Flipped my opinion on those 'lifetime' transmission fluids after my wife's minivan needed a $3,200 rebuild at 80,000 miles in Columbus.

I always thought 'sealed for life' meant never changing it, but after seeing the sludge that came out of her 2013 Honda Odyssey when a local shop finally convinced me to drop the pan and swap the fluid at 85k, I realized the real trick is to just ignore the manual and do a simple drain-and-fill every 30k miles, so has anyone else had a trans fail because they trusted the 'lifetime' claim?

2 comments

2 Comments

aaronf4011d ago

Your wife's minivan didn't actually need a rebuild, it just needed a drain-and-fill long before the sludge turned into concrete. But hey, Honda's "lifetime" fluid warranty definitely paid out - right until the moment your transmission quit at the most expensive possible time. At least now you get to enjoy that fresh rebuild smell and the comforting knowledge that 30k miles from now you'll be doing this again like a responsible adult.

jamiegreen10d ago

Ngl @aaronf40, the warranty covers the rebuild labor too, not just the fluid.