Went to the store today to get some Auto tranny fluid for my Max. Took a look in the owner's manual to see what kind it needed and all I see is "Nissan ATF or equivalent." So I'm thinking what is this "equivalent"? It suggests contacting your Nissan dealer for recommendations. So I did. The service guy told me that basically the only choice I had was the Nissan fluid. They have no idea what the stuff is, so they can't recommend using anything else. So he transfers me to parts. I tell the parts guy what I've got and that I need some ATF. "Looks like my only choice is to get it from Nissan." "Yeah, I'm afraid so. They don't say what's in it, so it's hard to say whether or not you can substitute anything else." So I ask him how much this miracle fluid is... "They're pretty proud of it apparently, runs $5.32 a quart." Well, it ended up being $5.76 with tax. Bright red, stinks like all get out, looks like tranny fluid to me.

So my question is... does everybody buy their tranny fluid from Nissan or did I get the wool pulled over my eyes? Really I can't complain, this is the first time it's ever needed it since I bought the car almost 2 years ago. Give it some $5 tranny fluid and $1.65 gas and it runs like a scalded dog with no complaints. Sure beats having to take it to the shop every week with some mechanical problem. Max has been good to me, so I figure it's the least I can do.

 

Any "Dexron III" fluid will work...

 

One of the Nissan parts guy told me any "Dexron III" will work when I went to buy the tranny filter and gasket. So I went out and got the Mobil1 Synthetic ATF from Autozone.

 

Forgive the cynicism, but I bet that dealership also recommends genuine Nissan anti-freeze and genuine Nissan windshield washer fluid. If you need to inflate your tires they might recommend genuine Nissan air.

 

In addition, Nissan ATF lasts NO MORE than 32k under typical driving conditions, as specified in the Oil and ATF analysis spreadsheet in the sticky post.

Nissan's recommendation of waiting 60k before changing the fluid is a good way to cut your tranny life from 200k to 100k. A high level of abrasion was in mine at 32k, so I can't imagine waiting to 60k would cause the abrasion in the fluid to go down......

 

I just had my max 30K major serviced at the dealer I bought my max from. The transmission oil change was included. The only dealer closer to my home does not have transmission oil change in their 30K service, but they provide 24 hours rental car for free. Their transmission oil change plus one more thing I forgot will cost about $200 extra.

I thought maintenence is more important than a free car so I went to the first dealer.