I went into the dealership for the 40k mile service which involved some fluid changes, tire rotation and brake wear test. I walked out of there $1300 poorer, after they nickel and dimed me for a bunch of other things that came up during the inspection. I even turned down some of the “suggested services.” I won’t be going back there again. Anyone else get this treatment?
The Car Care Nut schedule seems the most sensible. Replace engine oil every 5000 miles. Change transfer case and rear differential gear oil every 30,000 miles. Replace the transmission “drain and fill” every 60,000 miles with WS ATF. The filter never really clogs unless you never change the tranny fluid. I personally will be changing 30,000 miles just to be a little cleaner. Note you should do flushes, or drain and fill every 10,000 miles, as you need some debris to help with gears engaging. Too often and the transmission can slip.
Ignore the dealer as they’ll change whatever they think can extract money from you. And they’ll follow garbage advice like lifetime fluid, or go the other way and recommend flushes or cleaning out sludge or carbon build up.
This is a very, very important note: flushes aren’t necessary if you change the fluids like you’re supposed to. There shouldn’t be gunk waiting to build up in the first place.