I have a 2008 H3 Alpha. I've had several problems that were fixed under the warranty. I live in CA and use my H3 for commuting only. I am always up to date with scheduled and preventative maintenance. I am the original owner and all work has been performed by the same GM Dealer where I purchased my H3. Today, I went in for an oil change and the dealer told me I am due for service. Having just spent $800 on maintenance at 63500 miles, I asked the dealer to clarify what was done previously. Dealer looked it up and said I needed the following (which I reluctantly ended up agreeing to). Today 12/27/13 at 85,500 miles, service performed: Fuel Injection Svc, Differentials - drain and fill, Throttle Body Svc and cooling system fluid exchange.

After I got home, I went through my service records and I had the following performed on 3/7/12 at 63500 miles: Fuel Injection Svc, Differentials - drain and fill, throttle body svc, transmission and differentials. Needless to say, I am very upset. Before I call the dealer, I want to know if there would be ANY way I would need these services twice within 12K miles? I take my H3 to the dealer to avoid things like this. Please let me know your input, thanks

 

No. Not even at 22,000 miles.

 

I do believe in preventative maintenance, although I do all the work myself on ours. It's a good idea to keep that throttle body clean, and that's all it is. Take it off and clean it, will cost you about 8 bucks for a can of carbeurator cleaner. and takes about 20 minutes or so. Also, was the anitifreeze dirty or something? just being replaced 12 thousand miles ago I doubt if it was bad. Also another thing you can do yourself in 20 minutes or less for just the cost of antifreeze. Also, injectors can build up deposits which can starve your engine of air and fuel, but if it wasn't running badly and that maintenance was just done 12k miles ago I don't know why it would be needed again. Of course I may be wrong. We've never had a problem with our injectors or have done a thing with over 160,000 miles and still running like new. Dealerships are ridiculously high on prices. If you are interested in doing any of that stuff yourself, which is all fairly novice level maintenance except for the injector service there are some threads on this site about TB cleaning and antifreeze change. for a complete flush you may want to have a mechanic do, possilby, but not that hard still.
I agree. You got ripped royally. The cooling system maintenance is only recommended once every 5 years. Ask them why they found it necessary to go against what the recommended maintenance schedule says to do.

 

trans, diffs, trans case: every 50k, coolant: every 5yrs.. Tb & FI maintenance: no schedule, can be recommended every 12k-24k.

Take your receipts back and show them those services were performed within the recommended mileage/time. Your owners manual has a maintenance schedule included in it, or you can have them show you their maintenance schedule.

Has happened many times to me, working in the service department. I recommend scheduled maintenance to the customer, based on the history I have for the vehicle, and they give the okay, only to find out later, the customer returns with another receipt, showing they had it performed at another facility= $REFUND$.

GL

 

Find a good local mechanic and avoid the dealer if you can.

 

Thank you for the helpful replies. I went over all my invoices and realized it was even worse than I originally thought. At 41600 the did the throttle body. At 61000 they did it again. At 71100 I had the throttle body replaced on the warranty and then they did the service again at 85600. I called the service manager and complained. A friend of mine that is a Lexus mechanic said to threaten them with a report to the B.A.R which I did. The dealer said they will refund 900 of the 960 I paid on Monday. We will see if they follow through. I learned my lesson. Thanks again.

 

Good for you, there never seems to be a good story that comes from a dealership trip.

 

Great ending. Glad the dealer is at least making the mistake right.