My wife gets a sales pitch everytime she takes her 2007 Impala to the dealer for an oil change. She has a bout 40K miles on it. Is this a scam or is it worthwhile the ~~$100? I burn Regular gas, not ethanol laced gas.
It’s a scam. Unless the car is having problems, it isn’t necessary. Normal gasoline has detergents in it already. If you want to use it as preventive maintenance, save some money by buying fuel injector cleaner at an auto parts store or Wal Mart. A bottle of fuel injector cleaner usually costs between $6 and $10.
By the way, almost all gas has up to 10% ethanol to improve emissions. It isn’t anything to worry about though.
Its not necessary unless there is a problem. Most fuels have a cleaner incorporated in them anyway.
Back in 87 or so I had a sticky injector on a car with about 30K on it. The dealer ran the canister of cleaner through it and that solved the problem. Only time I ever needed it though.
For $100, they had better be disconnecting the injectors and pumping the cleaner directly through each injector. That is a bit more effective than putting a $10 bottle of injector cleaner in the gas tank, but not as effective as sending the injectors out to a shop to be ultrasonically cleaned.
If the car is running fine, save your money. If you don’t use top tier fuel, buy a bottle of name-brand cleaner at least once a year to help keep the injectors working. If you do use top tier fuel, you don’t need to do anything to keep your injectors clean.
An '07 Impala should to just fine with 10% ethanol fuel. Slightly lower fuel economy, but hardly noticeable.
Unless you are getting the oil change and other maintenance done for free at the dealer, I suggest not taking the car to the dealer. Dealers are no better (or worse) than independent mechanics for almost anything you might need done on your car. They will almost always charge more per hour and often more for parts and supplies. They also tend to look at repairs a little different than the independent.
A dealer may well recommend work that strictly may not be needed, but could be connected to the problem or maybe replace a part when a little repair would fix it ALMOST as good a new.
There is no need to bring your car to the dealer for any service other than service that is going to be paid for by a recall or original warrantee. During the warranty period be sure to have all required (as listed in the owner's manual) maintenance done and to document all maintenance work.
I suggest that most people would be better off finding a good independent (Not working for a chain) mechanic.
Note: Never ever use a quick oil change place. They are fast cheap and very very bad.