I let Toyota dealer change it out at 80k miles and my transmission has been shifted smoothly. You will be surprised when you see the fluid at 80k miles, it's dark brown instead of red. Change it out please if you want to keep your GS for a while. Toyota charged me $200 for the service and it is worth it.

 

the first owner of my sc4 took that if its not broken don't fix it... at 230k I drained the fluid it was black - darker then the oil, it was shifting real ****ty slipping in first grinding etc... Im getting ready to replace the whole transmission when the fluid drained we looked in the pan and saw bearings, and it was kind of gritty from clutches and/or metal shavings / stuff the filter doesn't pick up stays in the trans just like grit in oil when the oil filter doesn't catch everything. the pan gasket has a small small small leak nothing huge but the last owner didn't really seem to care we drained less than 3QTs of trans fluid im not sure if trans fluid can sludge up or not but all oils and lube after so long and so much heat and dirt / shaving gets thick and becomes more hazardous to keep in than to change it could start tearing up the clutches and o-rings faster than normal

its like taking wet sandpaper and rub it on a surface with constant supply of water being filtered the surface of that item will last longer and/or have a steady wear and will the cleanliness of the water will insure that constant wear pattern - take sandpaper and rub it on a surface then toss the dirty unfiltered water back on to the surface [ shaving back on to the surface ] the item is going to tear up faster from extra grit~ might be bad example

 

I contacted local Lexus dealership and the service adviser didn't want to do it and said they had never done any before. Does this sound right? 72k on wifes 07 GS350 and I want it done. Can you just do a drain and fill 2 or 3 times over a week?

 

doesn't sound right, your service advisor sounds like he's being lazy and doesn't want to send the job over to the mechanics..... Every dealership does it at 90k-100k intervals. But like everyone has posted, it's best you do it soon. I'm on 90k and I had no idea how BAD the oil can get until one of our member's build logs consisted of telling about how bad the fluids have gotten, and that's even less mileage than I have on my car!

 

Seems like you can just measure the exact amount that comes out and refill the same amount that comes out. Thinking about doing the same on my IS350. I dont go for the whole "lifetime" fluid thing either. Has anybody ever done this with an IS350?

 

I did those drain and fills on a 2004 Nissan Maxima that didn't have coolant lines, but did have a dipstick to pour the fluid back into. I need to get under there and look at the reservoir to see the level of difficulty.

 

Burny, that's a completely different type of transmission

There's no dipstick in our cars because the transmission is supposedly sealed. The reason for this is because Lexus doesn't want the average joe filling up and draining fluids as he so pleases.... not that you shouldn't worry about it though.

 

Definitely would recommend a transmission flush. Did it on my 01 GS300 and could definitely tell a difference, shifting was a lot smoother. Did it recently on my 06 GS430 a little smoother but not a whole lot of difference where I can tell but the car had 80k miles on it. The fluid was definitely brown though and not the toyota red. I used Amosil ATF in both my GS's. There is a filter in the transmission as well that can e changed if the transmission pan is dropped.

 

I've done my 02 GS300 several times, but this GS350 is an entirely different animal. Glad the 350 is my wifes, because that GS300 is a great car with zero issues in 10 years. I've had more crap going on with this 350 that I ever imagined I would.

 

I'm confused as to why Lexus would not have the transmission fluid replacement service on the maintenance schedule.

 

Changed the Transmission filter along with the fluid. I forgot what amount of fluid exactly the shop did, but it was a good difference.

 

What kinda ride you in bro?