Quick Car Repair Question

[samifan24]

Does anyone know if it's necessary to change power steering fluid? The local Toyota dealership is telling my Mom that she needs to change it in her 2003 Highlander with 82,000 miles. Is this really necessary?

[Mustang]

From what I've been told, it should not need changing. (You may occassionally need to top it off if low). You should change it though if you replace parts of the car that the fluid is around to avoid contaminating the new parts.

Although, I'm sure you'll find enough people to say you should change it so...

[chesapeake]

Tom's and Ray's thoughts:
hxxp://cars.cartalk.com/content/advice/powersteering.html (http://cars.cartalk.com/content/advice/powersteering.html)

[flere-imsaho]

I love their "Can I do this" matrix for each car repair:

Can I Do This Myself?
It depends on where you rank on the Car Talk do-it-yourself scale:

There are two kinds of screwdrivers?
I've successfully hung pictures around the house.
I've changed my own oil.
I've fixed things on my car that involve removing more than five bolts.
I've built a working nuclear reactor out of wood.

[Suburban Rhythm]

The last thing you want to end up with is a worn out O-ring