I know I’m becoming annoying on this topic, and I am sincerely sorry that I am. I just can’t seem to make a decision on transmission flush vs drain and refill because of conflicted information out there.
I like Scotty. He’s a great guy. I’ve watched him over the years on both TV and YouTube. And just a moment ago after reading the comments on the Lexus forum about transmission service and everyone warning not to get a flush but instead a drain and refill, I decided to do look up Scotty to see what he had to say on the subject, and this is what I found.
I like Tester’s video. I also like Scotty’s. So here I am: all confused.
That guy is certainly irritating to watch IMO. With all the arm waving, he could double as a windmill.
I think what would be interesting and round out the video would be to compare the amount he drained with the specified amount from the manufacturer. If he gets 50% versus 80% versus 95% would be good information. Also, if the color of the fluid concerns him so much, why not drive it around and for the sake of the infotainment, drain it again and see how dirty it looks after the residual fluid mixes with the new.
I don’t like the term flush. Aren’t most modern equipment for this purpose more appropriately termed “fluid exchange machines”? They don’t force fluid to go where it isn’t going under normal use. They simply exchange fluid being pumped around the system, through the normal pumping system and pressures. This replaces all the fluid at the expense of using more fresh fluid to do it compared to a gravity drain and fill…
I just went to the dealer because these things worry me oddly.
The dealer said to flush the transmission fluid. So I told him if he knows Scotty Kilmer and that Scotty highly discourages flush services. The dealer said to ignore Scotty and that he is not a credible guy.
But how the dealer is going to convince me they are credible ? At this point I can be a helpless customer and someone to completely ignore. So I’m just going to put faith in this decision and go ahead with the flush.
Toyota said they don’t have a customer who has complained about a flush service.
Either way, the transmission needs to be serviced and I’ll go put my faith in the flush since they won’t do a drain and refill on my car.
I’m going with the flush. Toyota also reminded me today that they did a flush on my previous camry, which I wasn’t aware of. I was too naive back then to understand what a flush was.
One more time: “flush” isn’t really what happens, it’s a “fluid exchange”, where new fluid is pumped in as old fluid is removed. And Scotty is enthusiastic, that’s about it. Most folks here ignore his advice.
Before I bought the car, I did some research on price upkeep. I was told by several sources that a Lexus IS costs about $560 annually in upkeep and I felt that was decent.
However, my service record shows I’m spending well over $1200 per year on upkeep.
Spark plugs and oil change this year were $840. $400 plus tax will be added for transmission fluid exchange. Alignment and oil change together was $313.
Don’t understand how they can say it costs $560 annually for upkeep when I can’t achieve that with only driving 9,000 miles a year.
