That $200 transmission flush nearly killed my Subaru

I dropped $200 on a transmission flush at a shop in Portland last spring thinking I was being proactive. Two weeks later my Outback started slipping gears on the highway and the mechanic said the flush likely dislodged sludge that clogged a valve body. Anyone else had a fluid service backfire like that on an older car?

3 comments

3 Comments

joelwells4d ago

Oh man, that happened to my friend's Forester after a "lifetime" fluid change (which is a lie, by the way).

craig.sage4d ago

Saw a guy on YouTube who cracked open his "lifetime" CVT fluid and it was straight sludge after like 60k miles. Just another way for dealers to sell you a new transmission down the road, right?

patricia3171d ago

Lifetime" fluid is such a joke, isn't it, @craig.sage? Like the transmission's lifetime, not the car's. But Joel, you're kind of right that it's not exactly a lie, it's just a misleading term. The fluid is meant to last the "lifetime" of the transmission, but that lifetime is usually only around 100k miles for most CVTs. So it's like they're saying it's forever, but really it's just until the warranty runs out. I mean, wouldn't you want to change it every 30-40k miles to actually keep it going longer?