by The Roadie » Sat Oct 17, 2009 10:10 am
My advice, if you're not doing the work yourself for any reason (your tools were just stolen with no insurance, no place to park it except the street, you're recovering from ten broken bones, voices from the air told you not to work on it), never accept a "combined" service package from anybody unless they have a heck of a good coupon. Pick and choose, and even find a craigslist mechanic you can check recommendations for, and just do the things that need doing.
Dealer service packs or especially the "free oil change" coupons are just a way for them to get their mitts on the vehicle for a fishing expedition to sell you new seals (for merely wet, not dripping ones) and motor mounts. For some odd reason, motor mounts are this years version of blinker fluid.
Whether it's in or out of warranty, you're never required to take it to GM for the work. If it's in warranty, just keep receipts especially for oil changes.
As to what needs doing - it's all in the Owner's Manual. An offroading owner should be able to do 95% of these things anyway - else how are you going to be able to determine if something's safe to drive after an offroad incident? If you don't know what the suspension looks like when it's new, how can you tell when something's bent?
But there's hardly anything on the Maintenance II list that isn't covered by a decent (if the process even exists - there's so many cheaters) oil change place. But you have to watch them like a hawk.
Is there any major reason you aren't doing all this personally, to get to know the vehicle and its systems better?