Fuel and emission service?

wageman · January 5, 2006

I just had my 2002 Tahoe (55,000) miles into the dealer for a safety recall, they performed a routine inspection and made some recommendations for me. One of the recommendations was to "perform a fuel and emission service" the tech hinted that this was just some sort of an additive. They want to charge $320 for the service. Is this just a simple additive that I can get and do my self? If so are there any recommendations for the additives? The before and after pictures they presented were very impressive, so I would definitely like to do something about it.

Their second recommendation was to "PERFORM DIFF/BOX/TRANSFER CASE SERVICE" written out in all caps like it was very pressing. Is this service more involved than draining and replacing the oil in the F&R differentials? They want $250 to do it. I am all about routine maintenance, but their prices seemed very unreasonable, at least if my impressions of what they are going to do are accurate. If they are more involved than maybe its worth paying them. I would appreciate the insight.

GM-Tech · January 5, 2006

As someone that works in a dealership service department, I can tell you that selling these services is a way to increase the gross profit. Whether or not you actually need these things is another question. I highly doubt you'd be paying $320 just to put some sort of additive somewhere. That sounds pretty high priced for an additive, no matter what it is!

Do we offer these kinds of things? Sure we do (Well, not the $320 additive). I believe the difference here is that we advise the customer of the recommended maintenance according to GM and offer them that service, or for X amount more, we'll do these additional items.

Do you sometimes need something that's not due or ever needed according the GM's recommended maintenance? Sure, but know exactly what you're getting and why you would need it if it's not something that you should need at that time/mileage.

You can't go wrong by following the recommended maintenances in your owner's manual. It probably wouldn't include any of the things they wanted to sell you.

wageman · January 5, 2006

Thanks,

I am planning on replacing the oil in my F&R differential as well as the transfer case, following the instructions listed in the DIY section of this site. I also plan on running some type of an additive through the fuel system although I have not done enought research yet as to which type. The car runs drives and looks 100% perfect, beyond what I am planning to do, do you forsee anything additional the dealer would have done considering the prices they quoted?