Not sure about transmission fluid for 380. My search for a suitable car for wife continues. It was a happy day when she said the 380 is not too big to serve as her daily drive.

Checked out a GT and an SX today. Transmission fluid on the 2 cars was similar. I thought 380's use SP3.
The ATF in the 2 cars was brown and looked like engine oil in colour, had no distinguishable smell. other than an oily smell. The fluid was thin, about same as SP3. SP3 has a very distinctive smell. Both cars had Castrol stickers on inside of windscreen (different dealers), so wondering if the transmissions had Castrol ATF IN.

I know SP3 well and have never seen it any colour other than red/pink, but that is probably because I change my fluid regularly.

Can someone confirm SP3 is the go for 380. Anyone have experience of what Castrol (or other) ATF looks like. Could Sp3 after 120 000km be brown, have only a typical engine oils smell?

Thanks in advance,
John

Not sure about transmission fluid for 380. My search for a suitable car for wife continues. It was a happy day when she said the 380 is not too big to serve as her daily drive.

Checked out a GT and an SX today. Transmission fluid on the 2 cars was similar. I thought 380's use SP3.
The ATF in the 2 cars was brown and looked like engine oil in colour, had no distinguishable smell. other than an oily smell. The fluid was thin, about same as SP3. SP3 has a very distinctive smell. Both cars had Castrol stickers on inside of windscreen (different dealers), so wondering if the transmissions had Castrol ATF IN.

I know SP3 well and have never seen it any colour other than red/pink, but that is probably because I change my fluid regularly.

Can someone confirm SP3 is the go for 380. Anyone have experience of what Castrol (or other) ATF looks like. Could Sp3 after 120 000km be brown, have only a typical engine oils smell?

Thanks in advance,
John

Yes, our 380 are using SP III atf.

You could upgrade your mineral SP III atf to synthetic atf like Amsoil Syn ATF, Redline D4 atf or Royal Purple maxatf(which exceed SP III spec) which are smoother and last much longer. I'm using Amsoil atf at the moment and it feel really smooth.