2019 Toyota Corolla CVT Fluid change interval

Joined
Jan 26, 2019
Messages
34
Location
Israel
Hello everyone, I have some kind of confusion about the CVT transmission fluid in my Corolla, should I change it at 60 thousand km or can I use the car further, frankly, I hope that my car will remain usable for more than three hundred thousand km at least So, will changing the transmission fluid early achieve that longevity for the car, or is it just a waste of money and time? Note that I drive the car in a hot Middle Eastern climate, where the temperature may easily reach more than 45 degrees Celsius in summer, and the maintenance agent in my location told me that I can drive the Corolla for more than 100,000 km before needing to change the transmission fluid, but I doubt that fact because I always hear about The sensitivity and complexity of this system, which is why I would like to know all the opinions here so I can learn what to do. Thank you in advance
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The general consensus is the first change should come sooner, rather than later.. That said, changing at 100k kilometers or approximately 60k miles isn't all that bad either. If you have the correct fluid available and you have the means to do so, I'd recommend changing in the near future.
 
Hello Ashraf from the US east coast. Your temps are warmer than we get here during the summer. I changed the cvt fluid on my Suzuki at about 40K miles/65K kilometers. It was very dirty. I plan on doing it again in 30K miles. The cost of fluid is minimal compared to the expense of replacing a CVT. I used Valvoline fluid which is a compatible replacement for the JATCO transmission. Toyota might require their own fluid. If not, Castrol and Valvoline might work.

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Good luck.
 
I know with the Prius CVT's Toyota recommends 100K miles. Believe me I fought with the dealer for a period of time before getting it done at 90K miles. I have zero issues 104K miles and the transmission works perfectly. The Toyota CVT's are sealed units so there is no issue with any foreign substances such as moisture getting mixed into the fluid.

Although I would have been a lot happier if I could have gotten it done at 60K-75K miles instead of having to wait until 90K miles.

Being that you're in the Mid-East, I'd definitely go with a shorter interval due to the hotter climate.
 
Doesn't hurt to change it now :)

If Toyota pretends it's "lifetime fill" then just change it when the warranty expires :sneaky:

Even one CVT fluid change is more than most people will do anyway
 
Prius CVT is different than the Corolla non hybrid CVT. The one shown above is more like the belt and pulley one JATCO uses, I'd probably use Toyota's until warranty expire, then switch to other brand's CVT fluid.
 
300,000 km is about 186k miles. I've seen a few Priuses (don't know if that's the proper plural) go over 250k miles, or about 400,000 km. If you're planning on keeping it, as your post suggests, I'd change it every 30 - 40k miles, or 50 - 70,000 km.
 
I know with the Prius CVT's Toyota recommends 100K miles. Believe me I fought with the dealer for a period of time before getting it done at 90K miles. I have zero issues 104K miles and the transmission works perfectly. The Toyota CVT's are sealed units so there is no issue with any foreign substances such as moisture getting mixed into the fluid.

Although I would have been a lot happier if I could have gotten it done at 60K-75K miles instead of having to wait until 90K miles.

Being that you're in the Mid-East, I'd definitely go with a shorter interval due to the hotter climate.

The Prius and many, but not all, hybrids use a ECVT. It does not have a belt and pulley like a CVT.
 
My 2017 maintenance manual says 60k fluid replacement under severe conditions. I'm having it done this weekend at 65k even though I'm probably more "normal" driving than "severe." Had a drain and fill on my wife's Subaru last spring at 60k, too. What does the 2019 maintenance schedule recommend?
 
My 2017 maintenance manual says 60k fluid replacement under severe conditions. I'm having it done this weekend at 65k even though I'm probably more "normal" driving than "severe." Had a drain and fill on my wife's Subaru last spring at 60k, too. What does the 2019 maintenance schedule recommend?
Thank you all for your replies, my 2019 Corolla LE manual says the same, replace at 96 k km (60k miles) at severe service. I consider myself as a severe because I live in an area with a hot climate, in addition to severe traffic jams, but I do not use it to tow or load things on top, but as I mentioned earlier, I want to extend the life of the transmission as much as possible because I love this car and do not intend to replace it, I also love the CVT system because of its constant acceleration and its optimum use of engine power that is not provided by a conventional transmission.
 
Thank you all for your replies, my 2019 Corolla LE manual says the same, replace at 96 k km (60k miles) at severe service. I consider myself as a severe because I live in an area with a hot climate, in addition to severe traffic jams, but I do not use it to tow or load things on top, but as I mentioned earlier, I want to extend the life of the transmission as much as possible because I love this car and do not intend to replace it, I also love the CVT system because of its constant acceleration and its optimum use of engine power that is not provided by a conventional transmission.
The words "constant acceleration" to describe a Corolla made me laugh. Great commuter car, great gas mileage, but what it lacks is acceleration LOL Technically, it takes so long to accelerate to 60mph, I suppose it pretty much is constantly accelerating 🤣

I love my dear car, but miss the "fun" of my old Civic Si 5spd.
 
The words "constant acceleration" to describe a Corolla made me laugh. Great commuter car, great gas mileage, but what it lacks is acceleration LOL Technically, it takes so long to accelerate to 60mph, I suppose it pretty much is constantly accelerating 🤣

I love my dear car, but miss the "fun" of my old Civic Si 5spd.
Nothing to laugh about, the Toyota Corolla takes only less tha 10 secs to accelerate from 0-60 miles per hour, which is not so bad, In addition to the fact that the acceleration of the car occurs steadily and not in the form of waves as in other cars, and I did not mean that it is a Ferrari, this type of transmission is what will prevail in the future,
 
The words "constant acceleration" to describe a Corolla made me laugh. Great commuter car, great gas mileage, but what it lacks is acceleration LOL Technically, it takes so long to accelerate to 60mph, I suppose it pretty much is constantly accelerating 🤣

I love my dear car, but miss the "fun" of my old Civic Si 5spd.

They both have pretty much same 0-60, in fact current gen stick shift HB Corollas (North American) would smoke your old 5 speed Civic Si. You may need an ebay turbo, giant fart can and NOS stickers on both doors to keep up
 
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They both have pretty much same 0-60, in fact current gen stick shift HB Corollas (North American) would smoke your old 5 speed Civic Si. You may need an ebay turbo, giant fart can and NOS stickers on both doors to keep up
Yeah, the current 2.0 in the Corolla hatch is about the same as the 2002 Civic I had. Oddly, they have almost identical 0-60 times, if you Google it. So, doubtful the new Corolla would've "smoked it". It's why I was struggling to get a new car. Every new car was less fun and had less power in that size segment. Unless I wanted to pay $30k+. And, yes, 9.5-10 to 60 is fine, but definitely on the slow end in its class. 7 seconds vs 9 or 10 seconds... That's 30-40% slower.
 
Yeah, the current 2.0 in the Corolla hatch is about the same as the 2002 Civic I had. Oddly, they have almost identical 0-60 times, if you Google it. So, doubtful the new Corolla would've "smoked it". It's why I was struggling to get a new car. Every new car was less fun and had less power in that size segment. Unless I wanted to pay $30k+. And, yes, 9.5-10 to 60 is fine, but definitely on the slow end in its class. 7 seconds vs 9 or 10 seconds... That's 30-40% slower.

You're not wrong, but he is not from NA, 2.0L engine is tiny for North American standards. For EU/ME, 2.0L is a big displacement engine, they usually have 1.2L-1.6L engines. They don't have huge highways like here, so they really don't need extra roll-on power.

But - he is right about constant acceleration part, CVT can utilize the powerband better even though it's not the performance oriented option. I am not sure if ME Corollas have CVT with an actual first gear like NA versions, but it makes the car quite peppy right off the line (by CVT standards).

For OPs question: Do it every 50k km if you do a lot of stop and go traffic. Oil is cheap, transmissions are expensive. In my opinion 100k km is a lot for ME heat/dust and traffic.
 
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As an FYI, my transmission is smoother after drain and fill today. No shudder from coasting to accelerator press any more. It was very subtle but haven't felt it on the way home and some errands.
 
I have booked an appointment tomorrow at the maintenance agent in my location, he will change the CVT transmission oil in addition to the filter, he told me that it is better to change the filter with the oil because this would extend the life of the transmission in addition to that when changing the filter, a larger amount of transmission fluid will come out, allowing the replacement of More quantity of it as a results. But my question now is how can they change the transmission fluid while it is hot, and I don't think they will wait until the transmission cools down completely, does that hurt the transmission or not, frankly, the issue is really confusing
 
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