Owning a car requires a considerable amount of maintenance. From tire rotations to oil changes, there’s a fair bit of work one must put into their car to keep it running. If they don’t, they could risk substantial problems with their vehicle down the line.
However, some pieces of common car advice aren’t actually the best to follow.
Now, a mechanic has inspired discussion after revealing that, if you’ve gone over 150,000 miles, you should probably avoid doing this one specific fix altogether. Here’s why.
Why shouldn’t you get this specific service past 150,000 miles?
In a video with over 127,000 views, the TikTok account for Royalty Auto Service (@royaltyautoservice) answers some questions about transmission flushes. Here’s why you might want to reconsider having one performed if your vehicle has more than 150,000 miles.
The mechanic admits that “it’s kind of an abstract number” and should not be taken as a hard and fast rule. But if someone has a car with over 150,000 miles and has not had its transmission flushed, “at that point, you kind of just go with it until it goes.” However, he states that this may not be true if the transmission is “slipping really badly.”
The reason that one might not want to perform a transmission flush at this point, he says, is because it may not help the car.
“We would tell somebody we can do the flush, but one of three outcomes: nothing at all is gonna change. It’s gonna just come out the same way that it went in…Number two, it’s gonna fix it. Great, we’re all happy. Or number three, it’s gonna make it worse,” the mechanic details.
While some commenters on a previous video claimed that their transmission always slipped after a flush, the mechanic dismisses this idea. He notes that it’s important that someone use the correct transmission fluid during a flush as “different transmissions take different fluid.”
Is this correct?
Transmission flushes are a controversial topic in the car world. Many people in the field have shared their opinions about whether a transmission fluid change or flush is the right move to keep your car in the best condition.
In general, however, internet users seem to agree with the mechanic’s advice. Commenters on one Reddit thread shared this view. Redditors in another thread argued that, if one is to perform such a procedure on a high-mileage vehicle, one should opt for a drain-and-refill rather than a flush.
Commenters share their thoughts
In the comments section, users offered their opinions on the mechanic’s claims.
“400k on my Camry. never touched transmission and runs like new,” said a user.
“Never flush,” added another. “Just change the filter and replenish with new per what’s required for a filter change to fill it back up.”
“Subaru required me to have this done every 30,000 miles. My car needed a new transmission at 82,000 miles due to a fluid switch failure,” detailed a third.
@royaltyautoservice The horror stories just dont happen at our shop… #mechanic #automotive #mechaniclife #viral #fyp #foryou #diy #stitch ♬ Pop beat BGM / long version(1283324) – nightbird_bgm
The Daily Dot reached out to Royalty Auto Service via website contact form.
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