why is maintenance schedule different from each dealer?

Interleukin6 · May 18, 2023

I was told by a service advisor that a technician recommended changing the transfer case fluid when I was at my dealer for an oil change at 25,000 miles. I deferred it and took a look at the owner's manual showing changing transfer case fluid is recommended at 45,000 miles. Changing automatic transmission fluid and filter is also recommended at 45,000 miles as well which the service advisor did not even mention at all. I searched a little bit... some dealers also recommend it at 45,000 miles.... In addition, the owner's manual recommends changing engine oil every 7,500 miles but my dealer says it has to be done every 5,000 miles. Of course, they are using Dexos oil. I just checked the engine oil right before going to the dealer and it was pretty clean. I am confused these are the same trucks made by Chevy and official Chevy dealers use OEM oil/fluid/parts, but how can this maintenance schedule be different? They are just trying to make money? My friend, who is a local mechanic (he is not doing trucks), says transfer case fluid is pretty clean when he changes it at 100,000 miles for CR-Vs and other SUVs. I am driving my truck 100% on-road, barely putting some light objects on the bed, and never towing or off-roading. I think it is better to stick to the owner's manual. Am I missing something?

Phantom 4D · May 18, 2023

Stick to the maintenance schedule in the owners manual. It can be adjusted to driving conditions as stated in the manual. DEXOS is OEM. Some dealers push extras. The Chevy dealer I use to frequent would push fuel and oil treatments, wipers and other goodies they made money off of. My current GM dealer does not push anything not needed.

elcamino · May 18, 2023

Their goal is to see the customer often and increase profits. All you are to the dealer is someone to be exploited for all the maintenance $ they can get from you.

I know someone who buys a new vehicle every 5 yrs. and in that time he puts about 50,000 miles on it, yet he goes in every 3,000 miles/ 6-months for an oil change and whatever the dealer recommends. Spending money to keep it in good shape for the dealer to resell. He is waiting right now for his 2023 Canon Denali to trade in his 2018 GMC Terrian Denali with only 45,000 miles.

Gangly · May 18, 2023

Go according to the maintenance schedule the manufacturer puts in the owners manual. The dealership will try to worry you into additional maintenance, or increased maintenance intervals where possible, but the manufacturer knows the minimum requirements for there engineered designs. Don't trust a dealership service writer who gets rewarded for upselling services, especially when its contrary to the manufacturers recommendations.

The dealership tried to sell me on 50k mile transmission fluid flushes because "Texas is hotter than the rest of the country" and is rougher on transmissions than what the factory recommended service intervals can account for. I brought up the owners manual and the recommended service interval and the service writer dismissed it again under the same premise. When I mentioned my transmission temperatures stay between 175-190 year round, regardless of ambient temperatures, I was told it didn't matter because "Texas weather is harsher on transmissions" regardless of what my transmission temperatures read out as. At that point he became a snake oil salesman in my mind, and any discussion efforts for elaboration were moot.

What a joke, lol.

Grumpy Bear · May 18, 2023

2 hours ago, Gangly said:

........the manufacturer knows the minimum requirements for their engineered designs.

OEM has goals. Meeting government mandates is first on that list. Second is meeting their internal goals. High on that list it is getting you into a new vehicle as rapidly as possible. Minimum is the target for everything they do. Do the minimum. Service it well enough that warranty work doesn't eat our lunch or class action lawsuit cost erode top tier bonus packages. Nothing more and never hint at what would keep it on the road longer. Dealer follows suit. Money grab. Even private contractors are being schooled on how to squeeze the last nickel you have from your cold dead hands.

They make money, not vehicles. Haven't for decades.

Consumers are not helping. Maintenace is no longer based on "what's best" but on the moral questions each one asks themselves if only in private. Do I care what happens to owner number two? That gal with three kids who is parenting alone and cannot afford new doesn't cross the mind of many. We decide what she deserves when we act like only our interest matter. The unemployed and underemployed, the old, infimed..... Those left behind by dead first responders and military. Those struggling with the after math of violence and natural disaster. None of those people are in our world....until they are.

So basically no one cares. Sometimes that even means the owner. I have a job, money and my health so I'll just buy another and feed the machine.

DEXOS is a revenue stream of licensing requirements that are JUST a squeak more restrictive than the API. Not enough to actually do anything but generate revenue.

How many 100K mile warranties are now being offered? Kia/Hundi. How many uses to be? That's how far the target has moved in the wrong direction. Do the minimum and you get the minimum.

Sadly, the bar has fallen so far that even expert and science-based systems are now failing.

:rant:

KARNUT · May 18, 2023

6 minutes ago, Grumpy Bear said:

OEM has goals. Meeting government mandates is first on that list. Second is meeting their internal goals. High on that list it is getting you into a new vehicle as rapidly as possible. Minimum is the target for everything they do. Do the minimum. Service it well enough that warranty work doesn't eat our lunch or class action lawsuit cost erode top tier bonus packages. Nothing more and never hint at what would keep it on the road longer. Dealer follows suit. Money grab. Even private contractors are being schooled on how to squeeze the last nickel you have from your cold dead hands.

They make money, not vehicles. Haven't for decades.

Consumers are not helping. Maintenace is no longer based on "what's best" but on the moral questions each one asks themselves if only in private. Do I care what happens to owner number two? That gal with three kids who is parenting alone and cannot afford new doesn't cross the mind of many. We decide what she deserves when we act like only our interest matter. The unemployed and underemployed, the old, infimed..... Those left behind by dead first responders and military. Those struggling with the after math of violence and natural disaster. None of those people are in our world....until they are.

So basically no one cares. Sometimes that even means the owner. I have a job, money and my health so I'll just buy another and feed the machine.

DEXOS is a revenue stream of licensing requirements that are JUST a squeak more restrictive than the API. Not enough to actually do anything but generate revenue.

How many 100K mile warranties are now being offered? Kia/Hundi. How many uses to be? That's how far the target has moved in the wrong direction. Do the minimum and you get the minimum.

Sadly, the bar has fallen so far that even expert and science-based systems are now failing.

There’s only one brand I would consider doing the regular maintenance on that would be Toyota up to 2017. Others would be the so called extreme maintenance schedule. My brother in law did follow the regular maintenance on his Chevy trucks and Yukons, Suburbans he’s owned since the 80s. 250k was the minimum for him. He bought a 2015 Yukon a few years ago with 25K miles on it. I advised him to follow the extreme maintenance on it. He’s crossing 125K miles on it now. His work Yukon has 220K on it. His 05 single cab truck is parked in the garage next to his 69 Firebird waiting to be restored. Once retired. It’s a back up currently.

Grumpy Bear · May 19, 2023

4 hours ago, KARNUT said:

There’s only one brand I would consider doing the regular maintenance on that would be Toyota up to 2017. Others would be the so called extreme maintenance schedule. My brother in law did follow the regular maintenance on his Chevy trucks and Yukons, Suburbans he’s owned since the 80s. 250k was the minimum for him. He bought a 2015 Yukon a few years ago with 25K miles on it. I advised him to follow the extreme maintenance on it. He’s crossing 125K miles on it now. His work Yukon has 220K on it. His 05 single cab truck is parked in the garage next to his 69 Firebird waiting to be restored. Once retired. It’s a back up currently.

I think my point was that past experience isn't translating to today's reality. What we did back in the day, isn't working, today. Cadilac Luke puts a motor in his 2015 due to a valve spring failure. It's common for the 6.2 motor. Yet in 70 years on this planet, I've never broken one in a street motor. Actually, I never broke one in a race motor. Too much junk engineering going on and not enough actual research. To many 'focus groups' doing what research use to.

To the OP's question, if you want to know when, do UOA's for a while to find your OCI.

KARNUT · May 19, 2023

7 hours ago, Grumpy Bear said:

I think my point was that past experience isn't translating to today's reality. What we did back in the day, isn't working, today. Cadilac Luke puts a motor in his 2015 due to a valve spring failure. It's common for the 6.2 motor. Yet in 70 years on this planet, I've never broken one in a street motor. Actually, I never broke one in a race motor. Too much junk engineering going on and not enough actual research. To many 'focus groups' doing what research use to.

To the OP's question, if you want to know when, do UOA's for a while to find your OCI.

Yes, my experience exactly. I had only one engine failure, a V-10 doing pulling duty. Leaky injector seals they said.

Grumpy Bear · May 19, 2023

Anyone here old enough to remember Tide original? Contained TSP. Trisodium Phosphate. Boy did it get cloths clean. The chemical we used in a bucket of water to wash walls before painting in a smokers' house. Strip it clean. Then someone said Phosphates were bad for our eco system and they removed them from all detergents.

Tide's advertisement said, "New and Improved" claiming it was a better product. It wasn't and it wasn't by allot. Better for the environment? Sure. Not so much as a cleaning product.

Same thing is going on with lubricants for the most part. They've gone about as far as they can with base oil constrained by prices the public will endure and the EPA and/or operational requirements of the newest engine technology have them REMOVING most of what makes oil work as LONG as it used to.

I will concede one exception. Magnesium is a better at what it does than calcium and yet calcium was the choice based on price. LSPI (technology) has demanded low calcium levels to keep the motors from grenading. But overall, the levels are going backward as are many other additives when means it just doesn't last as long as they say it will. Lies/deception are part of the game.

Remember when Mobil/Castrol changed the definition of Synthetic? Now they are working on the word "lubricity". It used to mean, and still does to me, 'oiliness' or "slipperiness". New definition is the width and depth of the four-ball wear scar. Boiled okra or a raw oyster is a great example of the concept of oiliness.

Better doesn't mean what you think it means. Or at least what the deception is attempting to lead you to believe. New and improved it may be, but not it the ways it is implied.

GM says Dexron VI ATF for transfer cases. The manufacture of the case GM uses says Dexron III or higher. It suits the company plan for higher mileage numbers. But it isn't exactly what the supplier designed for. The difference between III and VI is VISOCOSITY. The have the exact same friction and seal conditioner package. And what will more viscosity do for your transfer case? Make it last longer!

More happens to lubricants than get dirty. Here's a prime example I've posted a few times. Find GM 75W90 and note how quickly it shears out of SPECIFICATION. The change frequency does NOT reflect this. It reflects a lubricant that REMAINS in spec. This is not unique to gear oil and while transmission fluid does not contain polymetric VI improvers it degrades in oh so many other ways. What is GM's path? Lighter oil, 75W85 and longer OCI's. Insane behavior.

diyer2 · May 19, 2023

Worked for a construction company that only did insurance work.

TSP was used to wash everything after a fire. I keep some in stock.

Money/revenue is the root of all businesses.

Went on a job interview for an appliance repair tech. After talking about my abilities to repair appliances the owner said "Hiring people to do repairs is easy, techs that can sell extras is hard." I left.

dieselfan1 · May 19, 2023

I'd change oil more often than recommended. Every 3500 miles for me.

My thinking is clean oil = less lifter failure chance.

Grumpy?

diyer2 · May 19, 2023

Shorter OCI's worth every extra $.

customboss · May 19, 2023

3 hours ago, Grumpy Bear said:

This is not unique to gear oil and while transmission fluid does not contain polymetric VI improvers it degrades in oh so many other ways.

Gear oils, transmission oil, and automatic transmission lubes all contain VI improvers, conventional versions use pour point depressants. PIB is used at about 18% in gear and transmission lubes that contain PAO. Conventional petroleum using GRP I, II and III use PPD at about 1% of formulation. ATF usually has 3-10% VI additives. ATF can use up to 0.5% PPD.

diyer2 · May 19, 2023

All Greek to me. I just change it more often.

Grumpy Bear · May 20, 2023

20 hours ago, customboss said:

ATF usually has 3-10% VI additives. ATF can use up to 0.5% PPD.

AMSOIL and Red Line are PAO based. I get their use in conventional'\, but are they used in these PAO based products? It's a very low straight weight with an already exceptional pour point.

PIB, a dispersant, I get.