Hyundai / Kia ATF - Huge Price Increase !

[ChrisD46]

Boy , last year when I did a drain & fill I bought Kia SP-III ATF for my '07 Sedona it was approx. $7.00 per quart ... Today when I went to buy at the dealer it had jumped up to $15.49 per quart for SP-III (SP-IV was $20) !! The tech just said : "Yeah , the prices jumped up a few months ago ..." . That's outrageous for SP-III or SP-IV !!... First , I need to find a good aftermarket SP-III ATF that is safe to use meeting SP-III , then find the same as a SP-IV replacement !! ... *I bought Kia SP-III because they were less expensive than Hyundai SP-III - Geeze I wonder what Hyundai now charges for SP-III ?

 

[meadows]

Do not buy!

 

[JayhawkRoy]

Amazon has Idemitsu HK (jSP III) for 5.55: https://www.amazon.com/Idemitsu-SP-III-Automatic-Transmission-Hyundai/dp/B009PVCOKE MAperformance has Mitsubishi SP III for 7.80, plus shipping if order is less than $199. https://www.maperformance.com/produ...-_cjJ4gIVUrnACh2MygxpEAQYBSABEgI-ZfD_BwE

 

[JLTD]

New fluid to address transmission issues?

 

[LotI]

Maybe they're milking the customer... Bean counter thinking: "You can buy fluid for $20/qt or a new tranny with install for $5,000...what do you want to pay?" "He, he, he, we got them to pay four times as much for the same stuff! Woohoo" When I changed the fluid in my Mazda6 it was $16/qt. No aftermarket equivalent so I sucked it up.

 

[Cmobile]

Valvoline Maxlife full synthetic. ~$18/gal

 

[MParr]

Kendall or Phillips 66 VersaTrans LV will do the trick. https://www.kendallmotoroil.com/products/transmission-fluid/versatrans-lv-atf

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Use Maxlife instead

 

[walterjay]

Valvoline Maxlife. I just did mine today. $17.97 for a gallon of it. Been using it on Kia/Hyundai for years.

 

[csandste]

Originally Posted by slacktide_bitog

Use Maxlife instead

That was my plan before the price increase.

 

[Rand]

Ron Marhofer has 2 hyundai dealers near me.. about 20mins away from each other.. one was $12.59/qt the other was $7.49/qt you can also use the mitsubishi or kia fluids same thing.

 

[Propflux01]

Are you buying the older SP-lV or SP-lV-M? I was wondering if they were selling the SP3 and 4 at higher prices because they essentially do not make it anymore, as it has been superseded by SP-lV-M

 

[WhizkidTN]

I'm using the Amsoil OE Fuel-Efficient Synthetic ATF (got 12 quarts for ~$9.62/ea) rated for Kia (SP4-M) and did my D&F twice to more fully change out the old OEM ATF (SP-III) on my '12 Optima. Seems to work good for me. https://www.amsoil.com/shop/by-prod...-synthetic-automatic-transmission-fluid/

 

[DoubleNickels]

Originally Posted by ChrisD46

"Yeah , the prices jumped up a few months ago ..." . That's outrageous

Shop around. You will find prices are different from 1 seller to the next.

 

[Saul]

Napa carries Eneos SP3 https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/AOR3110300

 

[dubber09]

Just use MaxLife and stop wasting your time. Here is what I paid last time at Canadian WM:

 

[wemay]

Maxlife has worked like a charm in our SFS.

 

[ChrisD46]

Thanks for the replies - I have a WM and NAPA close by so the Max Life (WM) or the Eneos (NAPA) will hopefully take care of the Kia SP-III ATF needs.

 

[Veilside]

Maxlife covers Hyundai/Kia fluids back to SP-II and appears to cover all the current fluid specs. PDS on Website. https://www.valvoline.com/our-products/automatic-transmission-products/maxlife-multi-vehicle-atf

 

[Mainia]

Originally Posted by ChrisD46

Boy , last year when I did a drain & fill I bought Kia SP-III ATF for my '07 Sedona it was approx. $7.00 per quart ... Today when I went to buy at the dealer it had jumped up to $15.49 per quart for SP-III (SP-IV was $20) !! The tech just said : "Yeah , the prices jumped up a few months ago ..." . That's outrageous for SP-III or SP-IV !!... First , I need to find a good aftermarket SP-III ATF that is safe to use meeting SP-III , then find the same as a SP-IV replacement !! ... *I bought Kia SP-III because they were less expensive than Hyundai SP-III - Geeze I wonder what Hyundai now charges for SP-III ?

Why buy sub-standard older OEM superseded AFT when a superior OEM brew is available if you feel OEM is what you want? All my Hyundai's get Redline D6 or Amsoil SS trans oil. Since I service it myself the cost difference from OEM is almost nothing for going a top grade oil. At 2,000 miles I dumped all my fluids and switched them out to Redline products. Redline is one of the very few that has OEM speced DCT(dual clutch) LV trans fluid for our Hyundai DCT's. I wanted to flush everything. Just a heads up to to you AWD Hyundai owners, don't forget to change out your rear diff oil, since that is where all your AWD clutch packs are is a thimble amount of oil (just a tad over 1/2 Quart). I dumped mine on my new Hyundai at 2,000 miles and it was dirty with break-in clutch material. I suggested 8,000 miles to others on the the forums,( I have now revised that to dumping @ 5,000 miles) and one guy brought it in to the dealer to change the rear diff fluid, and the service manager told him they were VERY surprised how dirty it was at 8,000 miles since they have never dumped it so early. The service manager said he is going to suggest Hyundai doing an early dump as part of proper maintenance on a new Hyundai's when he goes to his regional meetings. He said even the mechanic that dumped it was surprised how dirty it was. This is true for my wife's Rav4. Thats how I caught this issue. Same to be true on most rear diff clutch engaging AWDs. I did another dump at 7,000 miles and it was dirty but not as near as bad. It is the initial high amount of break-in material that really makes it a must to get that abrasive oil out of there. My transfer case oil was clean at the 2,000 mile mark, that is why I did not change it out again. Also remember, on a Hyundai DCT your trans fluid is also your front diff fluid since the gearbox and the diff oil chambers are connected. Below is the fill level on most DCT Hyundai's. https://www.hyundaikonaforum.com/fo...id-full-level-outflow-port-location.html .