GMC Terrain, Equinox, and SRX Forum banner

Dealer oil change= bad experience

12K views 59 replies 19 participants last post by  tic 
#1 ·
We got one free oil change when we bought our 19' terrain denali.. So I took it in just shy of 3,000mi. last Oct and they did the service.. I got home, let the car cool down completely and checked to the dipstick.. It was just barely shy of the full line.. I was happy and assumed they'd done a good job.. I also climbed under the car to check to see if they actually gave me a new oil filter (I marked the old one with an X scratched into it).... yep, new filter... I just got done doing the second oil change on the vehcile. I didn't take it in because I believe the dealer uses a bulk synthetic blend and I want full synthetic. The OLM was down to 24% after just 2,400mi. but 9 mo. time had elapsed.. If they OLM counts calendar time this would make sense.. I put the car up on my ramps, climb under it to see what size socket I will need for the drain plug.. To my surprise, I find a very marred 15mm drain plug, as if the tech who did the 1st oil change had used and adjustable wrench. I then see I can't get my 15mm socket on the bolt w/o first removing a cross member aft of the drain plug... I believe the tech didn't want to be bothered to remove the cross member so he used either an open end wrench or an adjustable or maybe an SAE wrench instead of metric. The drain plug was extremely tight, I don't know what the torque on it is suppossed to be but the guy went gorilla on it. I was fortunate to get it loose due to the fubared plug.. Next was the oil filter which was also way over tight.. I couldn't believe a tech would do that. I'm sure if I complain they will accuse ME of buggering up the drain plug and then probably tell me the oil filter is meant to be over tightened as well as the drain plug.. This the first new car we've bought from this dealer and it's a bummer because they are close to home and convenient.. Oh well, same old story with dealers I guess, at least this one..
 
See less See more
#41 ·
This is why I am seriously trying to find something non-GM for my next vehicle. Finding a reliable, consistent dealer for service has just become so difficult. I just want a dealer where I can go and say "Please change the oil and filter, and rotate the tires" and that is what they do. They take the old oil out, put in the correct amount and weight new oil, the correct filter, rotate the tires and reset the TPMS. I don't want any upsells for a coolant flush, brake fluid flush, air filter, cabin filter, wiper blades, fuel system cleaning, tire balance, wheel alignment, blah blah blah. Just do what I ask. When I want any of those other things, I will come back and ask for them. I get they are trying to make money, but you will get more money from me if you just correctly do what I ask and don't try to sell me things I do not want or need.
 
#42 ·
This is why I am seriously trying to find something non-GM for my next vehicle. Finding a reliable, consistent dealer for service has just become so difficult. I just want a dealer where I can go and say "Please change the oil and filter, and rotate the tires" and that is what they do. They take the old oil out, put in the correct amount and weight new oil, the correct filter, rotate the tires and reset the TPMS. I don't want any upsells for a coolant flush, brake fluid flush, air filter, cabin filter, wiper blades, fuel system cleaning, tire balance, wheel alignment, blah blah blah. Just do what I ask. When I want any of those other things, I will come back and ask for them. I get they are trying to make money, but you will get more money from me if you just correctly do what I ask and don't try to sell me things I do not want or need.
Good luck in finding that
 
#44 ·
I fully agree that what I want doesn't exist, but someone can dream :cool:

What drives me crazy is that I have four GM dealers that I have tried and they all had "issues" My original selling dealer is 30 miles away and has the overall most competent service, but sometimes I just don't want to drive 30 miles. The past couple of visits have been kind of sketchy as well. One time I was waiting for my car, and they came in to the waiting room to tell three totally different customers they had right rear tires with nails in the sidewall and needed a new tire. Each customer was quoted the same $200 price for the tire. There is no way that three customers all had the same issue, with the same tire, and it would cost the same for all of them. The next morning I had to go back to have an adjustment made to some of the work they did, and another customer was told the same thing while I waited. Right rear, nail in sidewall, need new tire, $200. Someone has a racket going on.

I have 3 other dealers within 10 miles, but one is super old school and couldn't even balance my tires correctly. The other 2 charge 2x as much as other GM dealers for the same services. $90 for oil change and tire rotation, plus they tack on other fees such as "service record retention" and also charge $1.50 to refill wiper fluid even though I fill it that morning before going in for service (to avoid the fee...so much for that.) Most other GM dealers, including the original dealer, are $49.95 for oil change and tire rotation.

There is one more dealer I can try that is about 25 minutes away. Going to give them a try this fall when my annual state inspection is due. Also want a drain and fill of the transmission fluid while I am there. Should be a good test of them on something relatively routine.
 
#45 ·
Arcee, you have some bad dealers around you from the sounds of it. The one you describe certainly seems to be scamming customers. GM likely has more dealers per SQ mile than most if not all automakers. I had a toyota Rav4 before the Equinox and the only dealer near me was useless at diagnosing and repairing the vehicle. I have family members with toyotas in different cities and they have also had issues with the toyota service departments. It seems they all feel they have superior products and there could never be anything wrong with their cars...
I didn't have the option of going to another toyota dealer since the next one is 80+ kms away. I traded it in for my Equinox due to many issues I didn't like about it but that experience was the last straw. Now I have my choice of 6 GM dealerships within 30 kms (8 within 40kms) if I need them (so far I haven't). In this area the dealer coverage for any of the imports suck.
 
#46 ·
Local Dealers around here (within 15mi/24km) consist of
2 Chevy
2 Ford
2 Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep/Ram
1 Buick/GMC
1 Mazda
1 Hyundai
1 Genesis
1 Subaru
1 Honda
1 Toyota
1 Acura
1 Nissan
1 Lexus

If someone is willing to drive 20-30 miles, you could double the above numbers for dealer selection plus add in places like Kia, Infiniti, BMW, Mercedes, etc.
 
#48 ·
Every auto shop upsells, dealer or independent.
They are business's and business's make money, not do favors.
What was it, the old Sy Sims commercials, "educated customers are our best customers"
What irks me is the tire disposal fee, waste disposal fees, etc. . States allow this, for me it's the cost of doing business. Back in my youth doing oil and tire changes at the service (gas) station there was no such animal except for disc brake jobs costing more than drum brake jobs which are harder to do but the general public had no clue and paid the premium.
Back in the day we also had spray can artist's, paint that alternator with a fresh coat and just tighten the belt and charge the battery on GM vehicles. Very common for loose alt. belts that didn't squeal on GM's.
 
#50 ·
State mandated fees don't bug me. Shops that charge me for brake cleaner, shop towels, rubber gloves, service record retention, etc. are the ones taking advantage of people as those truly are costs of doing business. The GM dealer literally down the street from me charges $89.95 for oil change and tire rotation, plus fees for brake cleaner, shop towels, gloves, service record retention, wiper fluid refill, etc. I went there one time for an oil change because I didn't want to drive 30 miles to my normal dealer. $110 later I was done. They didn't suggest any upsells, which was nice, but at the same time they were charging twice the normal rate that other GM dealers charge. And why they were using brake cleaner for an oil change is a mystery, unless they spilled something on the frame and were cleaning it up...who knows...all I know is I paid extra for it.

I don't think asking the shop to simply perform the services being asked of them, and nothing more, is a favor. A favor implies being asked to do something extra or beyond what is normally expected. That would be a pretty sad state of affairs if a shop considered doing only what the customer asked a favor.
 
#54 · (Edited)
That is NOT where the drain plug is on our 19'.. It's on the backside of the pan, right were that tubular brace is in the way. I'll take a pic next time I change the oil since you guys seem to think I'm making it up that the brace is in the way for a socket.. Either that or there are TWO drain plugs and I got the wrong one.. I've never seen two drain plugs on an oil pan though
 
#56 ·
I didn't say "lying",,,. "making it up" I guess is the same thing though :).. It would be strange if they changed the location of the drain plug from 18'-19'. Maybe there really are two drain plugs and I only saw the one on the back side of the pan that interferes w/ the brace.. I'm curious now but not curios enough to pull out the ramps and climb under the car. I just remember thinking "why did they put the drain plug here? now I have to remove the brace to get a socket on the plug" My shortest socket would not clear the brace and it was on so tight I couldn't crack it loose w/ a box end wrench. I'll be sure to take pics on the next oil change until then it's a mystery... For sure the valvoline pure synthetic oil I used seems to be producing less soot on the chrome exhaust tips than the synthetic blend the dealer used on the free initial oil change. I always run top tier premium fuel from the same Mobil station so it's not the gasoline. I used to have to clean the exhaust tips of soot after every trip in the car, now they stay clean.. We don't drive this car much, 5,500mi. in one year and I just changed the oil in June so it could be awhile before the next oil change
 
#57 ·
How did you know they put the wrong oil? Did you actually see them doing it? On my Diesel, they claim they put in GM's own semi-blend synthetic. I just trust that they do. I have two Chevy dealers near me. Neither of them I trust completely, especially the one I bought the car from. I remember one service writer was going to charge me almost double the other closest dealer for doing the same fuel filter job. I ended up buying the part from eBay and paying just for the labor.

I purchased a service contract that covers my oil changes for 1 more change. I'll go to full synthetic then.
 
#60 ·
Full synthetic for our terrain and the only way to be somewhat sure that's what I'm getting is to do the oil changes myself.. I have noticed almost no soot on the chrome exhaust tips since I did my own oil change.. Lot's of it after the dealer did it. I assume they used a bulk synthetic blend but will look you straight in the face and tell you they use full synthetic
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top