My first post here - New to me 2018 GX460 100k miles. I've read many threads here on the fluids that people are using and I want to share a conversation I had today with the dealer I bought the car from. This is in reference to changing the fluids in the differentials, transfercase and transmission fluid and filter. I got a copy of the servie records performed by the dealer and they were extensive, the previous owner brought the car to the dealer to even replace wipper blades.
This is Lexus of Northboro MA.

In reviewing the records, I could not see that actual fluids were replaced, I see things like "check fluid". I pressed with the service manager if they change these fluids, they do not unless there is a problem. These fluids are "life time fluids" Really They simply do not do transmission fluid and filter service, diff and transfer case fluid service. This is not my experience with any other car then Lexus, I've owned a bunch of cars and many in the Toyota family - Land Cruiser, 4Runner, RX 330, all had service fluid replacement.

So now the question, are many here following the practice of NOT replacing these fluids? Hearing from your dealer that there is no need to service your transmission unless you are maybe beating the hell out of it?

I'll be changing the diffs and transfer case fluid myself and then get a quote maybe from an indie of Toyota dealer for the transmission fluid, which is more of mess than I want to do myself.

All the best.

 

NO SUCH THING. Change them.

They probably mean for the life of the warranty lol

A crappy dealer will refuse to even do them....a normal dealer will say they are lifetime, but are usually happy to do the work if you want them to...and pay dearly.

 

Let's clear this up. Lifetime doesn't mean forever it means the life of the transmission. Very different.

 

... all marketing speak (sales) ... combined with risk analysis (profit) ... so ALL automakers have entered the marketing war of "no maintenance" ... or at least significantly extended maintenance intervals ... to the extreme of "lifetime" ... with the internal definition of "lifetime" from an automakers risk standpoint being the warranty period ... which terminates their exposure to this liability. Restated ... the automakers do not care if the vehicle survives beyond the warranty period.

For those concerned with longevity ... the best reference is to look at the same recommended maintenance intervals (and engine oil viscosity as an aside) for non-US markets ... by looking specifically at the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado ... which is the same mechanical platform as the Lexus GX460. These non-US references represent the recommendation by the experts ... Toyota Engineering ... which is focused on longevity.

 

I was quoted $400 for a drain and fill. I did it my self and it only takes a little under 3 qts.
I purchased a fluid pump, 6 qts of atf ws and a bag of crushed washers. 30 min job
look up GXBOB on youtube.

 

there is warranty period, random fail period, then design life period. lifetime refers to the design life period. look at what some call the bathtub curve. warranty covers the decreasing failure rate of early life fails, the random period in the middle is the flat line. then as the fail rate increases and things wear out you get into design life.
warranty covers quality issues and reliability issues are on the other end at design life.
so lifetime for fluids doesnt mean forever, it means you dont have to change them until youre past the design life. most people wont buy and hold a vehicle until design life.

lexus isnt the only auto mfg that uses the term for fluids they dont change.

 

^ ... sorry, but that gave me a headache, offering no guidance whatsoever to the OP's question. It's easy ... just listen to the experts ... Toyota Engineering ... by referencing Rest-of-World (ROW) maintenance recommendations by Toyota that have not been overriden by non-engineering interests. Last time I checked, the Law of Physics is not different in the United States versus the ROW.

 

guidance offered right there, you dont have to change them ...Not sure how you missed that.
thats direct from the toyota engineering experts, along with the reasoning which is what i think you dont understand, in addition to the non technical reference curve name.
its exactly based on the law of physics for the physics of failure and reliability testing which demonstrates that the fluid does not need changed.
hope you feel better soon.

 

Aisin says to change the fluid but what do they know.

 

LOL sure the people selling the fluid say that.
Toyota WS is sped'd for design life, but what do they know.
Fluid mfgs dont actually test their fluid in the vehicle mfg's vehicles with a large enough sample size to have statistical confidence in the demonstrated results..

There are conditions that warrant a change on a lifetime fluid, but the 99th percentile user won't need to be concerned.

 

If you do change the fluid you should use the magic Toyota WS, not the Aisin WS. Aisin 'WS' means it can be used in WS systems, not that it is actually meeting the WS spec.
Aisin is not the same, nor as good as, Toyota WS.
But if you are going to do regular changes then it might be good enough.

 

Aisin designed and manufactured the A760F that's in the GX460, I'll take their word over the Lexus marketing/accounting depts. which have final say over what appears in the owner's manual.

 

So you're saying the single spec, WS-specific Aisin ATF-0WS that's made by Eneos for the manufacturer of the transmission, that uses synthetic base stocks and has about a 40 degree higher flash than the ExxonMobil made Toyota WS is inferior?
Based on what, a gut feeling?



The XOM-produced Toyota WS ATF is an unremarkable, low cost to produce ATF.
Toyota WS's pluses are that it's a targeted, WS-specific ATF and is readily available, but the same can be said for both Aisin ATF-0WS and Idemitsu Type TLS-LV.

 

As the j150 gets older, I have seen some common pain points folks are facing. In light of that, change the fluid early, with any compatible fluid. New fluid is better then used fluid.

 

So its Aisin marketing lies VS. Toyota marketing lies? Seems to be Aisin has the final say in what appears in their literature just like Toyota.
One thing to consider is who's reputation suffers in the general public's eye when design life issues arise, also any bias that auto enthusiasts feel when they get preventative maintenance work done on their vehicles.