Originally Posted By: The Critic
They most definitely would know.
The NS-2 fluid has a green-ish tint to it. It also, most likely, has a chemical identifier. In the event of a CVT failure, Nissan will pull a fluid sample and analyze it to ensure that the NS-2 fluid was used. So if your friend experiences a failure under the newly extended 10/120,000 mile warranty, he's screwed.
I highly doubt that they would be able to tell the difference. I guess you missed the part about the fluid being pitch black (worse than dirty engine oil). So if it was green in the NS2 bottles, it certainly doesn't stay green for very long in the CVT in service. Secondly, if they do pull samples, it will be primarily to check for contamination with conventional ATF, as I'm sure many people have inadvertently had their fluid changed improperly at a quick lube and had subsequent failure.
Thirdly, I hypothesize that most of the CVT failures are due to the fact that people never changed their fluid, or not on time, and in combination with very high fluid temperatures within the unit. My friend and I have done a fair bit of investigation.
And best of all, you wouldn't believe the difference in ratio changes between the stock fluid and the Redline. It's like night and day, and my friend did purchase his car brand new. It never changed ratios so smoothly, both in manual mode with the preset ratios, or in auto mode.
I doubt my friend will ever have the need to take advantage of Nissan's warranty if he continues his frequent maintenance and use of the Redline CVT fluid. This transmission is NOT exclusive to Nissan, and many manufacturers recommend their own fluid for the very same transmission. It's all marketing and scare tactics if you ask me.