Great synopsis JimSmith.

I had an old 220D transmission fail about 1,000 miles AFTER I changed the very old and very cruddy transmission fluid after I purchased it. Its not hard for me to believe that new fluid dislodged old varnish deposits and these deposits pluged up something in the valve body that controls the shifting process that lead to "failure". I agree with Jim that this is not the fault of the transmission - rather its a case of prior neglect coming to light after the recommended service procedures are performed - maybe for the first time ever.

All my current cars get 30K fluid and filter replacements - they do because I've had them for 100K miles and I know the fluid is in good shape.

If I acquired a 230K car that had crappy fluid I would NOT change it - I'd drive it until the trans failed, rebuild it and then begin changing fluid and filters on schedule.

Tim