Good One Greybeard....

Thats sounds like the "Trust Me" Guarantee program.

 

^ Felt the same way with the Automatic Trans Service recommondation. Having dealt with shoddy GM automatics, I have little faith as well.

 

So then - what is the consensus as to what needs to be done at 30,000 mi. I'm there and it looks from the owner's manual that an oil change and rotation were about it. Maybe coolant depending on years.

 

Yes, go by the manual. The dealer "recommends" services based on his needs, not yours! ABC news just this week did a story alluding to this, they did not quite get to the point of saying that the dealer has a "mileage checklist" for "recommended services", but it was there if you read between the lines. ANYTIME the dealer service department gets hold of your car, they will "recommend services" and try to scare you into paying them to perform them!

In short: "Dealer recommended services" are BS (not Bachelor of Sciences) extra income for the service provider. Whereas "MFG. required service" is uh, required. Maybe I should cite the Redd Foxx BS, MS, PhD joke here.

 

For the most part Rotate the tires and check their pressure. Replace when worn.

Change the wiper blades, air filter and cabin filter as needed.

Change the oil and filter based on the DIC oil life gauge.

Flush the cooling 5 years or 100,000 miles and that pretty much is it.

It is good if you don't do it your self to have it on a lift and look it over for any damage under it.

Flushing or at the least replacing the brake fluid in the master cylinder won't hurt in damp climates as it can help preserve the anti lock system. Though it is rare they have issues.

Use not only good gas but stations that have newer tanks and do not sit in low areas. Even good stations can get water and dirt in their tanks. Also don't fill if they are or just have dumped gas as it stirs up the silt.

The dealer recomended things generally anymore or profit centers for the dealer. The Fuel service is a scam. Few cars ever have issues with their systems even on bad gas. A Buick dealer scammed my dad on his car for the fuel system cleaning and rebalance of this tires. I called them up and reamed them and had a good enough case to get his money back.

His tires were Goodyear Eagle GT's on his Lesabre with the touring package. The car had 31,000 miles. The tires were shot and worn near the wear indicators. I asked the service director on a cold call would he recomend a balance on 30,000 mile Eagle Gt's and he said no. I then asked why did you do it them.

Well he had no case and I pinned him on the fuel service and he even said the car was not in any jepordy if it was not done. He knew I knew better and could not bluff his way out. I just wondered how many other retired people that are not car people got hooked for a big bill there.

The key to getting any service on a car is being informed. You may not be able to rebuild an engine but you should have a good understanding of the basic service needs.

Being informed is important anymore on anything you do. With the info on the web today from reliable sources there is no exsuced to get ripped off anymore.

Things on other cars that are very important are recomendations like timing belts and things like that. We have timing chains here so it is not a need but on other cars they have set miles to change the belts. On many if you pass the miles up they can break and in some cars bend every valve. Fiat used to require belts at 25,000 miles and they did not mean 26,000 as they would really fail at 26,000. But that is Fiat, most makes will have higher miles listed but it is still good to follow their needs. Many cars will have different things but for the most the HHR is pretty easy on needed service. Chevy is for value and GM made it that you did not have to invest a lot to keep it on the road.

 

Hyperv6: Thanks for the detailed response.

 

@Velocity12, if you are unsure if other maintenance needs to be done other than what the owner's manual reads please, feel free to contact your local Chevrolet dealership's service manager.

Michelle, Chevrolet Customer Service

 

No problem. Todays cars can be either pretty free of maitanance and some can still require some improtant thing that could create major issues if unattended.

For the most GM cars are pretty free of major work needed anymore as are most American cars. Some imports require less but still some do need some work and it is not always cheap. Cam Belts can still be an issue on some models. Overseas they see it as a norm while here in the states we see it as a expensive issue that most do not want to pay for.

Read the owners manual, use some common sense and ask if you are unsure.

 

It is not just dealerships that will try to sell things that are not needed. My gf just took her 03 Ion to Big O JUST for an oil change as they give her a discount for working in the same plaza as them. They had advertised oil changes at $16 but then used a synthetic blend oil and charged her $45 - her $12 discount to do the oil change BUT HAD NEVER TOLD HER OF THE HIGHER PRICE until the service was done. They also said she needed to replace her TIMING BELT . They gave her the inspection sheet and it shows N/A for cabin air which it DOES have and needs a new one which is actually sitting in the house. They recommended a PCV valve which since 1998 most cars do not even use any more so a HUGE WTF on that one. The one that is most releavent to the OP in this case is that they recommend a FUEL INDUCTION service every 15K, FAIL. Her car has 132k on it so it would probably be a good time to do it but not at their cost. Some things they listed I do agree with (was a ASE certified tech for a while for GM) and somethings I understand WHY they are recommending do to normal visual or milage cues but COME ON, don't be saying a car needs something it does NOT even have or to say NA on something the car DOES have and DOES need lol.

I so have to agree that one needs to have some knowledge of the vehicle to make sure that they do not get taken for a ride.

I aslo think they should be asking questions on some of the things before EVER recommending them. Like in her case they said spark plugs for $139 yet I just changed them about 500 miles ago and it only took me 10 mins to round trip them. They based it on here milage but that means that they will recommend them for every single car brought in to them with 100k + miles without even asking the owner or having any type of drivability/starting issues.

 

Companies are in buisness to sell parts. Some are very honest about it and others pressure their service writers and tech to sell so much per month. When you don't get in the cars that need the high wear parts replaced it puts the Writers and Techs in a tough spot. Some quit and move on like a buddy of mine did and others will just put down anything to try to sell the part.

I know this is not good but that is what has happened for years. This is why if you own a car you need to have some sense of what it needs and what it does not need. You don't have to have a ASE rating but you should do your home work and know what is going on.

This applies to many things and not just cars. So many people today are not savy on keeping up with things in their life and blindly go in to deals on house repairs and other things that put them at risk of getting ripped off.

With as much info we have today it is easy to educate yourself to the point to really have a grip on things so protect yourself.

But still some still pay sticker price when they buy a car because they did not know better.