Was told the fluid was black (it was and kinda ran like water) and was "scheduled" to be flushed and replaced at 30K. This would of been a $80.00 charge so I replied "no thank you". Is this something I need to do?

If it is black, you should change it. It should look red like auto tranny fluid. I'm not sure if it is something that you could do yourself, I don't know how hard it is on that car.