355F1

I bought my 2010 Lexus IS 250 AWD brand-new exactly 4 years ago. I am very easy on my daily drivers, not only in driving but also in care of the interior. The interior looks almost brand-new. I have 108,000 miles on my car and I still have 2mm of rear brakes left--the ORIGINAL BRAKE PADS. Like I said....I do not abuse my DDs.


This car is used for my job, which includes a lot of short trips but a lot of highway, too. I work for an insurance firm and we see all of our clients in their homes, and I work all over the entire state of Arizona.

Other than replacing the axles at 70k miles (Lexus covered most of the repair), I haven't had any problems with my IS. I follow Lexus's scheduled maintenance and get all service done at my Lexus Dealer here (it isn't much more expensive than an independent if you know how to talk to SAs).

So, I have 108,000 miles on the car and there is plenty of banter on the internet whether Lexus is out of their mind with this new "lifetime" transmission oil.

I wanted to test this as I am ALL for (necessary) preventative maintenance after owning a Ferrari for 4 years.

I would like to get 200,000 miles out of this car but will basically keep it until it dies.

So, I thought I noticed my transmission shifting strangely and took it in. Lexus looked at and drove it (no charge) and hooked it up to their machine. No abnormalities or P-Codes.

They recommended a transmission flush based on miles and I know that clean fluids make cars last longer. They charged me $250 for the flush and I requested that they save me a fluid sample of the WTF fluid so I could send it to Blackstone Laboratories (I know about them from owning an exotic car) for a full breakdown and analysis.

Well...I got the report back today via email and wanted to share it with you guys--and anyone who will inevitably search for this on this website when these cars start reaching the 100k+ mark and Lexus is recommending this flush even though the Lexus manual states that the fluid is good for the life of the car.

Enjoy.

jgr7

iTrader: (1)

Looks great thanks for sharing the report, I'm sure it will make alot of people feel better about the WTF fluid.
Jeff

edgeucated

iTrader: (4)

Thank you so much for sharing your report. First definitive answer about whether the transmission fluid should be changed or not.

Since the oil is still good, I wouldn't be surprised to see it useable till the 150k mark. IMO the 150k mile is what lexus means when it says "lifetime" because that's as far as the maintenance goes up to in the manual.

Mike_1GO

iTrader: (2)

great to know! how much is the analysis fee ?

mike33

iTrader: (1)

This is great info ... Thanks for posting

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

awesome someone finally did a blackstone analysis on the lifetime fluid. Thanks a bunch for doing this. Ive done a few oil analysis on the family fleet, all are good. I was thinking of doing the dealer transmission flush on the 06 IS350 we have, its only 57k miles.

Does the transmission feel any better on the new fluid? My friend had an 09 370Z with 40k miles that had "lifetime fluid" and he got the dealer to do the fluid flush and he said it shifted a lot smoother afterwards.

355F1

It was almost brown when it came out--I was worried, to be honest. It didn't have any burnt smell to it, though.


Yes, but I think 100K is still a fair mileage compromise to change the fluid at any price--especially if your IS is 6-7+ years old. Mine is only 4.

They charge $25 for standard analysis. They have some other test that they will also do for another $10 that breaksdown something or other. I don't know what....their website is here:

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/standard-analysis.php

Totally worth the money and I am hoping it will help people in the future who search for this once all the IS's are clicking well over 100-150k miles.


You're welcome!

Here's the thing The shifting between 3-4-5 DOES feel smoother. For some reason I have had a few things feel weird from 1-2...but Lexus couldn't find a problem so maybe it's just all in my head?

MadDane

iTrader: (2)

This is why you should drain/replace/flush (whatever) every 50k if you drive hard.

keyframe13

Thanks for sharing the report. It doesn;t look bad at all. I also have an 2010 but half of your miles.

Re3iRtH

Does every Lexus dealer have the equipment to do a proper trans fluid change where most/all of the fluid is drained and replaced?

getafewliv

Short answer... no.

rawr2is250

Wow thanks for sharing this info +1

ClemsonIS

iTrader: (2)

This is great to see! I would love to see a break down of someones transmission oil that was driven hard just for the comparison to see when the transmission oil should be flushed. While this is great to see that the transmission oil was still worthy of use after 100K......that was in a car that was driven easy and not everyone does that. I would venture to say that most people don't drive as easy as 355F1. Don't get me wrong some data is better than no data and having this data come out could spark more CL members to send off their transmission oil for a full breakdown and analysis. If my car was anywhere close to the 100K mark I would get my transmission oil flushed and I would send it off because I don't always drive easy and I have a mix of highway and city miles so it would be interesting to compare. I hope to see some more data. Once again thank you 355F1! Seeing this is reassuring!

jlam86

iTrader: (1)

thanks for sharing!

FSportIS

iTrader: (13)

Wow, this is a BIG PLUS for our community because you are providing a great fact and analysis result that settle many of our doubts and concerns regarding IS transmission lifetime oil.

I guess I can keep my transmission oil all the way to 150k miles then

What Ferrari did you drive? And can you please share your thought on its engine, maintenance, and fun factors? How long did it last? I'm also curious to see why a Ferrari owner would pick a IS 250 for daily driving. I thought you would be driving something like Nissan GTR, Tesla model S, or at least Lexus ISF for a DD lol.