Dangerous to Flush CVT on Kia?

Maintenance/Repairs
1

Hello Everyone,

I have a 2020 Kia Rio with a CVT. From what I’ve read, they have better reputations for durability than the awful mid 2010’s Nissans, but still fall short of the IVT designs Kia implemented in the following years. I’m getting close to 80K and never have had the tranny serviced since it’s not officially recommended. I basically never do hard accelerations from a stop, which I know is bad for them, and am yet to have any issues. My plan was to just sell it before the 100K warranty and let the new owner decide about when/if to drain the fluid. BUT I now might instead be selling it to a younger cousin around that 100K mark, so if it really needs this maintenance, I want to make sure to do it. Is 80K too late, could it cause an issue the way some long-delayed tranny flushes can? Or am I still likely in the safe zone? Thanks. =MM=

2

You’d be doing them a good favor by having the fluid changed. It must be with fluid meeting the exact factory spec. The easiest (not necessarily the cheapest) way to do that is have the dealer change the fluid. But know what fluid is needed and confirm with them that they’ll be using that fluid.

3

It is recommended to replace the transmission fluid every 60,000 mile if operated under severe usage conditions.
It would also be safe to replace the fluid if driven under mild driving conditions.

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