6.5 year old brake fluid how can you tell when it needs changing.

myth huh? what's your source for this? according to what I have read from industry sources, green fluid is from brass or copper containing alloys corroding in the brake system. black fluid from dye? I doubt that. I've never heard of dye in the brake system. what purpose would that serve?

 

we did have one guy who left brake caliper bleeder screws loose at the MB dealer. they fired him for it.

 

Or you could spend < $30 for Mini VCI on amazon.com

 

I would if I had a laptop. I may have to get a laptop just for this reason.

 

Yes. Especially when it runs around $100, let the pros do it.

And yeah, be very careful when they hand it back to you. Ask if they test drove it. Also, even without a jack you're able to eyeball all four bleed screws. Make sure the caps are all present, and nothing's leaking.

The last time I brought a vehicle in for brake fluid change, the cost was under $100. Honda Civic at a Honda dealership. Drove it away with trust in my heart. Then over the course of the next few days, found I was having serious problems coming to a stop behind the white stop lines, and anti-lock braking was kicking in. Every time I'd brake there was this strange back-and-forth rocking as it came to a stop. Finally sleuthed that one rear corner, a drum brake, was completely disconnected, not braking, the hydraulic line clogged.

And of course two bleed caps had gone missing.

Brought it back in, the second time they did it right. Apologized. Test drove.

 

Around 2010 our 2002 Saturn had catastrophic brake failure due to moisture in lines turning into steam and vapor locking the lines/cylinders, so this problem does occur on newer vehicles. Fluid looked fine and I had never had that happen, so did not due moisture check until after the failure (on a hot summer day on interstate 66 in Washington DC).

 

My 2000 Dodge Dakota is now 15 years old. last summer I checked the fluid as It seems to me it is a little darker color than when new.
The test strip indicated it was not new, but still in the lower half of the limits for moisture and metals.

My 2010 Prius (bought July 09) still looked great at the time of the brake accumulator recall, so it got new parts and new fluid less than 20,000 miles ago.

Most newer cars have the little diaphragm under the brake fluid fill cap to keep air from exchanging at the fill port. A little air and moisture enters past the brake cylinders / calipers, when you actuate the brakes and the brake pistons move. My suspicion is that with regen braking doing 90% of braking chores, the friction brakes operate so little that they only accumulate a fraction of the contamination of a machine without regen braking.