that in some cases this causes problems...in others it actually builds up useful friction materials that keep worn down parts functioning, that stay in place until flushing and detergents in new ATF washes them away and leads to those worn parts completely failing.

I actually know of cases, where old ATF was saved...filter changed and nasty ATF put back in....noises and symptoms went away...trans lived a long life.
As I stated before, unserviced tran's seem to live just as long as serviced ones, when widespread polls are all totaled.

I'm equally scared of bringing on failure by messing with something that's working perfectly as I am hastening it by doing nothing. With all my research and real life results all totaled together, I still see it as a hung jury.

No matter what conventional logic says on paper, real observations of disassembled tran's and high mileage failure points, both schools of thought have near equal merit. I listen to everyone's opinions....that's what drive me nuts...they're split down the middle.

I'm not even asking for an answer at this point...just frustrated that a machine made by humans that should follow only one rule, DOESN'T.

I also hate that the max life expectancy of the trans (no matter what ya do) is just so short compared to the potential life of that incredible motor, body and chassis...that, with occasional replaced wear items (reasonably priced and much simpler to repair) ALL far outlast the trans.

I've said it before, "Automatic transmissions and religion....no one knows for sure, until they die."

 

While i don't exactly know why transmissions fail internally ALL the time, but from what i have found at audi the only things that cause them to fail is leaking. If the pan is leaking then either you will be too low on fluid burning internal friction materials up, or dirt can get in there and mess up the worx.
EVERY single time a D2 A8 came in with a shifting, bucking, slipping, non engagement, you name it, had a leak somewhere on the trans.
(This excludes CVT transmissions as those are the work of Satan)
This is just my philosophy, but i think as long as the transmission stays sealed and has a lifetime fluid in there it should "never" fail....Well at least in theory.
I do believe in at least changing the fluid and filter (not flushing) every 80k or so just to make sure no contaminates are in the fluid.
In reality though, transmission detonation is futile, you can just postpone the inevitable.

 

Brozee, you anywhere near tha D? I'm coming up at the end of the month with a 'Skins fan, for the game. We'll be in a rental, since my D2 is still "up on blocks." PM me.