ok need some help on a dispute

[CoasTek240]

ok my dad is calling me retarded.. b/c i said that you need to change your brake fluid ocasionally. I do realize that is normal( non-performance) everydy driven cars that you may not to change it as often, and that you just top it off every now and then, but after a while you will eventually need a brake fluid change, right. the fluid doesn't supply the proper hydrolic pressure.. right?... he said he's never done it in his life and i told him that he may not have needed it. Please inform us of how it is. thanx

[sykikchimp]

when brake fluid breaks down, it seperates and gets water in it.  same thing when it gets too hot (but much more noticible).  once this happens the boiling point of the fluid is greatly reduced.  when your fluid boils you get air in the lines.  If this happens, expect the brake pedal to hit the floor.  brakey no worky..  street driven cars rarely have to worry about this as they aren't driven hard enough to heat up the fluid that much.  This doesn't mean that it doesn't need to be changed.  it still gets old, and breaks down, necessitating a loss in perdormance of your braking.  I've made it a policy to change brake fluid in my "street cars" every 60k miles.  Getting good high temp brake fluid helps too.  like:

Castrol GT LMA (or something - Low Moisture..)
ATE SuperBlue or
Ford Heavy Duty

Also - you should not have to top off your fluid.  only top it off when you replace the pads if necessary.  If the fluid is dropping, you should consider that a warning that your pads are getting low.  any other reason means your leaking brake fluid.  BAD.  get the leak fixed.  don't just top it off.