I bought a 2001 SE in July and have put about 9,000 miles on it since then...I drive another truck for work and only drive the Xterra on the weekends. I took it in to get an oil change and they said the AT fluid was gunky and needed to be changed. They said they do it every 3rd oil change or so. Is this legit? The dealer has a great rep in this area and I know a lot of people who have bought trucks from them, but I drove a Honda before this and the AT fluid only got changed every 30k miles at the major servicings. Thanks!

DConfer,
30k is the correct interval for the AT fluid change. Whoever was trying to change it more frequently was just trying to sell you something. Have you confirmed the analysis that it was "gunky"? Does is smell burnt? Does it appear dark?
Bogatyr

It didn't smell burnt or anything, and I didn't notice any difference in the performance of the car, i.e. shifting roughly, etc.

DConfer,
Well, if it appears to be a bright color on the dipstick, a nice bright red, not a dark, dried blood color and it doesn't smell burnt, then I'd say you're fine. I changed mine out last summer around 34k or so...it looked pretty good coming out of the tranny at that mileage.
Bogatyr