Hello! I have a 2011 GMC Acadia with over 200,000 miles on it. We’ve put lots of money into it over the years so I’m invested in keeping it. Ha! But I have an oil leak(s). The mechanic said to just live with it and check it regularly. That the cost to repair the small (multiple) leaks wouldn’t be worth putting the money into. Does any one have any thoughts on this?
How often (miles) do you have to add a quart?
Money that you’ve already spent isn’t an “investment.” It’s just gotten you to today in the car’s life.
How much of a leak are we talking about here? Is it making a mess in your garage floor?
How inclined are you to check (and top off) the oil regularly?
I’d tend to agree that it’s probably not worth the cost to repair all the small oil leaks. Being a 10 year old vehicle with 200K miles, its about time for this sort of thing to happen. But if you don’t get the oil leaks fixed, you have to commit to checking and adding oil periodically.
For some reason, that last part is harder for some folks than others.
2 Likes
Hey thanks! What I meant was I’m not ready to invest in a new vehicle 
rather than give up on it. I can be committed to check the oil at home and adding as needed.
1 Like
If they’re seal leaks, there are high mileage oils or oil additives that can be added that can slow down/stop the leaks.
If they’re gasket leaks, those require replacement of the gasket(s).
Tester
2 Likes
I’ve been checking it, but not regularly. I didn’t notice a significant change. I haven’t noticed any on the garage floor either.
Sounds like the leaks are pretty small. Check the oil every tank or two until you get a good handle on how often it needs a quart. If you’re getting more than 1000 miles between quarts, I’d just add the oil.
2 Likes
As long as you check the oil level often enough, and always top it up to full, the engine can last a long time. At least, lack of oil will not bring on its demise. Your mechanic is giving good advice on this matter.
1 Like
It’s not up to the mechanic to decide if the leaks are worth fixing. It’s your car and your money. It’s up to the mechanic to tell you what is leaking and what it will cost to fix. The decision, yes or no, is up to you. That’s because people have different needs and opinions. I have a customer who leaks oil at the rate of a quart about every 500 miles. He just keeps adding. I have a customer with a 19 year old car with 220,000 miles. He drove 500 miles in a day, parked in his garage and next day found an oil spot the size of a dime. That’s not acceptable to him, so he’s paying $1800 for an oil pan reseal and rear main seal replacement.
3 Likes
How long do you plan on trying to keep the car?
Eek- as long as I can.
what on the engine is leaking??
Yes, I think because he knows I have two older vehicles (2001 Chevy Silverado and 2001 Mercury Grand Marquis in addition to the Acadia) I’m not looking for perfection but also that there comes a point I can’t put more into this one.
He said the pan is wet and a couple places on the head is wet.
Really none of my business but do you really need 3 vehicles to pay insurance and registration on . If you only need one then you could just trade them all or sell and find a newer vehicle.
One is my husbands, one is mine, and the third is for our daughter who will be driving soon. 
200k miles/10yrs. The next 50k should be interesting. Based on gm 3.6 build quality. Keep updating on issues.
At 200,000 miles, I think you should just check oil level often and add as needed until it becomes unmanageable. That’s too many miles to fix it unless it’s quick and inexpensive. That type of fix might be replacing the valve cover gasket. Engine seals aren’t cheap. Well, the seal is cheap, but the labor to get to it and then reassemble the engine is expensive.
1 Like
You might want to read up on the “sunk cost fallacy”.
1 Like
Sounds like a leaking ( *head gasket*,) meant valve cover gasket sorry, get a second opinion unless you care not. Sounds to me like you will not be loosing enough oil to cause oil level issues, it may be a while till it gets bad enough to drive with the windows down. Let it go for now, but just to get scary are you keeping up on things? my 03 Trailblazer did coolant, trans, rear differential, transfer case etc. then got rear ended.