Its the same with nearly every modern car these days. A shop can easily do it for you if you don't want to mess with it. You should bring the fluid with you though so you don't end up with some generic stuff in you trans.

 

Differential fluid is serviceable and is recommended in the service manual to be completed regularly, consult your owners manual for exact mileage but its every 20-25K mile I think. But yes Infiniti will claim the Transmission is "Sealed " or "unserviceable" which is what most automakers are saying these days, however as you pointed out the fluid does start to breakdown and it should be replaced at regular intervals.

After 100K miles though the car is well out of warranty, most of us would recommend doing it around 60K miles >Change the fluid, do not flush it> and basic maintenance for the car and you'll be out of warranty by that point anyhow so there isn't a worry about Infiniti denying your warranty over some non-sense like servicing the fluid.

 

i literally had the infiniti dealer here flush the transmission when they performed a warranty turbo replacement. i dont know why they would refuse a service, its easy money for them.

concerning a warranty denial due to a fluid change, thats a flat out lie. so long as the correct fluid was used and the trans was filled to the correct amount, itll be fine. instructions for how to perform a fluid service is in the factory service manual.

 

I would recommend using Nissan Matic S ATF as they could get picky about it if you have a warranty claim on your transmission. The owner's manual states:

Yes, there's other ATFs just as good if not better but why give them an excuse?

 

I had Aamco do mine at 73k,,and it clearly wasn't in prime condition,,,wasn't burnt,,but shade or two darker than fresh fluid,,

 

Also learned the differential has a factory sealed marker or seal that remains unbroken until that fluid is changed first time...

 

You may not want to change it, but after seeing what 40k fluid looks like you'll want to do it anyways.

 

Yes,,the rear diff has factory markings that let you know whether your car is a virgin,,or not)

 

Mine was,,,yours is a ****),,,hahahahah jus kidding

 

I had the Infiniti dealership change the transmmission fluid on my hybrid as well. Plus they followed the hybrid factory service manual guidelines where the transmission has to be at a particular temperature in order to change the fluid on the hybrid. They also used the factory transmission oil as well which was the Nissan OEM Matic S fluid. I also had my differential fluid changed from them at the time too. I’m going to get it changed again pretty soon as its supposed to be changed every 36,000 miles with an LSD.

 

I had my transmission fluid changed by the dealer @ 30k miles, after 5+ years (yeah, low mileage due to a variety of factors, including 100% WFH since March 2020). It was a 7 qt drain & refill. Shift quality was a marked improvement.

I'd highly recommend finding another Infiniti dealership to perform the drain & refill. It's worth the expense.

Here's a snippet of how the transmission fluid is drained & refilled:

 

My dealer offers and recommends regular trans drain and fills. I recommend you go to another dealer.

 

i didnt notice any difference in shift quality for my car. i didnt see the color of the fluid either though. a dealer should absolutely do a fluid swap though, theres no reason they wont. theyre just being lazy.

 

It’s just as easy and quick as an oil change, super easy. Just do it.

 

Wouldn't go that far since you have to fill from the bottom and do it 3 times - but your point is valid. It is doable for a DIY and fairly easy work for a dealer or a shop.

 

It isn't hard, but it isn't as easy as an oil change. You are either measuring what you take out and putting in the identical amount. Or, you have to run the engine / trans up to the proper temp to properly level the fluid via the overflow plug. Neither of those two steps are required in an oil change. #savethedipsticks

 

Done 30+ times. It’s easy, I only do temp/level process. And I’m not some phenom mechanic either, procedure is just easy. Seems way more complicated than it really is when you read the procedure. If you diy oil changes, should never pay to do trans.

 

That's bullshit. There's no changeable filter, rather a screen. They hook it up to a machine and it flushes, washes and fills it. Around $250 in my neck of the woods

 

My friend is a former tech and now service manager, he said that the reason car companies put that out has everything to do with advertising of maintenance costs and keeping them low and competitive with other brands. He advised me to change the transfer case fluid and trans fluid every 30K miles. After doing my 60,000 service recently I noticed a big difference in how the car performed. Everything shifted smoother and there were less trans freak outs afterward. As to what freak outs are, well studdering, slipping or over revving/missing a gear when upshifting. I did it at the dealership because my car has been serviced there since new and more to the point I have read extensively on this subject and the Infiniti tech knows the proper way of doing this and getting the amounts just right--something critical on these cars with AWD. FYI -- 2015 Q50S AWD 3.7L

 

I did mine at Aamco transmissions,,trans experts,,supposedly),,car runs perfect...they also let me know my differential seal hadn't been broken,,hence original fluid there as well--had it changed also) The previous owner was very diligent and performed every single recommended scheduled maintenance thru 60k miles,,,but he was advised trans fluid is LIFETIME,,can't fault him,,at 72k I did all the drivetrain fluid drains an fill,,and car feels super,,plus original owner seems to be a very easy owner,,nowhere signs of any abuse,,even leather,,shift knob,steering wheel etc,,all like new...

 

Just did my trans fluid and the car shifts amazing, barely any jerkiness. Would absolutely recommend changing that
as well as the diff fluid

Not sure if this is related but I can chirp tires on 1>2nd 2nd>3rd again after changing above mentioned

 

Did you DIY or get the service done by the dealer?

 

I paid 355 total separately,,but most important-- you got it done)