Change it. Did the dealer even look at the fluid? From the sounds of the fluid condition, from your mechanic, your transmission is in great shape. As the transmission clutch packs wear the fluid turns dark due to particulates. It also starts to loose its lubricating, heat dissipation ability and oth...

Assuming that this is the 2.5T. You can just do staggered partial drain and fills on this one relatively easily. On mine, with the car off, I just drain the pan, measure, then add back that amount of new fluid. A few weeks later, do it again four times in total. I feel like it's a lot less dramatic ...

For 2.5 Drain and Fill is a great way to go. Do two within 200 miles of each other and then do it every 20k or so. If not the 2.5 do what the mechanic fields best, but I wouldn't do a powerflush (unless he will warranty the transmission for 5k miles). As to transmission fluid - think of it as brake ...

My independent Volvo mechanic tells me his fluid specifications exceed that of the genuine Volvo stuff. Is it Ok to go with what he uses, or is it safer to put exactly the same genuine Volvo fluid that's been sitting in my transmission for the last 10 years? (I assume it was genuine, since it was c...

I vote 100% change the fluid, you'll be happy that you did. Transmission fluids can be a touchy subject and if you use the wrong spec you'll not be very happy. The AW5x transmission uses straight up JWS3309, folks can say what they wish about alternatives but for many years the most common fluids t...