I noticed the stopping efficacy of my 99 ES300!is much lower than I’m used to. Also, brake fade was much more evident.

I checked the fluid and it’s black. Not sure if the pads have life but the reservoir is still full.

It’s factory fluid. Is there a different fluid you guys recommend that would be more resistant to turning black? Synthetic?

You don't need synthetic, you just need fresh fluid. Of course almost all is now synthetic. Not as much in the reservoir as throughout the lines and especially at the calipers, but it will all be fresh with a proper flush. Use the fluid type and rating recommended for your car, which will take into account lines and seals.

While you're checking your pads consider rotors as well. Pretty cheap to replace rotors if replacing pads.

For that old a car I'd replace the reservoir cap with another OEM one as well. Glycol fluid is incredibly hydroscopic, and you need a good seal. OF course synthetic absorbs air, same answer.

Flush it with DOT 4. Most manufacturers recommend a complete flush every 2-3 years regardless of mileage. I figure most cars on the road have never even been flushed once.

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You don't need synthetic, you just need fresh fluid. Of course almost all is now synthetic. Not as much in the reservoir as throughout the lines and especially at the calipers, but it will all be fresh with a proper flush. Use the fluid type and rating recommended for your car, which will take into account lines and seals.

Thanks!! Okay, I'll continue to use factory fluid then. I was thinking about using something a little more durable / longer lasting / doesn't need checking because I'm planning to give the car to my parents. But if factory fluid is best indicated, I'll stick w/ that.

In my experience, at least for my cars, rotors now get changed with pads. I've found that the rotors don't last the through the second set of pads. But good reminder.

I'll pick up a reservoir cap and maybe a new gas cap as well (car threw a P0440?) recently. It's gone now but....

A lot of what's on the shelf these days is synthetic whether it's DOT3 or DOT4. Most folks recommend against mixing synthetic and non, but it sounds like you need a complete thorough flush so running synthetic through the entire system will be fine.

As Surge noted, this should be a part of regular maintenance but few people worry with it until their expensive calipers start to rust up from the inside out. We had a thread here last year where many suggested bleeding was a waste of time, they'd do it only when replacing calipers, etc.

It's cheap insurance for a car if you plan to keep it long term as many of us have to do.

Yea. I'm obviously past due but the fluid was flushed when I last changed the pads/rotors (but not sure when that was).

I should check more often. I only checked now because the pedal seems to be soft and goes down to the floor much easier than I remember (it was the car my wife had been driving). And there is uncomfortable brake fade. I hate brake fade.

Has the car been driven weekly or has it been sitting?

I would flush the brake fluid. Check your manual but any DOT 3 or DOT 4 should be fine. Brake fluid absorbs water and a '99 with original fluid would benefit from a change.

It may or may not help the brake fade. Lots of other things could be going on. Are the pads, rotors, and calibers in good shape?

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It may or may not help the brake fade. Lots of other things could be going on. Are the pads, rotors, and calibers in good shape?

Thanks. Will be at least flushing the fluid. Will check pads/rotors too. The fluid gets changed very pad / rotor change (every 40K miles or so?). But that's actually about every 4 years....

“I only checked now because the pedal seems to be soft and goes down to the floor much easier than I remember (it was the car my wife had been driving)”

If the pedal goes to the floor you have worse problems than black fluid, in my experience. You probably have a bad master cylinder.

Thanks - I may have exaggerated a bit but perhaps not. Will be having the brake system checked out on Monday.