"Greg Houston" > wrote in message
...
> Bill Putney wrote:
>
> > Press release posted he
> > http://300mclub.100megs42.com/forums...?p=85382#85382
> >
> > Will this mean it will cost less? (I assume 'yes'.)
>
> I doubt the ATF+4 price slide will accelerate much anytime soon.
> Remember D-C is doing this amist anti-trust pressure to the federal
> government. (See ILMA's letter to the FTC
> http://ilma.org/resources/ftc_dcc_letter.pdf) D-C also has legitimate
> reasons to be really careful with the quality and formulation of ATF+4
> in addition to wanting to be the supplier. Their newer transmissions
> are very sensitive to ATF properties so quality control has to be very
> good. So you can bet that the costs of manufacturing ATF+4 should be
> higher for the new producers (licensing, quality control checks,
> periodic D-C inspections) than it would be for generic ATF fluids.
>

It's not the cost of manufacture that is the problem. Raw crude is selling
at about $1.20 a gallon. I would guess after refining and blending with
the additives, the trans fluid is probably selling at under $8 a gallon.

Now, how do you get from $2 a quart to the $8 quart that it seems to
be selling through the dealer network?

That is the real problem. Standard retail markup is 400% and ATF+4
isn't available outside of a dealership, so a trans shop that uses a lot of
it in customer transmissions has to buy it by the case from the chrysler
dealer. They can't go to whoever they buy bulk motor oil from and
get it from them. Nor can you or I go to a discount auto parts place
that has a lower markup, and buy it from them. Nor can you or I
wait until a regional or national auto parts place puts it on sale.

Ted