You need to read the fine print in the Warranty.  If is says 'scheduled
service intervals' or anything like that in it, the $tealership is right.

You should be able to have a 3rd party do the work though if they are a
warranty approved shop and you save the receipt.

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
'New' frame in the works for '08

It sounds like he's pressuring you hard to do it; in reality the
transmission of your car isn't going to suddenly turn into scrap if you
don't change the fluid.  HOWEVER - if you plan on keeping this car a
long time, I'd definitely change it anyway.  IMHO there is no such thing
as a "lifetime" fluid, despite the fact that many mfgrs. have no
recommended service intervals for various important parts.  If the stock
fluid isn't synthetic, I'd suggest finding a good synthetic that meets
the mfgrs. specs.  (I am partial to Red Line, but there are other brands
of good synthetics out there.)  Since it's going to be in there for at
least another 3-4 years likely, might as well pay a little extra for the
good stuff.

nate

That sounds like it's about time to do the first fluid change.

What does the manual say?  The owner's manual has a schedule in the back
that tells you when required maintenance is.  Odds are it says that
the first transmission fluid change is around 50kmi.

Incidentally, now that the car is yours and you don't have to deal with
the "free" maintenance, you should be using the "severe service" schedule
in the manual rather than the "regular service" one.  It is a bit more
conservative and following it will make your car last longer.

You need to change transmission fluid now and then.  Every 50kmi seems
about right to me.  Doing it on the Eclipse is a bloody pain too, so you
probably want to get someone else to do it.  It drains out easily, but
getting the new fluid back up into the hole on the top is a pain.  Ask
a competent independant mechanic, who will almost certainly charge less
than the dealer.

If you do it yourself, look at the fluid that comes out and the fluid
that goes in.  Feel it with your fingers.  You'll know right away why
transmission fluid changes are important.  
--scott

Look at your maintenace schedule. The online version shows that you should
change the transmission fluid every 30,000 miles only under the severve
service maintenance schedule. There is no change interval for "normal"
service. See http://www.mitsubishicars.com/MMNA/jsp/owners/both.do.
Mitsubishi defines severve service as:

Select the schedule for Severe Maintenance if most of your driving is done
under one or more of the following conditions:
. 50% of driving is done in heavy city traffic during hot weather.
. Extensive idling and/or low speed operations (stop-and-go traffic).
. Extended use of brakes while driving (stop-and-go traffic).
. Repeated short trips with engine not fully warmed up, especially in
freezing temperatures.
. Dusty, rough, muddy, sandy, or salt-spread roads.
. Vehicle is used for towing.

Only the towing requirement really affects the transmission fluid. It seems
that all the Japanese manufacturers call for manual transmission fluid
replacement every 30 k miles under severe service conditions. The various
Japanese manufacturers have subtle variations in when/how the severe service
conditions apply. Toyota makes it clear that you only need to change the
manual transmission fluid every 30 k miles if you use the vehicle for
towing.

Personally I think changing the fluid every 30K miles is ridiculously
conservative. GL-5 Gear Oil (or ATF) is subjected to test equivalent to
250,000 miles of use in large trucks transmissions. There is little chance
the fluid will degrade solely as a result of driving 30K miles in a
reasonable period of time (3 or 4 years). A bigger concern is the build-up
of moisture in the fluid.  For this reason, I'd suggest changing the fluid
based on time, rather than mileage. Personally I would change manual
transmission fluid every 3 years or 50k miles which ever occurs first. There
is little chance that a good quality fluid will degrade in that time. And
realistically, you probably could go 6 years / 100k miles with little chance
of damage. And if you use synthetic fluids, then 150k miles is not
unreasonable, as long as moisture contamination is minimized.

Ed