Old Yellow

I do my own. Always have, always will. I know it will be done right.

Had a recall on my 2016 Malibu which involved a reprogram of the oil life monitor, and a oil change. When I got home I checked the oil level just to be safe, and sure enough it was a quart overfilled. I hate to think that it could have been my Grand Sport's dry sump.

Ed

2kvetmy

took my 2006 Z51 in to a 100 year experienced Chevy Dealer,and, looked under the sides after the oil change, and, found marks where the lift was placed on my fiber glass, thankfully, no damage.
Since then, have changed my own oil on my 2013 GS and 2017 Z51.
Peace of mind.

Miro

This is like all other new cars, there are no records at GM's, CarFax, CarProof the oil was changed, personally I think if something happens to your engine there wouldn't be any warranty, how do you want to prove an oil change was done, I know I would rather do any work on my car by myself

JerryU

Hmm, just checked out www.mychevy.com

Interesting it had the record from the local Chevy Dealer at 388 miles when they changed my alignment, i.e. from -1.4 to -1.7 to what I requested -0.6 to -0.8 (all within the Broad GM spec for a Grand Sport.) Done on warranty by Dealer

There was nothing for when I rest my mileage to zero at 505 miles when I did my own oil/filter change. However I was able to add that I did it!

The record now shows it with my name as having performed. Interesting.

owc6

There are plenty of records at GM dealerships.

I could walk into any one and have them print out a service history on my car, showing all service done at multiple dealers across this great country.

Foosh

It would be nuts for GM to allow that. If so, anyone could reset the oil life display in a couple of seconds, never change the oil, and yet still have records of routine oil changes. Even if your oil life monitor reading showed up on "mychevy.com," it won't be recorded in GMVIS as an oil change.

Having said that, if you keep good records, you can do your own oil changes, and perhaps even convince a dealer to record them in the GM system by producing your records as Jerry did.

Bill Dearborn

The only ones I do myself are the track prep oil changes. All others are done by the dealer while I have the free oil changes. Once they are up the dealer will get one per year to make sure the warranty requirements are met.

There is no reason other than cost not to let the dealer do their thing. The number of mistakes are few and far between.

Bill

64drvr

I went to a popular forum dealer near little rock for the 500 mile change and they screwed it up. Almost 1 qt over full. The worst part was after i checked it prior to leaving the dealership, showed them the problem, they refused to do anything about it.

I will never go back to a chevy dealer for any service outside of warranty work.

AWOL

Seeing statements like this makes me wonder about the qualifications of some of these folks regarding oil changes.
Mobil oil is Dextros oil so the tech could have been saying he was using Mobil oil. Your lack of knowledge caused the possible misunderstanding as you should have asked the brand of Dextros oil they were using.
By the way, I have been a mechanic for over 40 years of experience and would not care what brand of oil used as long as it was Dextros labeled, in fact, I use Pennzoil in mine.

Frosty

GM has the burden of proof to show that not changing the oil is cause for them to deny a warranty claim.

JerryU

GM dexos (small d) is their trademark for a specification. Oil companies have to pay GM a tribute to put it on the container! It can be a blend of "full synthetic" and simple straight "dino" oil.

The dealer gets reimbursed for Mobil 1 "full synthetic" for Vettes for the free changes. Some have 55 gallon drums of a dexos approved blend in the oil change bay. At some dealer mechanic's helpers that work the bay have overfilled dry sumps and caused oil to burp with air from the dry sump tank, soak the air filter and drip on the ground.

Wish only qualified mechanics were working on the cars but there are too few, like other skilled trades. That is why some of us change our own! 5 quart jugs of dexos approved Mobil 1 at Walmart combined with the twice a year Mobil rebate and I pay from $2.50 to $2.75/quart!

Just Sayn'.

Foosh

Ha ha . . . not following maintenance requirements meets that burden easily. It's clearly stipulated under warranty terms and conditions.

JerryU

Because of the post on this thread I went to mychevy.com, recalled I had signed up some time ago. Saw the Dealer's alignment listed but NOT my 500 mile change, which I did and zero'd the OLM! However I added my change with my name as who performed! Interesting, when I go to sell the car folks can look up the record and see I did it! Next change, when I also do my Ranger method clutch fluid change, I'll record that a well. It has a place for notes!

I also decided to keep an envelop with with receipts with my Owner's Manual where I have always recorded maintenance in my 5 Vettes. Now I have an electronic record.

Frosty

Of course you have to follow the maintenance requirements and that is not what I said. I said that GM has to prove you did not follow them and also has to prove that not changing the oil was the direct cause of the warranty failure. There is no where in any owners manual or warranty manual where it states that you must bring your car into a GM dealership for routine maintenance to keep your warranty in effect. They are allowed to recommend their dealerships, but deciding to not have your car maintained at a GM dealership is not a criteria for denying a warranty claim.

What if you didn't live anywhere near a GM dealer and had to take your car into a Ford dealer or Jiffy Lube because you were not capable of doing your own oil changes? You keep proof whether you take it somewhere else or do it yourself and then there can never be any question. This is not my opinion, it is established law and you can look it up.

If you or your non-GM service department don't do the oil change correctly and GM can prove that this was due to it being done incorrectly or too late, then you indeed may have a problem in the event of a warranty claim. But it is ridiculous to worry about that for an oil change.

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/article...ne-maintenance

Frosty

Ford has the same thing at their Ford Owners site. You enter your own maintenance records and whether you did it as "self" or the name of who did it and what was done. It is now a permanent part of your record that every Ford Dealer can access and you can show it yourself to anyone you want. You still keep your proof. I keep the top of the oil filter box and write date and mileage on it , what oil I used and the viscosity.

GR Jay

It doesn't matter what you personally think. It is against the law for them to deny a warranty claim if you have someone other than the dealer do the maintenance.

With the level of bad information being passed around I wonder if it is actually the dealers that have perpetrated this myth to keep there business levels up or is just the public in general.

Foosh

My "ha ha" was in response to the above, which is VERY different than what you later say below. GM does not have to prove that a failure to change your oil per per required service intervals caused a failure. They simply have to prove you have no record of having done it. Moreover, a simple, cheap oil analysis will also tell that story definitively.

It is what you said.

OK, now you're talking about something entirely different. Yes, you can keep your own records. And yes, you can change your own oil, and yes you can have your oil changed anywhere, but you must have records that prove you complied with the proper service intervals.

A lot of folks mistakenly cite the Magnussen-Moss Warranty Act with regard to ECU-altered cars, as well as with regard to all kinds of other things. They try to say that GM has to prove that a tune caused the problem, but they do not have to prove that. All they have to prove is that the ECU was non-OEM altered, and that's a checkmate.

Likewise, if GM doesn't have oil change records, and you don't have any oil change records, that's all they need to meet the burden of proof.

Bmbl-Bee

The dealers in Vegas only let there lube techs do the oil changes. I walked into the lube area at the closest dealer to me. No way will they ever touch my car for an oil change.

c8nukeZ51

Had my local dealer do All of the free oil changes without any problem. it enables me to also get any software updates or recall issues.
I also requested that they only put in 9 quarts of oil and give me the 10th and they had no problem with it.

Frosty

Not in all circumstances

For argument's sake, you did not change the oil at the stated 500 miles and instead documented and changed it at 750 miles which is 50% beyond what is required for the warranty or you used a different brand oil. Now lets say the engine fails at 1000 miles and GM refused to honor the warranty because you didn't follow their warranty requirements.

In this instance and many others I can think of, there is a reasonable expectation that the engine should not have failed and if challenged in court, GM would most certainly have the burden of proof to show that your not adhering to their recommended requirements caused the failure and that it was not due to a manufacturing defect on your engine. There are all sorts of protections for the consumer against an intransigent manufacturer but you have to be willing to take them to court.

Right now there is a class action law suit against GM for cooling issues on tracked ZO-6s. The burden of proof is now on GM to prove they don't have a design defect.

http://www.corvetteblogger.com/2017/...ooling-issues/