I have a 2018 IS 300 F sport. It has 32,000 miles and I plan to have the transmission fluid changed when I get my oil changed next time.

My mechanic lets me give him the oil and he just charges me for the labor.

What brand of transmission fluid can I use? Rock Auto has Valvoline max life synthetic ATF. Is that ok or do I have to go with Toyota fluid? Do I need to replace any transmission filters or the pan?

My wife has an 2018 ES350 and I plan on replacing her trans fluid too. I would think that it would be the same process with the ES.

Can anyone help me with my trans fluid questions?

Thanks.

Bill

 

Assuming you do drain and refill, I would go stick with OEM.

If you decide to do it with your independent mechanic, make sure he knows the proper procedure to doing this. FWIW, Lexus charged me $160 to do a drain and refill which was about 4-5 quarts.

 

I have no trust for my Lexus dealer to be totally honest. They allow me to view nothing when my car is on the rack.

When my car was under warranty, I needed a new battery. They let some trainee do it and he didn’t cover the side of my car and I had many scratches and the battery was not tightened down and the negative terminal was also loose. This was at an actual Lexus dealer who I will not name. Unless I absolutely need to bring my car to Lexus I will go with my independent mechanic who can do routine maintenance .

Same issue with BMW and Toyota. They allow inexperienced kids to work on car for routine maintenance as training.

Curious, do you go with actual Toyota oil when you do oil changes?

 

Original ATF for me... for the rear diff, I use either Amsoil or Redline, the original rear diff fluid is extremely hard to find.

 

I'd stick with OEM.

 

It is not worth going for after market fluids. Either you get the original Aisin fluid (good luck finding it in USA) or just use Genuine Toyota WS ATF.
The latter is what I used to flush an 8-speed transmission on my 15' is350 RWD.

I used something like 12 quarts and 3-4 drain/refill cycles to get to where 80% of the fluid was new.
I did mine at 50k miles and I def noticed difference.