No, i guess not. But put it this way, let say you droped your filter in your driveway and let say something happened, like you could not get the filter or have it seal properly, and now you are leaking transmission fluid all over the place, the question comes to mind, do i have enought time to get to the store to get a replacement part, or is there an automotive place open. There are things like this that post a question. I do agree with you on the issue; would you replace your oil w/o changing your filter. I do agree. But doing a flush is quicker, and may salve problems. In some cases, all you need to do is flush the system, that would work, and yes in some cases, you will need to change everything. I guess what im trying to say is, do the easy thing and lass $ way first, then if the problem is not resolved then you will have to dig deeper to find the problem. IM not here to say that im RIGHT, but only expressing my thoughts on this issue.