2014 Toyota Avalon Hybrid.
After driving two years and 30k miles, on previous cars I would be getting ready for a drain and fill of the coolant (this car has 2 cooling systems) and the automatic transmission fluid. Of course this car has nearly-infinite recommended intervals for doing anything like this. In the past, many such deals have been a scam (e.g. the 1990’s Chevy cooling systems). Anyway, what are the thoughts on whether I should have this done?
(The thing doesn’t even have a dipstick for the tranny.)
IMHO two years and 30K is premature, but it’s better to freshen fluids too often than not often enough. I subscribe to every 5 years on my cars. Oops, I’m overdue!! 
I do not agree with the almost infinite timeframes recommended for fluid maintenance bt many manufacturers. I cannot specify the requirement, but I suspect this is more focused on “low environmental impact” as reported to the feds than on indefinite vehicle life. It may even be to make some European requirement happy.
What’s listed under ‘extreme service’ for each?
@melott
Does the Owner’s Manual have recommend maintenance schedules? I’d follow the one that pertained to your type of driving.
CSA
I’ve read that lifetime fluids should be replaced at 100,000 miles in normal service.
OK, for all you “do what the book says” folks:
It says to change the tranny fluid at 60k if you do towing etc.
It never says anything beyond “inspect” for the coolant.
That should satisfy all of you, who need no longer comment.
However, I believe that these intervals are constructed for the benefit of Toyota, to
make them look good, to make people want to buy their “low maintainence” cars, and to
make them have lower “emissions”.
Based on past experience, I don’t believe this stuff. Remember the lifetime DeathCool in your 90’s Chevy 350? So I guess I’ll wing it.
“OK, for all you ‘do what the book says’ folks:
It says to change the tranny fluid at 60k if you do towing etc.
It never says anything beyond “inspect” for the coolant.
That should satisfy all of you, who need no longer comment.”
I am one of those that you’re referring to above who no longer need to reply. The information that you provided now would have been very helpful in your original question. You have the manual. I don’t have one.
You still have not said whether you tow or do any type of “severe” driving.
So, I’d say change the transmission fluid at 60,000 miles and the coolant every four or five years.
I’d also replace some or all of the brake fluid every 2 or 3 years.
CSA
? Without the manual in front of us, how would we know what it said?
I’d go with 60 k for all fluids.
Toyota Super long life coolant is good for 10 years/100,000 miles and is listed in the maintenance schedule with a foot note;
3 Initial replacement for engine coolant is at 100,000 miles/120 months and for inverter coolant initial replacement is at 150,000 miles/180 months. Replace every 50,000 miles/60 months thereafter. Refer to “Engine/Inverter Coolant”
in the “Explantion of Maintenance Items” section in the back of this guide for more information.
I replaced the coolant in my Toyota at 96 months (8years) as per the instructions. Actual mileage was only just over 50,000 miles.
The next coolant change will also be as per the book; why second guess.
I would do a drain and refill of the transmission fluid and also see how it looks. If too dark, then repeat. On my 2005 Camry with the super long life coolant I stayed close to what the manual said and changed it at ~ 100K miles without any issues. The car is now at 154K miles and probably due for another coolant change but the thing looks so clean I might wait a bit.
The intervals are not just useful for the fluids. Hoses also wear out (so do fuel lines) and I’ve had the hoses to my engines replaced before the 100,000 mile mark at the recommendation of the dealer who services the car. If you replace the hoses you may as well replace the fluid.
This may be kind of expensive but the environmental impact will be far less than the gas you have been burning
GM has been guilty of wishful thinking about their product durability in the past, but modern fluids and running gear are much better, and all it has to be is good enough. You can test coolant pretty well. Brake fluid is another story – I’d replace it every couple of years.
I’ll go against the grain here . . .
I’m not a fan of those 8 or 10 year “initial” coolant service intervals
For factory long life coolant, whether it’s Ford, GM, or whatever, I do it every 5 years
For universal green, I do every 3 years
My approach is “better safe than sorry”
After all, if you take the factory approach, with some cars they claim the automatic transmission fluid NEVER needs to be serviced
Let’s see where that gets you
I’ve seen lots of vehicles where the owner/operator took just that approach, and the transmission bought the farm at around 60K or 70K
If the vehicle has the normal yellow coolant, I would change it every two years. However, I think Toyotas are using the same orange Dexcool long-life coolant as GM, and if that is the case, I would have it done less often, perhaps more often than the interval in the vehicle’s maintenance schedule, but less often than every two years, perhaps every 50,000 miles or five years.
Like Tom and Ray’s recommendation for 5,000 mile oil changes, my recommend is a compromise.
Pink coolant.
My toyota uses “super long life” coolant
Supposedly, the first coolant service is supposed to be after 10 years, then every 5 years after that
BTW . . . toyota super long life coolant is pink
toyota “long life” coolant is/was red, AFAIK
I think and drain and refill every 3 years for the coolant is a good compromise for most coolant types on conventional gasoline engines. Not sure tough how that applies to a hybrid with two separate cooling systems.
My old cars use 3 year coolant and I change it every 5 years. I am not opposed to changing ten year coolant every 3 years, we could use the work.
“I’ve read that lifetime fluids should be replaced at 100,000 miles in normal service.”
Funny. When I went to school…I was taught a whole other meaning for the word “lifetime.”
When asked, “Have you lived in Ohio your whole life?”
I answer, “Not yet.”
;-]