Originally Posted by donbrew

Gas shocks do have some oil in them, but it is in the bottom. Old fashioned shocks had oil on both sides of the piston, so leakage meant "bad". Now, if there is leakage you are a couple 100,000 miles late. Techs are uninformed or lazy, they think it is still the 20th century. Partly because shock are more expensive than the old days, they think they are saving you money by not selling them when needed. Back in the day, every car that came into the tire shop "needs new shocks" and brake jobs included bearings, they were cheap and a good labor profit.
Manufacturers still say they last 50,000-100,000 miles. The "push and count rebounds" test is what counts, but that is different on HHR, too. They only have a couple inches travel, unlike old land yachts.