I've got a 2003 Ford Escape and the manual says change the transmission fluid at 150,000 miles. FYI: It was changed when I got a 30K service done at my tire shop, and now I just changed it at 120K. But I'm wondering why Ford says you don't need to until 150K, but almost everyone who posts on these forums says you need to change long before that, like at 30K or 50K.
Does Ford want the transmission to fail, or is changing the fluid before 150K truly unnecessary?
I raised this question at Thanksgiving with my brothers (both engineers) and they seemed to think Ford must have done enough studies to justify the 150K number, and they wouldn't want to open themselves up to class action lawsuits. But again, I can't find anyone else that says you should wait this long.
So what do you think? Is Ford right on this? Or is it a conspiracy to have the transmission fail so people will buy new cars? Or is Ford saying it can last this long, but not saying that it's the way to get the maximum life out of your transmission.
This kind of reminds me of cell phones now. I used to be able to replace the battery myself. Now most smartphones have the battery built in, and you have to send it somewhere to have it replaced. I know several people who just buy a new phone when the battery starts failing. The phone makers claim the built-in battery improves the phone, but it also encourages people to just buy a new phone when the battery gets weak. I love my new smartphone (btw it's from Republic Wireless and the service costs a lot less than AT&T or T-Mobile.. read my Republic Wireless service review if you're interested), but as much as I love my Republic Moto G smartphone, I really wish it had a replaceable battery. I don't know what I'm going to do when the battery wears out since sending it in to get the battery replaced isn't cheap and means being without a phone for a few weeks I would guess).
Anyway, back to transmissions... So is Ford doing the same thing here? Recommending something that "technically works" but reduces the lifetime of the "low cost maintenance" vehicle so you're tempted to just buy a new one when the transmission goes out? I.E The original fluid will get you to 150K, but then the tranny will probably fail around 200K, but if you ignored their advice and replaced the fluid every 30K you'd get 500K out of the tranny??? Thoughts? Thanks!

 

Or probably is good for 150k and since most people don't keep cars long enough to see that it won't be a problem for Ford or the original owner. By the time it reaches that many miles it could very easily be on its 3-4 owner and by then a dealer or mechanic will say, Who knows what the previous owner did to it.

Personally, I change ours around 30k and I'm approaching 295k. I'd say it was worth the extra few hundred versus a replacement/rebuilt trans.

 

Does that recommendation fall under "normal" service? I don't know what they classify as "severe" service for that model, but every vehicle I have owned has had a separate maintenance schedule for "severe" service and many people's driving habits will fall in that category.

I am at 41k on my 13 Escape with mostly highway miles and only towed a couple times so far... I plan to have transmission fluid changed around 50k as I plan to run it to at least 200k and hope everything will hold up that long...

 

Kind of like how the oil change interval years ago was 3,000 miles in the US where the same car with the same engine running the same oil overseas was 7,500 miles. The longer interval could be fine, but I've always changed mine when I felt like it, usually before required.

 

Everyone on these forums knows more about Ford transmissions than Ford does. Everyone has also run the extensive durability testing on multiple vehicles to prove this out. That would have never occurred to Ford to run that kind of testing. Never listen Ford, the internet is a much better source of information. [/sarcasm]

 

I agree Mark. Manufactures spend millions on R&D. Why believe them.
I just bought a 2016 Kia Sportage AWD. I believe they are calling for the same as Ford is. If it wasn't 150,000 it was 100,000 miles. I don't have my owners manual in front of me or I would know which.

 

They have also said that the fluid in the CX9/Edge is lifetime but there have been many of them go bad in as few as 40k miles. The fluid coming out is totally destroyed.
I'm not saying they are always wrong, but they definitely aren't always right.

 

Some outrageous claims being made on this site. Nervous about your tranny fluid? Change it. It is cheap money for peace of mind. 150K seems a bit much for me. Split the difference and do it at 75K. The important thing here is to have it replaced with the exact fluid specified by Ford, not a replacement or one size fits all fluid. Second, drain as much as possible, not just a pan drain. Replace the gasket and know that you did your part to keep your tranny happy.

Those in the camp that state that Ford knows best... they may know best but remember that the engineers are ALWAYS trumped by marketing and budgeting. So.... the mandate that vehicles have a certain $ value per year of maintenance is seriously considered in the annual operating expense factored for ownership/operation of a Ford vehicle... same as any other vehicle sold in the US. Do your research before saluting in blind loyalty to a particular brand. They are all beholden to US GOVT regs.