Comming up on Warranty Expiration

ATLANTICWAVE1000 said:

Well, our 2018 Envision Premium I is coming up on the year 4 anniversary, May 25th, and Bumper to Bumper warranty expiration, we have about 44,500 miles in total. Truth be told the car has been trouble free and I am still very happy with the vehicle. We just had it in for an oil change, I change it every 3,000 miles or 3 months since this is one of the most critical care items you can do for a car. All it needed additional was an air cleaner and cabin filter which were both original.

I listen to Scotty Kilmer on YouTube all the time and he recommends fluid changes to the transmission and differentials but I am hesitant to have the dealer do it. I had an ’05 Jeep Liberty that they insisted (Chrysler dealer) I change the transmission fluid on at 40k. I agreed and the idiot service man drained the fluid, forgot to fill it and took it out for a test drive. I only knew because I was sitting in front of the service garage when he returned with it banging, lurching forward and smoking. They had the gall to fill it and tell me it was good to go. I went crazy on the owner and they agreed to a rebuild which they did but the car was not the same. This is how I got my first GM and ’07 Equinox then a ’14 then the Chevy Buick dealer talked me into the Envision. I ramble on all this as I wish I could find a really good mechanic I can trust to do this type of work since my confidence in dealer service bay personnel is limited. Especially since our mom-and-pop Chevy Buick dealer has been bought up and integrated into a multi dealer conglomerate. Big is not always better.

Anyways the car has been the best I have ever owned and from the looks of the new and the reviews I have read the new versions are far superior to the old. So at least something to look forward to.

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I also own a 2018 and never had a problem - now have 56,000 miles on it. I follow the recommended service on the car like I did with my 2006 Saab 9-3. That car was still running fine with its service schedule at 191,000. Now the second owner has it with 250,000 miles following the service schedule. I liked Scotty Kilmer as well, but he really is old school on some things and the 3000 mile oil change is one of them. I used to work on cars myself so I always test my mechanic when I move (I use independents) with a problem I know I have with an older car. If they get it right, I use them. If not, I pass until I find someone who identifies the problem correctly. Then I stick with them. That is how I found my current mechanic when I moved to CT with my Saab many years ago.

Anyway, that mechanic says what I follow - either the computer in the car if it says get an oil change or at 5000 miles on a regularly aspirated engine if it lacks such an oil management system. Oh, by the way, I won't go more than 6000 miles if the oil management system doesn't say to change the oil (my Buick says to change the oil with my driving between every 5000 to 6000 miles in any case). This has worked for me on every car I have owned since I bought a Honda Accord back in 2003 and put 150,000 mile on it before the transmission died (the old Hondas with a V6 had terrible transmission problems). Now I own a 2016 Subaru Legacy with an H6 engine with 136,000 miles with oil changes every 5000 miles and the engine is perfectly fine.

There are good dealers and bad dealers. I have a local Chevy/Buick dealer which is good but I prefer my local mechanic. We also have a merged four division GM dealership in the area, and they are good as well but tend to "overservice" the vehicle with extra things you need to do. So you have to be careful. That Chrysler dealer you dealt with is a piece of work. I agree however if you can find a mechanic you trust the better you are off.

You did not mention one thing I do recommend with your engine if it is the Direct Injection (DI) turbo 2.0L engine sold with our car. That is clean the valves on the engine every 30,000 miles. Why? It is not recommended by GM but it should be done. The reason is that being a DI engine, the cylinder valves are not sprayed by the detergent filled gas because the fuel injector sprays directly into the cylinder, bypassing the intake and outake (exhast) valves. When this happens, the detergent gets no opportunity to touch the valves, and on cold mornings when you drive the car short distances and it does not warm up, carbon collects on those valves. Over time this can damage your engine and at 100,000 miles you could stretch your timing chain nd need a major repair. Why GM does not recommend this cleaning every 30,000 miles blows my mind. You can find this problem on YouTube with people who did not clean their valves on their DI engine frequently - for multiple car brands - not just GM.

I use BG Intake Valve Cleaner, BG Fuel Injection/Combustion chamber cleaner, and BG 44K Fuel System Cleaner every 30,000 miles. I don't leave much to chance. It is how I get all my cars to at least 150,000 with few repairs and on the better built cars close to 200,000 before I sell them to someone else. Best of luck.