Georgia Auto Technician: Lifetime Fluids Are A Myth Reducing Transmission Lifespan

An automotive service technician with a huge TikTok following recently shared his thoughts on the existence of lifetime fluids in vehicles, reports MotorBiscuit.

Royalty Auto Service, a shop with two locations in Southeast Georgia, shared with its over 855,000 followers a 2013 Toyota Avalon that a customer brought in, after a dealership refused to work on its transmission, citing the presence of lifetime fluids.

“What do I think of that?” said a tech at the shop. “I think it is ‘lifetime fluid.’ I think engine oil is lifetime fluid—just leave it in there ‘till the engine blows up,” he joked.

The real question, the tech continued, is what can be done to extend the lifespan of a vehicle’s transmission. Though viewers of the shop’s TikTok have insisted that it’s incorrect to flush a transmission, Royalty Auto has been doing it for decades. The shop contends that servicing the fluid is crucial to making a transmission last longer, but that service providers just need to ensure they’re using the correct fluid for the transmission being worked on.

Additionally, the Toyota Avalon being worked on had just 103,000 miles. But for a vehicle with far higher mileage—reaching 200,000 or higher—that contains old fluid that’s already damaged the transmission, more will need to be done than a flush. At that point, the old oil would be too big of an issue for a flush to be performed.

The shop added it’s heard the ‘lifetime fluid’ belief from many of its BMW-driving customers in particular, and is concerned Toyota drivers are now being told the same.

“It’s 100% lifetime for whatever component it’s protecting, but once that component is no good, then...that’s the lifetime of it,” explained the tech. “We wanna make it last hundreds and hundreds of thousands of miles.”

See Royalty Auto Service’s video for more details on how the shop performs its transmission flushes.