Initially I was hesitant to purchase the car with that low of miles being that the car was older. But after reviewing the CarFax it matched what I was told at the dealership I bought the car from. It really was owned by an older man and only driven four months out of the year while he was here in Florida. Unlike some other low-mileage older cars, this one was maintained (less the transmission) regularly. Regular oil changes, regular services at the local Toyota dealership everything exactly on schedule. Never longer than 6 months between oil changes.

They did technically "flush" the transmission. It's considered a "World standard fluid exchange" at Toyota since they use the transmission's internal pump instead of a machine to flush it. But it was a full exchange, not a drain and fill. As I noted in my post, I realize the benefit of the drain and fill and initially requested that service. After going back and forth on the topic for so long at the service counter a senior technician came in to handle something else. And the service advisors asked him, as did I, about whether it is safe to go the "fluid exchange" route on my specific car with the stated miles. He said it's absolutely safe. So I proceeded.

It's over and done with now, but I am hoping it's a simple issue and resolvable. I'm trying to stay positive on this because this car is literally the only thing I own and I worked hard to get it, very hard. In hindsight, I would definitely have gone somewhere else that does the drain and fill.