In summary, some people have gotten over 200k and 300k miles on their Toyotas/lexuses without ever changing the trans fluid.
Im no expert but it’s all about how you drive. The manual states that you don’t need to touch the fluid, but that’s assuming that you drive the car like a normal person. If you are redlining and tracking the car constantly, then you will probably need to deviate from the suggested maintenance in the book.
Another question for everyone, if you drain and fill the fluid, you only replace around 25% of the fluid or less. Is that really impactful? Especially if you service the trans every 30-50k miles.
My 2004 sc430 transmission service every 30k on oil change since bought the at 25k miles no issue now 87k I just used a mity-vac suck oil out from the dipstick and pour back what I take out thru the dipstick on cold engine.
for my 2015 IS250 I’m going to leave and see how long the transmission last without changing the transmission fluids. The reason why I’m doing this to this car is because when I purchase it’s came with a lifetime powertrain warranty. I also contacted the warranty company and ask them they say leave it alone if I tapered with my warranty is void. I also have email from the dealership to back me if my transmission fail have it in writing not to change the transmission fluids. I will be the first to tell when it hits 250k right now it’s on 117k bought the car new with only 54 miles. Stay tuned
My 2004 sc430 transmission service every 30k on oil change since bought the at 25k miles no issue now 87k I just used a mity-vac suck oil out from the dipstick and pour back what I take out thru the dipstick on cold engine.
for my 2015 IS250 I’m going to leave and see how long the transmission last without changing the transmission fluids. The reason why I’m doing this to this car is because when I purchase it’s came with a lifetime powertrain warranty. I also contacted the warranty company and ask them they say leave it alone if I tapered with my warranty is void. I also have email from the dealership to back me if my transmission fail have it in writing not to change the transmission fluids. I will be the first to tell when it hits 250k right now it’s on 117k bought the car new with only 54 miles. Stay tuned
Let’s see what happen to seal transmission WS, I want to see it for myself really
I believe I posted a pic of what the fluid looked like after 90k - had the Lexus tech give me a sample in bottle. Posted in another thread somewhere....was dark black and looked like a bottle of coke LOL
for my 2015 IS250 I’m going to leave and see how long the transmission last without changing the transmission fluids. I also have email from the dealership to back me if my transmission fail have it in writing not to change the transmission fluids. I will be the first to tell when it hits 250k right now it’s on 117k bought the car new with only 54 miles. Stay tuned
Or.... you will be letting us know at what mileage before 250k that Transmission started acting up. Good luck.
Let’s see what happen to seal transmission WS, I want to see it for myself really
Total BS - it is not sealed, and it is designed to be serviced. People can do whatever they want to their own car, and believe whatever they want, but I'm doing a drain / fill at 50k miles (80000 km).
Edit: If it cannot be serviced, then why would there be a drain hole? Why would there be bolts holding the transmission pan in place? These service advisors don't even know any technical details, all they know is how to generate income for the dealership. A transmission job just isn't as profitable as a $200 cabin air filter replacement.
The transfer case on the Genesis G70 / Kia Stinger, which lacks a drain hole, is truly something that cannot be serviced.
Total BS - it is not sealed, and it is designed to be serviced. People can do whatever they want to their own car, and believe whatever they want, but I'm doing a drain / fill at 50k miles (80000 km).
This is correct, and you just reminded me of something.
The same Trans in other Foreign countries for the same model year Lexus cars, the Lexus maintenance recommend service says "Service the Transmission" . From Lexus.
Now one other thing. In the previous years this exact same model Lexus Transmission just a few years ago that had no Dip stick either. Guess what Lexus said..... "Service the Transmission". Same WS fluid too. Last thing guess what? The Toyota WS is NOT even synthetic. Look it up for yourself.
Maybe I wasn't super clear in my initial post, but the information that I'm looking for is "Can you still hit over 200k miles without ever servicing your transmission?" and "Is there anyone who has never had their transmission fluid replaced but still achieved high miles and limited issues?"
It's not that I'm trying to justify a decision, I just want to hear what other people have experienced. A lot of my research showed that people do drain and fill their trans fluid...but how long do their cars last in doing so? How long to people's cars last who never change their fluid?
I also wanted to share my experience and findings on this topic. I was surprised that the independent transmission shops also told me not to worry about servicing the trans unless there was a leak or obvious shifting problem.
Pure speculation on my part, but "lifetime" probably means lifetime of the Powertrain warranty, which is probably 6 years/60-70k (I can't recall off the top of my head).
