In our country 50 % of the Taxis are 0 to 4 year old Diesel Mercs doing typically 70.000 miles a year. The Indy I am using (specialized in MB only - lucky me) told just recently that every Taxi will have their transmission fluid changed at 70.000 mile intervals because Taxi usage is very tough compared with normal civil use. The average used transmission oil of a Taxi looks very dark and there is a lot of grey sludge in the pan because of the graphite remains. Estimated lifetime of the box without changing the fluid and filter is very low - do not try it at home.

Had mine changed just recently as well. $200 for oil change compared with $4.000 for replacing the tranny does not make any comparison. Besides new oil makes me sleep better.

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S320L -97