Express Entry

By: winstonoakshott on Aug 31, 2026 08:24 AM EST

Okay so I know I'm probably going to get some flak for this, but I need honest advice about a situation that I've kind of let get away from me. I bought my 2016 A6 brand new and I've been meticulous about oil changes and regular maintenance, but for some reason I always just kind of ignored the transmission because the car was shifting fine and I figured if it wasn't broken, why mess with it? Well, now I'm sitting at 120,000 kilometers and I've recently started noticing some subtle signs that maybe I should have paid more attention – the shifts feel a bit firmer than they used to, there's a slight clunk when going from park to drive, and occasionally I feel a little shudder when accelerating from a stop. I've been doing some research to figure out what to do next and I found a really helpful article that encouraged me to read this guide on Audi transmission fluid replacement schedules, which basically said that once you go past about 100,000 kilometers without a fluid change, you need to be really careful about how you proceed because doing a full flush at that stage can sometimes dislodge accumulated debris and cause more problems than it solves. The guide suggested that a drain and fill with a filter change is safer than a full flush in these high-mileage cases, because it replaces the fluid gradually without shocking the system with all-new detergent properties that might break loose deposits in the valve body. Now I'm really torn about what to do – part of me thinks I should just leave it alone since the car is still driving okay, but another part of me is worried that I'm sitting on a ticking time bomb and that if I don't do something now, I'm going to end up with a catastrophic failure that costs me ten times what a fluid service would have. Has anyone else been in this situation where they left the fluid way too long and then had to decide whether to change it or not? I'd really appreciate some honest, non-judgmental advice from people who've been through this before I make a decision that could cost me thousands either way.

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