Standard Maintenance not standard?

The G-Man · July 9, 2015

Little backstory,

Won my truck through a joint US Air Force Clubs and GM giveaway. Ended up getting my truck from the local dealer in Del Rio, TX. Was treated as a $45k credit so I ordered my truck as I wanted and it went through as any other purchase. Fast forward 3 months, I am now in Altus, OK and my DIC showed less than 10% on the oil life. Salesman in Del Rio told me that first 2 yrs oil changes are free, just go to any GM dealer.

So I head into Wilmes Chevy in Altus, OK and ask for an oil change. When I scheduled the appointment I mentioned the 2 yrs service. Once they were done they footed me a bill for $52. I answered back that it should be covered, the service guy showed me the printout of warranty stuff for my truck and it did not include this code somehow. So I decided to pay up and call the purchasing dealer to confirm. My salesman confirmed that this is standard on all GMC vehicles and I also confirmed this with my window sticker that has that as the FIRST line under standard equipment. This is also further backed up with GMC's website, and their list of participating dealers includes Brown Automotive in Del Rio, TX and Wilmes Chevrolet in Altus, OK.

At this point I called GMC warranty dept which the number I found in the warranty book. That number is 1-800-462-8782. I told my story to the rep who decided to escalate it further to her supervisor Leslie who became very defensive with me when I asserted that this is a standard warranty and requires no further payment or action on my part.

That was 2 days ago, currently I am on the phone with Bianca who seems to be over Leslie and she is much more understanding.

But seriously, what gives? And has anyone else had a similar experience.

Silver ice 6.2 · July 9, 2015

Hmmm this is gonna be interesting to hear other people chime in on this. I still have a ways to go till my oil change so no I wonder.. thanks for this post the g-man

irish4life8911 · July 9, 2015

Sorry you had that happen. I took my truck to my dealer for my first service... Changed oil, topped off fluids, rotated tires, checked for recalls, and got a free car wash, all while I enjoyed watching tv on a leather couch and could of drank free coffee, but I don't drink coffee.

All with a bill of $0

Jordan18 · July 9, 2015

I just had my first service done today, my bill was 35$ for the difference of putting full synthetic oil in.

CptMcSaug · July 9, 2015

I've had a first service done and didn't pay anything, and why would you pay $35 for synthetic oil? If "Ac Delco dexos1 Synthetic Blend" is recommend I would think they would do that for free.

Jordan18 · July 9, 2015

I've had a first service done and didn't pay anything, and why would you pay $35 for synthetic oil? If "Ac Delco dexos1 Synthetic Blend" is recommend I would think they would do that for free.

Personal preference. I ran synthetic (mobil 1 and castrol interchangeably) in both my old F150 and 08, they seemed to like synthetic better. F150 burned less oil on synthetic, quite high mileage unit. My old sierra was an abused bush truck for the first 80k miles before I put another 120k commuter miles on before I sold it and was used a, all on synthetic and it didn't consume a drop.

The winters (I know it's not now, but I don't see myself having another oil change before the snow flies here) in Alberta are brutal and I always attributed to my vehicles starting solid, even when not plugged in, to synthetic oil.

I know synthetic blend isn't the same as conventional, but I will keep with what I am familiar with if it hasn't failed me in the past.

CptMcSaug · July 9, 2015

Don't get me wrong I plan to use Mobil 1 once my freebies are up but if gm thinks it's good enough for blend and it's free hell I'm taking it haha

TxTruckMan · July 9, 2015

Oil changes should be free. And so should tire rotations. No other service is free. The "free maintenance" is a blatant lie. They don't even cover tire balancing or filter changes.

Rawyzf · July 9, 2015

I'd pay $35 for full synthetic upgrade as well. That's about $4 more a qt, not horrible.

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The G-Man · July 9, 2015

Oil changes should be free. And so should tire rotations. No other service is free. The "free maintenance" is a blatant lie. They don't even cover tire balancing or filter changes.

I could care less about what they call the free oil changes and tire rotations because I didn't even get that.

At the end of the call Bianca finally admitted that I SHOULD have that warranty code and now they are trying to fix that.

ember1205 · July 10, 2015

There is an option for something like a "Fleet Service Maintenance Delete" or something like that which will REMOVE the "included maintenance" and credit you for about $175. Make sure that your truck did not have the maintenance option removed.

spectaculous · July 10, 2015

I didn't waste any of my time waiting on the dealer to change my oil. I can have my oil changed in my driveway faster than I could get my truck in the waiting line at the dealer. OK, so I lost out on ~$200. The hour or three per change I would waste waiting on someone there to do it is worth way more than that. Plus I KNOW that the right oil went in and the plug wasn't stripped. Dealer will only give you the dexos1 blend, not full synthetic.

I bought this truck fully aware that that free maintenance "carrot" they were waiving was a damn joke.

dbannerz71 · July 10, 2015

I've had a first service done and didn't pay anything, and why would you pay $35 for synthetic oil? If "Ac Delco dexos1 Synthetic Blend" is recommend I would think they would do that for free.

I do this..bring in my own mobil 1 and don't get charged anything.

Spurshot · July 10, 2015

I hate waiting as well. I do them myself. I'm not sitting in the lobby of some dealer for half the day for free anything.

14GMCZ71 · July 10, 2015

I also do my own oil changes. I use Mobil1 0W-20 Advanced Fuel Economy Dexos1 Certified & ACDelco Oil Filter ( Was PF63 - GM#89017525 - Now using PF63E - GM#19330000 ).

I changed my oil at 1,000 miles and again at 5,000 miles. I drive the truck about 7,000 miles per year. From here on out I plan to change the oil two times per year ( 12 month period ) - fall and spring.

Right, wrong or indifferent. It's my truck.