Question Summary: 2007 Lexus LS460, 122k miles. Should I do a first drain&fill of the (supposed) "lifetime transmission fluid"-- or just let it be? Being semi-retired, I hope to drive this vehicle for quite a while, until I drive it to the nursing home! So I would like to take good care of it with proper drain&fills -- if the risks of malfunction/failure from doing so are sufficiently low.

All The Details: The LS460 (in the USA) is promoted as having the infamous "lifetime transmission fluid." However I discovered that, in every other country on Earth, a drain&fill is actually prescribed as routine maintenance for the LS460 every 60k miles. And, of course, Scotty has spoken strongly against the notion of lifetime transmission fluid. So I am certainly convinced this is not truly any sort of lifetime fluid.

I do not have any negative symptoms whatsoever prompting my desire to drain&fill. In fact, especially after I had the dealership do a 'transmission software update' (called for in an older TSB), it seems buttery smooth. However, being semi-retired, I expect to own this vehicle for the long-term and so I want to make sure I doing all that I can with regard to preventive maintenance.

I am quite sure the fluid has never seen prior maintenance. There's no Lexus History of it. Plus the first three owners were lease, CPO then extended warranty -- not the type of drivers who would deep-dive the issue of "lifetime fluid." The fourth owner only kept the vehicle about 18 months, so his/her attention to maintenance at this degree of detail also seems unlikely.

Based on what I found Scotty to have said on this matter, it sounds to me as though I can and should go ahead and do a first drain&fill of the Lexus transmission. But given the possible risk I would like to hear if others agree with my interpretation. Here is what I discovered researching Scotty's comments on this matter:

*I heard Scotty say in a 2020-11-26 video that it, in part depends on the make of vehicle, that "if you take Toyotas, Honda, a lot of Japanese vehicles, [the transmissions] don't shed much material, so even high-mileage ones you can often change the fluid and it won't do any damage." He also says in that video that, for a Ford or Chevy product, you should not drain&fill it at 150k miles.

*I heard Scotty say in an 2021-05-10 Q&A video, when answering a Prius owner with 120k on his/her 'lifetime transmission fluid', that the owner should drain&fill it.

* I heard Scotty say in a 2021-06-08 video, that a first drain&fill is not OK for a vehicle with 180k miles -- but that it is OK for a Toyota vehicle with 77k miles.

* I heard Scotty say in an 2022-02-18 Q&A video, when answering a 2015 Honda Odyssey owner with 94k miles, that the owner should drain&fill it.

* I heard Scotty say in an 2022-03-28 Q&A video, when answering a 2014 Chrysler 200 owner with 120k miles, that the owner should not drain&fill it (if there was no known history of prior drain&fills).

* I heard Scotty say in a 2018-06-25 video that a first drain&fill is not OK for a vehicle with 150k miles.

* I heard Scotty say in a 2021-12-05 (short) video that "if you have an old car or one with very high mileage, changing the fluid can cause the transmission to start to slip."

* Further, elsewhere on this discussion/advice board [ https://bit.ly/37iSZqy ] it seems to suggest that 200k miles is a cutoff for not doing a first drain&fill.  

I am the fifth owner of this vehicle, here in Las Vegas, and it initially went into service from a dealership here in Las Vegas back in 2007. I became the owner in March 2021, about 5,000 miles ago. And that is all I am likely to drive it per year, plus perhaps the occasional road trip. The 'Lexus History' of the vehicle, plus the rate at which it accumulated miles, suggests it has almost never left Las Vegas and that it was a daily driver that accumulated most of its mileage via in-city driving here in Vegas.

Since the official drain&fill procedure is utterly complicated (as Scotty has described) and requires use of a TechStream scan device, I have asked if my local Lexus dealership would do the work. As I figure the dealership is the best opportunity of having the work done right. And they have agreed to do the work -- but, not surprisingly, they have tried to 'warn me off' doing so, in that I might run the risk of developing slippage and such.

Conclusion: I thank you in advance for your advisements regarding my query.