GM 24 month Free Maintenance Service

[Tom S.]

I already posted this on the DieslePlace.com forum, but thought I'd repost it here for those who don't frequent that site.

I called 2 days ago to set up my free maintenance service. The truck is just shy of 7,000 and the oil life is down to 6%. I rotated the tires at 5K, so I told them I needed the oil change and DEF top off only. On top of that, I told them I was bringing my own oil and filter (both Mobil 1). I have done my own oil changes for nearly 50 years. God that makes me feel old! My prime reason for taking it in was the free DEF top off, which I figured would save me around $30-$35.

So, I arrive at my appointed time. The service rep tells me the free maintenance doesn't cover the DEF. My response was when they sold me the truck they said it did. I later found out that it only covered it at oil changes, and now he was changing the story again. He called someone. After a brief conversation, he tells me that since I brought in my own oil and filter, they would do the top off. I said fine and went inside the dealership. Walking into the sales manager office, I related the tale to him. He left for about 5 minutes, came back and said they had made a mistake and the DEF is covered under the service maintenance at the oil change. OK, I'm happy again.

An hour later, I'm still waiting for my truck. Back to the sales manager. He gets mad, saying an hour for a oil change is ridiculous and storms off again. 10 minutes later he is back. Seems the truck was too heavy for the rack they tried to use to change the oil, and they had to wait to get a vehicle off their heavy lift. The manager reamed out the service rep for not telling me immediately and asking if I wanted to wait or bring the truck later. In any event, the truck was being finished up and would be brought around in a few minutes. OK, I'm pacified again.

Three minutes later, the service rep comes in to report the truck is done and waiting for me. Everyone apologizes and I leave. For those of you with Edge CTS, you will know that it takes a minute for the screen to pop up after starting, so I'm already on the road when it comes on says my DEF is at 30% (give or take). I have added DEF before and know it takes a while for the reading to correct. Obviously it's not a constant read out, so I drive a few miles and even try a restart. No change. Back to the dealer. I go to inform the service rep. He ends up adding a little over 2.5 gallons. His comment was service must go by the "OK" indicator on the dash. I told him the OK indicator stays on until the 999 mile warning pops up, at which point you should be able add at least 4 gallons.

So..... my reason for posting this whole experience, other than venting is to warn you that there is apparently some confusion out their about whether DEF is covered under the 24 month maintenance service (it is!), and to warn you that apparently, unless the service department fills your DEF to the top, they have no way of knowing how full it is, and will likely short you. I suspect this is why I only got 3,000 miles out of my fist tank "full". Since he filled it up to over flowing, I'll monitor this tank full and see if the estimated 5,000 miles is closer to the mark.


NOTE: I've edited this post because I was thought the fluid was called Diesel Particulate Fluid (DPF) when it's really Diesel Exhaust (or emissions?) Fluid (DEF). Sorry for any confusion!!

[hunts800]

My "800 miles to go"on the DPF came on while we were on the road at about 4000 miles. Went to a chevy dealer in Bakersfield and they topped off my DPF for free - even gave me the remaining DPF in the container it came in. When I had my oil changed at my dealer at 5000 miles, they also topped off my DPF. Never was an issue if it was covered as part of the free maintenance.
What made my experience time consuming was the "mount/dismount" involved in rotating the dually tires.

[Tom S.]

quote:Originally posted by hunts800

My "800 miles to go"on the DPF came on while we were on the road at about 4000 miles. Went to a chevy dealer in Bakersfield and they topped off my DPF for free - even gave me the remaining DPF in the container it came in. When I had my oil changed at my dealer at 5000 miles, they also topped off my DPF. Never was an issue if it was covered as part of the free maintenance.
What made my experience time consuming was the "mount/dismount" involved in rotating the dually tires.

I don't like the idea of dismounting and remounting the tires. That's why I bought extra rims for my winter tires on our old truck. Each time it's done, you are stretching the tire bead, and in my mind (until some tire company tells otherwise), that's not a good idea. If you rotate every 5,000 miles and get 50,000 out of the tires, that would make 11 mounting /dismounting cycles for each tire.

Maybe Lonnie can pop in here and tell us if it's OK or not.

[Slufoot733]

I nam a Ford owner. It has been my experience that DEALERSHIPS are the worst! My local Ford dealer has yet to get a service or repair exactly the way I asked it to be. My pet peeve is that they never have the parts available even when they have a weeks notice on the appointment. I will not go to the dealer for anything unless I am forced to. The little guy down the street wants my business and he has earned it with good, HONEST service for over 25 years.

[mlh]

Thanks. You just reminded me why I do all the maintenance my self. It's quicker cheaper and gets it don right the first time.
Lynwood

[BB_TX]

No doubt the dealership service departments are variable. No different than the "little guy down the street". I used to do all my routine maintenance and most of the repairs. But gave up a lot of that 10 yrs or more ago. Local Ford dealer has done a good job of it all in those yeas.

[mhs4771]

Hey Guys, let's get the terminalogy correct: DPF = Diesel Particle Filter, which is cleaned during the Re-gen Cycle by injecting raw Diesel into the Filter where it is ignited by the heat and burns off the collected soot.
What you add in that special tank is DEF = Diesel Exhaust Fluid. And if you watch the NAPA adds, they quite offen have the 2 1/2 Gal containers of DEF for $9.99, or you can get it Pilot/Flying J bulk dispensers for $2.79 to $2.89 per Gal.

[Tom S.]

quote:Originally posted by mhs4771

Hey Guys, let's get the terminalogy correct: DPF = Diesel Particle Filter, which is cleaned during the Re-gen Cycle by injecting raw Diesel into the Filter where it is ignited by the heat and burns off the collected soot.
What you add in that special tank is DEF = Diesel Exhaust Fluid. And if you watch the NAPA adds, they quite offen have the 2 1/2 Gal containers of DEF for $9.99, or you can get it Pilot/Flying J bulk dispensers for $2.79 to $2.89 per Gal.

You are right on the terminology - see my edit above.

[mhs4771]

Tom, it's not such a big deal, but there is so much confusion about DPF and DEF we don't need to confuse folks more.
I talked to a Ford owner recently who learned a very expensive lesson, he added the DEF to his Fuel tank, Ouch.
Plus many think that DEF improves Fuel mileage, kind of hard to do that when it's injected into the exhaust stream.

[JandC]

Tom, it isn't just the GM dealers and their maintenance programs. I purchased a 3 year oil change/maintenance program when I bought my F350. The main reason was at each FREE oil change I could have them change my wiper blades and top off the DEF. I did some quick calculations and the program would save me a few hundred dollars in the 3 years. Of course I would need to always have my oil changes done at a Ford dealer.

First oil change at a Ford dealership (that did not sell me the truck) I found out that wiper blades and DEF was not included. After going back to selling dealer and fighting with them I found out that my salesman had been fired (gee, I wonder why).

The dealer finally changed some code in the system so now my DEF and other maintenance items are always included.

[Artemus Gordon]

I have used four Ford Dealers in past 16 months. At each and every dealership my service was excellent. On time and treated me like I purchased my rig at each dealer. I get a survey about week after each visit. I was told that Ford Corp takes these surveys seriously.

[DQDick]

We just bought Joyce a new Prius and I was a little apprehensive about their two year maintenance program. They've been doing it for several years so apparently they have most of the bugs worked out. We've had it into three dealers now and had great results each time. Too bad their trucks can only tow space shuttles

[mach111]

quote:Originally posted by mlh

Thanks. You just reminded me why I do all the maintenance my self. It's quicker cheaper and gets it don right the first time.
Lynwood

Well spoken Lynwood. I agree.

[DmaxDually]

This is my first Diesel dually and what I learned after I purchased my 2012 3500HD long bed dually is that if you are going to buy one new from a dealer IMHO make sure you buy it from a "truck" dealership. In my area dually diesels are not popular and my local Chevy dealer sales business is mainly Covetts,Camaros,cars and regular Silverado Pick-ups. They ordered my truck no problem and I purchased the 12 oil change package. When I bought the truck in for the first oil change I noticed that my truck was off to the side in the shop and the tech was lying underneath the truck on a creeper draining the oil and changing the filter. I went back to the service adviser and asked him how come he's crawling under my truck to do the oil change. His said that they don't work on many dually's and they are not equipped with a big lift for a dually. He said that if they had to they can get it on the lift but it's too much of a hassel so they just rather do it on the floor. Plus they don't have any experienced diesel techs to work on it, they have the regular techs do it. So now I only let them change the oil because it's prepaid. I found a Chevy truck dealership that is not too far that handles all of my other work because they are well equipped for dually's and they have dedicated and experianced Diesel techs. My advice is before you purchase your new diesel dually go back and check out the service dept and make sure they are capable and experianced in servicing diesel dually's.

[stengels]

Bought my diesel from the slicksters in KC. The service department was adequate. Had to have some warranty work done in Brownsville on the DEF sensors, never thought I would get the truck out of the shop. Finally found a small dealership in SW Missouri that is used to working on all of the farmers' 2500 and 3500 HDs, they do a great job, and are always giving me some freebees.

[Tom S.]

Here's another twist!

When I took the truck in for the oil change, they didn't lube the Zerk fittings, which are also covered under the maintenance agreement. I had to take the truck back in for a recall notice, so I asked to have the chassis lube done at the same time. Guess what didn't get done? Yup, the grease job. I took the service guy out and showed him the still dirty Zerk fittings with no grease on them. He took the truck back in the shop. Before he left, I asked him to find out how many fittings there were - already knowing the number myself. He came back and said there were 6. Playing along, I said really? My old truck had 11. He told me some had been replaced with sealed units.

Well, to make a long story short, which involved a trip into the manager's office, the truck was back on the rack with a Master Mechanic underneath it. I had already told the manager there were 9 fittings on this model, and when she asked the mechanic to count them, he confirmed there were 9 and 3 had been missed by the guys in the lube/oil change area. He lubed them, but before he did, he brought the guys over from the lube/oil change area and physically pointed out the three they had missed. At least now, anyone getting their truck lubed stand a good chance of getting all the fittings done, unless they happen to have an 06 like my old truck with 11 fittings.

Remember that little trick if you take yours in anywhere for a chassis lube: ask them how many Zerk fittings it has. If they come back with some different number, watch out!!