It's good to know some ppl change their transaxel/transmission fluid on a regular basis or at least they know they should. After 7 years and 116,xxx miles (196xxx Km's here in Canada) I took it upon myself to change the fluid for the first time...that's right...the 1st/First time since we bought the cars new as I'm sure it wasn't done at the dealer before. Like
Sherb said, it's easier than an oil change to a point. Drive around for 10 miles or more before hand, put the car up on jackstands or ramps, remove the transaxel plug, let it drain for 30 minutes or so, clean the plug off well and reinsert. The stuff that came out was dark brown (sign of a burned tranny) and had some traces of metal shavings. A Haynes repair guide will help with the spacifics.
I didn't measure out how much drained out so it was guess work of how much to put back in. For those of you that don't know, you have to refill it through the transaxel tube (the lower right red knob dip stick). I added 4L of transaxel/transmission fluid (Wal-Mart brand) a little at a time and my level while HOT was perfect.
There is two ways to check tranny fluid levels...when cold or hot. I was really confused on this until I actually did it myself and it suddenly made sense.
Cold: run the engine after refill for a minute or so and check the level on the stick. It should be between the cold marks. The reason why I would get confused is because I was never getting the propper readings (usually too high a level while at HOT it was perfect...anyway, this time it was right on)
Hot: After 10 miles or at idle until engine is warm and check level. I found driving and checking the level from gas sation to gas station worked the best.
...the point to all of this was that I thought the transmission in my mom's car was on it's way out as well, from the jerking when shifting from 1-2nd. Now that I see many of you experience the same thing I guess I don't need to worry so much. I do know the transmission is not top notch as it does have a noticable jerk from Drive to Neutral or Neutral to Reverse when it should be smooth. So, to any of you out there that have neglected to change your transaxel fluid, now is as good a chance as anyway.
Good luck...and wear protective glasses and rubber gloves to keep from getting burned.
Greg