Transmission replacement cost: the labor by state, plus the unit on your quote
Set the vehicle type and the state to see the labor. Then type the transmission price from your quote in More options, whether new, rebuilt or used, to get the full bill.
Transmission, SUV, national: typical labor, part not included
$793
Range $572 to $1,081 · transmission assembly · before sales tax
| Labor time, SUV | 5 h to 6.8 h |
| Shop rate, national | $114 to $159 per hour |
| Labor, typical | $793 |
| Part (your figure) | type it in More options |
No public price for this part: labor only until you type the part price in More options.
Compiled by Radif Partners · How costs are estimated · automaker labor times, BLS technician wages, parts read October 20, 2026 · not a quote
No public price for a replacement transmission could be read for this site, so this page prices the labor and leaves the unit to your quote. At the national median shop rate of $134 an hour, swapping the transmission of an SUV takes about $793 of labor, within a range of $572 to $1,081. The labor is about $887 on a sedan, $1,189 on a pickup and $1,210 on a luxury car. Those figures rest on 7 automaker times that run from 5 h to 10 h, the longest for a four wheel drive pickup. Add the unit yourself: if your quote lists a $3,000 rebuilt unit, an example rather than a market price, the typical SUV bill becomes $3,793. By state, the SUV labor alone goes from about $619 in West Virginia to $954 in the District of Columbia, before sales tax and before fluid or any extra parts.
Why the estimate stops at the labor
Most repairs on this site add a part price read in a public catalog. A transmission does not fit that method. The units on offer differ too much: a new assembly from the automaker, a remanufactured unit rebuilt in a plant, a unit rebuilt by a local specialist, or a used one taken from another vehicle. Each comes with a different history and a different price, and the right one depends on the exact transmission code of the car. Rather than publish a figure that could mislead, the estimator shows the labor and asks for the price on your quote.
Type that figure in the field for the part price under More options. The estimator then keeps the labor for your vehicle type and state and adds your number. Nothing else changes, so you can try a new unit and a used one side by side and see how much of the bill is the part and how much the work.
Labor times from transmission campaigns
Automakers replace transmissions under recalls and special service campaigns, and the instructions they file with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration state the time paid to the dealer for the swap. These are the times used here, for continuously variable transmissions on Toyota and Honda models and conventional automatics on General Motors trucks and SUVs.
| Type | Vehicle and engine | Bulletin filed with NHTSA | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Luxury | 2013 Cadillac SRX, 3.6L V6, 6T70 6-speed automatic | GM Service Update 13077A, April 2013 | 9 h |
| Pickup | 2023 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 / GMC Sierra 1500 2WD, 10-speed automatic (engine per RPO) | GM Service Update N222392670, May 2023 | 7.7 h |
| Pickup | 2023 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 / GMC Sierra 1500 4WD, 10-speed automatic | GM Service Update N222392670, May 2023 | 10 h |
| Sedan | 2014-2017 Toyota Corolla, 1.8L I4, CVT | Toyota Special Service Campaign J0D remedy notice, March 28, 2018 | 6.6 h |
| SUV | 2016-2020 Honda HR-V, 1.8L I4, CVT | Honda Service Bulletin 21-047 (version 6), February 19, 2025 | 5 h |
| SUV | 2023 Chevrolet Tahoe / GMC Yukon 2WD, 5.3L/6.2L V8 (L84, L87), 10-speed | GM Service Update N222392670, May 2023 | 5.4 h |
| SUV | 2021 Honda CR-V AWD, 1.5L turbo I4, CVT | Honda Service Bulletin 22-053 (version 2), December 8, 2022 | 6.8 h |
Several lines include more than the swap itself. A wheel alignment is counted in 2 of the operations read, the Toyota line counts a software update, and the Cadillac line also counts an inspection and refilling the cooling system. Drive layout matters as much as vehicle size. The same General Motors pickup pays 7.7 h with two wheel drive and 10 h with four wheel drive, since more of the drivetrain has to come out. The estimator keeps the shortest and longest time of each type as the ends of its range, so an all wheel drive SUV may land near the top.
Transmission labor, then your part price
Transmission, SUV, national: typical labor, part not included
$793
| Labor time, SUV | 5 h to 6.8 h |
| Shop rate, national | $114 to $159 per hour |
| Labor, typical | $793 |
| Part (your figure) | type it in More options |
An example with a part price
To see how the pieces add up, suppose your quote lists a rebuilt unit at $3,000. That number is an example input, not a market price. For an SUV at the national median rate the labor is $793, so the typical bill is $3,793, and the range runs from $3,572 to $4,081 as the hours and the shop rate move. Swap in the actual figure on your quote, and the result is your own.
On a job this size, the unit is usually the biggest line, but the labor is not small. A long job also leaves room for extra lines. Expect transmission fluid, sometimes a cooler flush or a new cooler line, new mounts if the old ones are worn, and programming of the new unit on many recent cars. A rebuilt unit often carries a core charge, refunded when the old one goes back. Ask for each item as a separate line.
Repair, replace the unit, or replace the car
A transmission quote is often the moment owners weigh the car itself. The answer depends on what the car is worth, what else it needs soon and what a replacement would cost each month. The repair or replace page sets those figures side by side, and the calculator below starts from the example bill above.
Is the transmission worth it?
Repair bill as a share of the car's value
63 %
| Repair now | $3,793 |
| Other repairs within a year | $800 |
| Value of the car | $6,000 |
| Months of replacement payments | 8.4 |
Whether the transmission truly needs replacing, rather than a repair inside it or a fix to a sensor, wiring or software, is a question for a mechanic who has tested the car. A second opinion costs little next to a bill of this size.
The state rate on a long job
With so many hours, the shop rate of your state weighs heavily on the labor. That rate is the national survey of posted shop rates scaled by the mean technician wage the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports in each state, from $21.19 an hour in West Virginia to $32.65 in the District of Columbia. On an SUV, that is a gap of about $335 in labor between those two places. The quote checker compares the hours and the rate on your quote with the reference, and the labor rate page explains how shops set the rate.