REPAIRS OF 2026
All of the previous repairs I mostly accepted as just possible weak points in a new large vehicle. Nothing is perfect, and I get that. Then the factory warranty expired…
March 19th, 2026 Mileage 124,868
It was time for an oil change and the oil I had ordered in the mail hadn’t come in yet. Shortline was booked up this day and Celebration Chevrolet, down the street, had immediate open appointments, so I scheduled through the GMC app. Normally, it is about $140 to get an oil change at Shortline for my Yukon. When I went to turn my vehicle over to the service center at Celebration I was told by the service rep that the price was $175. When I went to sign the waiver to get the work done, the price jumped to $200. When I went to pay for my oil change the price had jumped yet again to about $230. Then I was told I needed a new radiator at nearly $3,000. I decided to just settle the $230 bill and get out.
Looking at the receipt afterwards, it looks like the service rep just started adding services I never asked for without my permission (I.E., tire rotation, fuel system cleaner, brake adjustment, etc).
I may have my issues with Shortline, but Celebration Chevrolet seems to be an actual rip off shop, in my opinion (At least the service rep, Slava Chizhov is).
April 8th, 2026 Mileage 129,651
Even though my radiator leak wasn’t considered a major leak, I still had one and it needed to be addressed since this is a commercial work vehicle. I waited a couple weeks since Shortline had trouble sourcing a radiator. Thankfully, instead of the full almost $3,000, I lied and told Shortline I was estimated at $2,500, and they quoted the repair at what I said Celebration Chevrolet estimated me at. Still $2,500 to replace a radiator is a lot for any non-specialty vehicle. I believe it was billed for about 10 hours of work. In any other vehicle I’ve owned, changing a radiator takes no more than 2 hours. To add on to that, GM engineered the SUV with the A\C plumbing obstructing removal, and use a special kind of freon that, on a practical level, only GM has, to keep DIYers and third-party shops from being able to complete this repair.
June 15th, 2026 Mileage 143,844
I had another check engine light. This time I needed a new intake manifold and crank case pressure sensor. No third-party shop was willing to try on this repair. The intake manifold is slightly over $200, the crank case sensor is about $32, according to the invoice I have. Strangely, the intake manifold is a body off repair, or so it was explained to me. The labor was ten times the cost of the parts on my discounted price of roughly $2600 (I’m very thankful for this discount. No tricks or strange circumstance for this one). The original estimate was $3,200 for the two repairs. Again, I find even the discounted prices on these repairs to be excessive for a non-specialty vehicle. Like the radiator, GM had engineered this repair to be overly complicated, using specialty tools, and labor intensive.
June 30th, 2026 Mileage 148,877
Less than two weeks after repairing the intake manifold, my check engine light came on again. This time, I’m told, the catalytic converter on the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) has gone out. The estimate for this repair is $5,500. Like the radiator, the A\C plumbing is engineered in the way of removal to make the repair more complicated, specialized, and labor intensive.
*At this point, for the year 2026, I’m estimated to need to spend more on repairs (approx. $11,000 between April and June) than my scheduled car payments on a vehicle with fewer than 150,000 miles.
I had a back and forth with the service manager, about the pricing on this. The conversation is included in the documents. I’m told the DPF, available for $1,200 retail anywhere on the internet, is priced at $1,950 with this repair. Where other dealership shops price on 10 hours for this repair, Shortline will be charging me 10 hours for the repair, then an additional 1.4 hours to discharge and refill the AC (something required in this process and usually included with the 10 hours at the other dealerships I contacted), and an additional hour to double charge me for a diagnostic I had already completed and paid for and the reason we were talking at that point, all charged at $260 per hour. I pointed out that as service manager, he had the authority to adjust all of this considering the history I have had with this SUV. He asked what he could do to make me happy. I gave him what actions I would like to see (the long-term request was to have this and future repairs at cost, plus 10%, plus tax). I was met with radio silence. Again, this conversation is included in the documents. Here are the last two emails I sent before being ghosted by the service manager.
For those going over the emails, the numbers don’t add up on this either. the service manager said the parts for the repair are $1950, 10 hours for the repair itself, 1.4 hours extra for the A/C, and another hour for the diagnostic that I had already paid for at $260 an hour, according to his email.
12.4 × $260 = $3,224 in labor + $1,950 = $5,174. I’m not sure where the extra $326 on the estimate came from. Conversation is in the Correspondence tab.
