[KWS]

My point was not that it cannot be done by someone at home. Several on this forum have done it. My point is that if you do not know what you are doing, $450 for a mechanic to do it is a lot cheaper than repairing/replacing a transmission after screwing up a do it yourself job. This is true for most automotive work. That said, $450 does seem steep for the job. I have read posts on forums with Subaru CVT owners paying significantly less than that. A quick search after seeing this thread and I found dealers with service pages quoting $310 or less for the service.

You seem to be suggesting ATF in your CVT. I hope I am misreading what you wrote. Automatic transmission fluid is not the same as CVT Fluid. If you are suggesting ATF in your CVT, then you may want to spend some time educating yourself on the differences between a CVT and traditional automatic transmissions. I would pay particular attention to the parts about fluid needs. CVTs are significantly different than traditional automatics. As a result, they have different fluid requirements. Using ATF in a CVT is known to cause significant damage (things like belt/chain failure) to CVT transmissions.

I chose $462 Dealer flush today in Connecticut as we like to pay more to support higher paid auto professionals. The solenoid died and ‘15 Forester at 88,000 will go to my grand daughter in September.

 

[KWS]

Thank you so much. I am non car handy and asked dealer to do it for $460 while they were replacing solenoids ( under warranty) as a precaution due to city driving at 88000 mi on 2015 Sub 15!