‘Ain’t no such thing’: Toyota Avalon driver takes car to dealership for service. Then they refuse to work on it
Royalty Auto Service (@royaltyautoservice) has gone viral several times on TikTok for its candid commentary on automotive servicing. In a recent clip with over 394,000 views on the application, they discussed lifetime transmission fluid.
The shop's owner advocates for swapping out a car's "lifetime" fluids to extend the life of its components. However, some viewers argued that when it comes to transmissions, this isn't always the case.
Is it really 'lifetime' fluid?
"Toyota told them the transmission fluid is lifetime. What are our thoughts?!" a text overlay in the video reads. The clip begins with Royalty Auto Service's owner, Sherwood, being recorded by his son, Sherwood III.
"All right dad, what do we got here?" Sherwood's son asks his father, who is standing beneath a car. Sherwood reveals it's a 2013 Toyota Avalon with 103,000 miles on it.
"A client came in, watches our videos...and said he went to Toyota," he says. "Because he wanted a transmission service done on it. And then said no they wouldn't do it because it was 'lifetime fluid.'" Sherwood makes air quotes with his fingers for this last bit.
The Daily Dot has previously written about the differences in opinion on swapping out car transmission fluid. Some would argue the sediment that builds up in used cars over time can be useful. If a car's transmission fluid hasn't been changed, these bits help to grip gears in automatic transmissions. Consequently, if the fluid is drained and swapped out, that gripping friction is no longer present. As a result, the car won't shift properly any more.
Sherwood, however, doesn't put much credence in the idea of "lifetime fluid" in a transmission. He says that all of the fluid is for the "lifetime" of a car. This includes oil, as well.
However, he clarifies that he doesn't mean that this will extend the life of the car. Folks can just leave oil in their car "until the engine blows up," he notes. This same stance extends to a car's transmission as well.
Change the transmission fluid
"We leave the transmission fluid in there. It's just the life of the transmission," he argues. "The question is can we make the transmission live longer if we service it? And, the answer to that is 100% yes, without question. I know we get tons of comments when we talk about transmission services and flushes and all that."
Sherwood goes on to counter recommendations from commenters who state that flushing transmission fluid is unnecessary.
Next, he shows how a transmission flush works on camera. He points out the "two lines" attached to a tank that is then hooked up to the Avalon's transmission.
"It's one cooler line that we're taking loose. And we're going from the transmission into the machine," he says. "Then the machine is taking that fluid in and putting new fluid out of the other line back into the cooler and back into the car."
Sherwood says that this process is a "more thorough way of changing the fluid." Conversely, he explains, "If you just drop the pan down," there will be fluid in other components that isn't swapped. "This just gets all the old fluid out."
Does changing transmission fluid make your vehicle live longer?
Sherwood also delineates that there's a correct protocol to servicing a vehicle's transmission. Putting the right type of fluid inside of a car is paramount, because there's "tons of different kinds of fluid."
Ultimately, Sherwood argues that if people service their transmissions with flushes and fluid replacements, their vehicles will live longer.
He also counters the horror stories folks have reported with their own transmission services. "We've been doing this now for over decades and have had one ever gone bad. That was at the very beginning, back in the '90s," he claims. Sherwood explains that the car was a brand new Thunderbird at the time.
He does concede, however, that if someone comes in with a high-mileage car that's a different story. If an older car is filled with "nasty fluid," he won't perform a flush. That's because there will "probably be a problem at that point."
Furthermore, he argued that auto manufacturers aren't lying about fluid being "lifetime."
He states that his job is to make a vehicle last hundreds and hundreds of thousands of miles with proper service.
He and his son discuss BMW being one of the first auto manufacturers that marketed the idea of "lifetime" fluid in its auto components in 1998. "Now Toyota is evidently telling people that too," Sherwood states. His son then chimes in that he's never heard of the Japanese auto manufacturer adopting this stance on its vehicle's fluids. "I never heard of Toyota saying that before."
"I haven't either," his father concurs.
Others agree
Users on the Bob is the Oil Guy forum have also adopted the same definition of "lifetime fluid" as Sherwood.
One commenter penned, "It means lifetime of the transmission. So if the transmission died at 100K miles, it means the fluid lasted its lifetime."
Redditors in the r/mechanicdevice sub also decried lifetime fluids. However, they said that this doesn't mean that advancements in automotive technology means longer-lasting oils aren't possible. "Modern chemistry and mechanical design has come a long way. I don't see a problem with a longer service interval," one user on the app wrote.
Automotive parts retailer Blauparts also shared its criticisms over lifetime fluids, too. "From our 30 years of hands-on automotive experience, there is no such thing as a truly 'sealed for life' or 'lifetime transmission fluid,'" the site reads. "Over time, all transmission fluids will eventually deteriorate, break down, and become contaminated and will need to be changed."
Viewers nodded their heads
One user on the app commented, "Ain’t no such thing as a lifetime fluid. Unless you want the life of the transmission to last the fluid."
Another speculated that this is a lie shilled by car manufacturers in order to get people buying more vehicles more frequently: "The auto industry is going the way of corporate healthcare."
Someone else added, "It's lifetime because the cvt transmission is done at 80k."
One person wrote that they have two Toyota Corollas going strong. And they attribute their longevity to regular transmission fluid flushes or replacements. "I have 2 corollas with over 300k. Both get fresh transmission fluid every 40k. Way cheaper than a transmission replacement," they said.
@royaltyautoservice I guess it depends on what “lifetime” is… ???? #automotive #mechanic #mechaniclife #cartok #diy #fyp #foryou #duet ♬ Pop beat BGM / long version(1283324) - nightbird_bgm
However, others also reported the opposite. One person said their son never swapped out their Corolla's transmission fluid. "My son has a 2021 Toyota Corolla with 460,000 miles and it’s original fluid," they claimed.
Another replied, "Every time I’ve had a trans fluid flush it’s later resulted in slipping. Never again."
"My Toyota is almost 2 hundred thousand miles and still same transmission fluid," someone else echoed.
And another user who said they worked for Toyota shared their two cents. "Toyota tech here, we recommend them as early as 90k. Assuming people will put it off until 120k when it’s actually recommended by Toyota," they wrote.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Royalty Auto service and Toyota via email for further comment.
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