[Lost in the 60's]

"How does the do-it-yourself home mechanic check transmission or oil levels without a dipstick? Well, the thing is they don’t, or at least not very easily on certain cars. Many manufacturers expect the original transmission fluid to last the life of the vehicle. If there is ever an issue, car makers have included an extra plug leading to a channel to which the proper liquids can be checked and added. Although this can be very hard to access even for mechanics."
The 2002 Passat we had started exhibiting strange shifting at 80k and that is when I tried, in vain, to find the dipstick. Called the dealer and told them about the strange shifting and no way to check the fluid. "nope fluid is good for the life of the trans and it doesn't need changing". OK, so what are you going to do about the problem we are experiencing ? "Nothing we can do, when the trans fails, we rebuild or replace." Great this has 100k warranty, what if it limps past that ? "You pay for the repair". I found info online on where the plugs were to drain about 3 quarts and refill exactly what came out. Did that 4 times and the trans behaved better and I sold that piece of crap asap. Problem was, this car was rated at the top of the heap for safety and reliability when we bought it and after 5 years, it was known to be a problematic piece of crap and we took a bath selling it cheap to get rid of it. We bought an 2007 Acura TSX that we still have at 150k and not one issue with this car. I still have to drain the trans from plugs in the case, but there IS a dip stick to refill and check level. I have drained and refilled the 3 quarts every 25k since new and the engine/trans still perform like new. There have been no more German cars in our stable and never will be.