I bought my car brand new and have taken it in to the dealer every 3k-5k miles for an oil change. At the 30k major service, they told me the power steering fluid was dirty and needed to be changed out. I do what is required of me to honor the warranty, but I thought this was fishy. I declined, but I am wondering if I should go ahead and have them do it, or should I start looking for a new mechanic. The service was going to cost around $95. My car now has close to 40k miles and every time I go for my regular maintenance, I tell them no to the power steering fluid change. What should I do?
What should you do? The easy answer is have them do only the maintenance specified in the owners manual. However, occasionally the manufacturers skimp on maintenance to make their cars seem cheaper to keep up, like Honda recommending valve adjustment at 105k miles. I don’t think power steering fluid is one of those cases. Your manual probably doesn’t recommend replacing the p.s. fluid ever. Most car makers don’t.