Car Doctor Q&A

Q

I have a 2018 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck with 34,000 miles which I purchased new. On my last oil change I was told that GMC recommends changing the brake fluid with this milage at a cost of $170. The reason I was given is that heat from the brakes will make the fluid jell up. I am a senior citizen and have owned a number of new vehicles. Not once have I heard this in all of my years of driving. Is this a defect in the system and GMC wants us to pay for it?

A

Brake fluid is hygroscopic, meaning it attracts moisture and moisture is the enemy of the modern ABS brake system. Although GMC doesn’t specifically have a recommendation for a brake fluid change many experts including the engineers at AAA recommend replacing brake fluid every three/ four years if the manufacturers don’t have a specific time or mileage recommendation. I have found personally the fouryear interval usually comes up with routine brake service and change the fluid along with the brake pads and other components. Some repair shops will even use a suction gun (turkey baster) and remove some brake fluid from the master cylinder reservoir, replacing it with fresh fluid at each oil change. This doesn’t change all the fluid but helps remove some of the possible contaminated fluid.

Q

I understand you drive many different vehicles. Are there any vehicles that you wonder why the car was ever built?

A

Years back Lincoln built a somewhat odd pickup truck the Blackwood. It was based on the Ford F150 and had a somewhat shallow bed with a hard cover. The overall design made it not very practical. The same can be said for the Chevrolet SSR truck. It was a half car, half truck, it was expensive and not practical or in my eye stylish.

Q

I enjoy reading your column, one never knows when something will apply to one of your vehicles! I’d like to run something by you as it has irked me for two months now. I have a 2019 Subaru that I bought from a Subaru dealership, it had 8,000 miles on it. I brought it in to said dealership for the state inspection in June. The inspection report shows the time of arrival 3:01and the report lists 39 inspection points. The car was logged out of the service bay at 3:10 and I was on my way at 3:16. How could they have possibly checked anything? It would take almost that long to scrape off the old sticker and apply the new one. I commented on the quickness and got a laugh and a “car that new you won’t find anything” somehow this doesn’t seem right. Should I contact customer service? Should I just be happy I got out so quickly? Find a new service place? What do you think?

A

The dealer is correct that with a car with such low miles it is unlikely they would find much if anything wrong. That being said they inspection facility is required to preform a full inspection, including checking all the lights, wipers, steering and suspension as well as plugging into the cars computer to check for engine codes. As helpful as state inspections are, as the car ages it always makes sense to have an experienced technician perform a more thorough overall inspection on an annual basis to look for potential problems. In many cases stations that inspect vehicles too quicky will be flagged by the state and their license could possibly be suspended.