Should I get lifter issue looked at before taking delivery of a used 2021 RST - CPO?

[Oscar Cabrera]

Hi All, new to the forum here and excited about purchasing my first truck!

I have put a deposit down on a 2021 RST with 5.3L Vortec with DFM (I verified this on the sticker that it has DFM). I also checked the build code on the door jam and it says Feb 2021. The car has about 11k miles and from the carfax report it has 3 service records inlcuding oil changes. Car was first bought in michigan and it made it to my local MA dealer via auction. It is CPO and I feel pretty good about that but now to the lifter spring question. There is a service note on that model and the manufacture date fits inside the service manufacture date to replace potentially faulty lifter springs.

Question is, do I raise this to the dealer before delivery and ask that it be done or just drive the car off and be ok with the fact that I have an extended CPO warranty for 100k miles and 6 years (I am unlikely to reach both as owner). I am not sure how I feel about techs fidling with thiese parts of the engine for an essentially brand new truck but also concerned to just be left stranded one day (something which could happen with any car) but this is a specific known issue. Any advise is appreciated.

[voided3]

Honestly, as an owner of a '21 Silverado with the 5.3, I would not buy that truck. There is a reason it's already on the used lot and it's not just because of inflated trade-in values. Even if it came with full lifetime, no questions asked warranty coverage, knowing what I know now about the L84 5.3 V8 and the quality issues GM is currently having, I would never have bought it. Our lifters failed at 585 miles, among other issues. Between repairs and regular maintenance, I've had nine service appointments over 16 months of ownership, four rental cars, and it spent 51 days at the dealer. I sincerely hope this isn't typical for everyone who owns these trucks, but this is not an isolated instance for this particular model year. We plan on trading in ours within the next several months, as well.

[JimCost2014]

1 hour ago, Oscar Cabrera said:

There is a service note on that model and the manufacture date fits inside the service manufacture date to replace potentially faulty lifter springs.

So, you are going to ask them to tear apart an engine that is showing/has no problems? Who would reimburse them for this?

 

Honestly, what do you think their response will be?

[dgstarr63]

If you purchase any 5.3 or 6.2 with AFM or DFM you are gambling that you will not be one of the 10% ? that will have lifter failure. If you don't want to take the risk, buy a 2500 and you will get a Bullitt proof engine.

[Oscar Cabrera]

So the plot thickens....Due to an available carfax I called a service center where it shows it was serviced and asked them if they could share with me what work had been done on the truck....and YES, it was the lifter issue which I am referring to here. The guy at the service center (not a chevy dealer) was very open and honest as I explained I was in the process of buying the car. He said it was lifter and pushrod issue and they had gone in and replaced both banks of lifters, seals, etc. etc. with the updated ones (they could not use the old ones even if they had them in stock). So essentially the failure has already happened in this truck and has been serviced. He said the main issue is the OCI and it should be done at 5k miles at most.  He said the trucks are notorious for this also, but also said that if the car was under warranty it would be covered if anything happened again. Thoughts now???

[newdude]

2 hours ago, Oscar Cabrera said:

Hi All, new to the forum here and excited about purchasing my first truck!

I have put a deposit down on a 2021 RST with 5.3L Vortec with DFM (I verified this on the sticker that it has DFM). I also checked the build code on the door jam and it says Feb 2021. The car has about 11k miles and from the carfax report it has 3 service records inlcuding oil changes. Car was first bought in michigan and it made it to my local MA dealer via auction. It is CPO and I feel pretty good about that but now to the lifter spring question. There is a service note on that model and the manufacture date fits inside the service manufacture date to replace potentially faulty lifter springs.

Question is, do I raise this to the dealer before delivery and ask that it be done or just drive the car off and be ok with the fact that I have an extended CPO warranty for 100k miles and 6 years (I am unlikely to reach both as owner). I am not sure how I feel about techs fidling with thiese parts of the engine for an essentially brand new truck but also concerned to just be left stranded one day (something which could happen with any car) but this is a specific known issue. Any advise is appreciated.

 

 

See my reply in your original post about this truck.

[voided3]

33 minutes ago, Oscar Cabrera said:

So the plot thickens....Due to an available carfax I called a service center where it shows it was serviced and asked them if they could share with me what work had been done on the truck....and YES, it was the lifter issue which I am referring to here. The guy at the service center (not a chevy dealer) was very open and honest as I explained I was in the process of buying the car. He said it was lifter and pushrod issue and they had gone in and replaced both banks of lifters, seals, etc. etc. with the updated ones (they could not use the old ones even if they had them in stock). So essentially the failure has already happened in this truck and has been serviced. He said the main issue is the OCI and it should be done at 5k miles at most.  He said the trucks are notorious for this also, but also said that if the car was under warranty it would be covered if anything happened again. Thoughts now???

The oil change interval won't guarantee much on a relatively new vehicle, but that's good that all 16 were replaced.

 

My rule of thumb is never let the oil life monitor go below 50%, which usually works out to about 3500-4000 miles. In the manual, the "severe service" oil change interval is roughly 4000 miles, anyway, and most manufacturers include short trips and winter driving as "severe service" so basically everyone qualifies.

[Oscar Cabrera]

I am just wondering if I should just go ahead with it being that the failure has already happened and maybe I am at a lesser chance of the unknown, or just move on, knowing that someone has had they hands in there already and fiddled around with the internals.

[JimCost2014]

If you have put this much thought into the impending failure, I would personally move on.

 

You will never enjoy the truck always wondering when it is going to fail, JMO. 

[Oscar Cabrera]

I am actually feeling kinda positive about it. Just wanted to get a view from a broader group and people who know these trucks much better than I do. I have driven Toyota's and more recent volkswagens and reliability has been excellent. I know I am walking away from that but the funcitonality of a truck is much better for my needs now.

[black00ta]

vehicles have failures, if it's covered under warranty while you own it then who cares. You gotta live your life my friend.

[1997SierraSLT]

On 4/11/2022 at 3:07 PM, Oscar Cabrera said:

I am actually feeling kinda positive about it. Just wanted to get a view from a broader group and people who know these trucks much better than I do. I have driven Toyota's and more recent volkswagens and reliability has been excellent. I know I am walking away from that but the funcitonality of a truck is much better for my needs now.

You want to downgrade from a Toyota to GM?  You’re in for a rude awakening.  

[dieselfan1]

On 4/11/2022 at 12:31 PM, dgstarr63 said:

If you purchase any 5.3 or 6.2 with AFM or DFM you are gambling that you will not be one of the 10% ? that will have lifter failure. If you don't want to take the risk, buy a 2500 and you will get a Bullitt proof engine.

Where did you get the 10% ?

Statements like this run wild on the www.

So out if a million trucks, 100,000 of them will fail? Really? C'mon man .

The actual number is probably less than 1%.

I'd say out of that 1%, most of these didn't change the oil often enough. 

Unless you have the actual facts, quit spewing false information. 

[KARNUT]

All the indicators I hear and read report that used trucks and SUVS are bringing close to new prices. I wouldn’t buy anything new unless I had a overpriced trade in. Offsetting the new truck prices. I wouldn’t buy without extended warranty. I wouldn’t buy a CPO that already had lifter problems. I wouldn’t buy a cylinder deactivation vehicle. I wouldn’t only own one vehicle. Because of parts availability all vehicles sit at repair shops for extended times. My wife’s Genesis needs a starter. We’re at ten days. And they like us, being repeat customers.

[Anon12345]

3 hours ago, dieselfan1 said:

Where did you get the 10% ?

Statements like this run wild on the www.

So out if a million trucks, 100,000 of them will fail? Really? C'mon man .

The actual number is probably less than 1%.

I'd say out of that 1%, most of these didn't change the oil often enough. 

Unless you have the actual facts, quit spewing false information. 

 

Fact: you have a 100 percent chance to have lifters collapse and other mechanical failures if you dont change your oil for 7500-10k miles. 

 

Also fact: we hear about it a lot because this generation is a bunch of young kids that dont even know what oil weight or oil type their vehicles take or how much they take let alone cant even change oil themselves, and they freak the hell out when something funky goes on with their vehicles.