Chevrolet maintenance: cost, plans and service schedule

Are Chevrolets expensive to maintain?

Chevrolet vehicles are generally considered to have moderate maintenance costs compared with other brands. RepairPal, an automotive data aggregator, claims that Chevy owners can expect to pay an average of $887 per year on maintenance and repairs. That’s just under the $891-per-year industry average, despite Chevy’s position in the bottom half of RepairPal’s own reliability rankings (No. 20 of 32 automakers).

How Chevrolet compares to other automakers

Although Chevrolet is beloved by many Americans, its vehicles tend to have just middling reliability ratings overall, with different sources having fairly different opinions of the brand.

According to J.D. Power’s 2024 dependability ratings, Chevrolet is the fourth most reliable car brand (out of 29). In comparison, Consumer Reports ranked Chevrolet 20th out of 30 manufacturers for reliability in 2023.

According to CarEdge’s data, though, Chevrolet vehicles cost an average of $9,625 over the first 10 years of ownership in maintenance and repairs — an average of $962.50 per year. That’s about $75 over RepairPal’s estimate for Chevy.

Steve Sunkel, a lifelong mechanic with experience working on nearly every car brand, told us: “Though Chevrolet is among the most popular American brands, it’s less reliable. … That’s due to lower-quality materials used — especially for its engines, which often have defects. Just look around — how many older Chevrolet S-10s do you see driving around? It’s a testament to the brand how many cars are still on the road — or not on the road.”

While it’s possible that these mixed opinions could be because of a recent resurgence in Chevrolet build quality, it’s hard to say for certain. Given that different sources have such polarized opinions about Chevy reliability, it’s tempting to assume the truth falls somewhere in the middle, and overall, it probably does. However, that doesn’t mean your costs won’t be significantly higher or lower than average.

If you want a better picture of what keeping your Chevy on the road may cost, it’s important to take a look at the data for your particular model. Full-size trucks tend to be costlier to keep on the road than small cars, for example, and these model-by-model differences can really make a difference over the life of your vehicle.

Chevrolet maintenance and repair costs by model

Though some Chevrolets are considered unreliable and incur high repair costs, other models tend to be more dependable (or at least cheaper to fix). Chevy Cobalts, for instance, cost relatively little to repair and don't need frequent visits to the mechanic, according to RepairPal. Meanwhile, Silverados tend to incur more in repair bills.

While this data provides an overview of each model’s average yearly upkeep cost, it still doesn’t specify how much goes toward scheduled maintenance or repairs, even though these are different services. (Maintenance covers routine services such as oil changes, while repairs fix malfunctioning parts.) To give you a better idea of how these services are different and how they may impact your budget, we’ve broken them down in further detail below.

Chevrolet maintenance cost and schedule

Getting regular maintenance is vital to your vehicle’s health. While your vehicle may have its own specific maintenance requirements, which you can find in your owner’s manual, in general, here’s what you can expect from Chevy’s maintenance schedule.

Oil changes, tire rotation, vehicle diagnostics and fluid replenishment every 7,500 miles; cabin air filter changes, brake fluid replacements and suspension, exhaust and cooling system inspections every 15,000 miles; and spark plug checks/replacements every 30,000 miles.

Maintenance costs are fairly easy to calculate once you know how much your local shop charges. Just plot out the cost of each recommended service based on the maintenance schedule in your owner’s manual to see how much you can expect to spend over time.

It’s also worth mentioning that Chevrolet offers Complete Care for new vehicles. Complete Care is an owner-benefit program for new vehicles, which provides your first oil change, vehicle inspection and tire rotation for free. That’s not a huge value in the grand scheme of things, but it’s something.

2017 Chevrolet Tahoe maintenance costs

As an example of common maintenance costs, we’ve gathered estimates for a 2017 Chevy Tahoe below. Just be aware that your costs may differ depending on your mechanic and vehicle.

Schedule maintenance for severe driving conditions

For vehicles driven under severe conditions (frequent short trips, extensive idling, towing or driving in extreme temperatures, on dusty, muddy or salty roads or mountainous terrain), Chevrolet typically recommends more frequent maintenance.

That might include oil and filter changes, transmission fluid changes, brake inspections, air filter replacements and tire rotations more often.

Chevrolet repair costs

While it’s fairly easy to anticipate maintenance costs, it’s harder to predict repairs because you don’t know when your car will break down. The two main problems reported by Chevrolet drivers, according to RepairPal, are hard/erratic shifting and vehicles that fail to start.

Steve Sunkel, the mechanic we spoke with, confirmed the former, telling us: “Transmission problems can be a burden for Chevrolet owners. … Due to overly complex automatic transmissions now, it’s usually the end of the vehicle’s life because it’s so expensive to fix a bad transmission. If you have to dump four grand on a transmission repair, you may as well go put it down on a new car instead.”

While we wouldn’t recommend scrapping a vehicle that still has much of its value when fixed, having to abandon an older, out-of-warranty Chevy because of an expensive repair is not out of the question.

Reports of transmission problems are also backed up in some consumer reviews. James, a ConsumerAffairs reviewer from Virginia, told us, “I come from a family that prided itself on owning Chevrolet trucks — trucks that ran for 200K-plus miles. That came to an end for me today."

“I own a 2016 Suburban LT. … At just over 64K miles, the car started to show signs of a delayed shifting. … The dealer first suggested reprogramming the transmission and a fluid flush at a cost of $700, but the symptoms persisted. Upon further investigation by the transmission technician, I was presented with a price of $7,000 to replace the transmission with a remanufactured one.”

» MORE: How much does a transmission cost?

2017 Chevrolet Tahoe repair costs

Each vehicle will experience different hiccups, though, and major repairs like transmission replacements aren’t going to be needed for every Chevy, even if they are a common weak point.

For a closer look at what other repairs might cost you, we collected repair cost estimates for the same 2017 Chevrolet Tahoe we used to get maintenance estimates above.

Chevrolet generally provides a three-year/36,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty and a five-year/60,000-mile warranty on new vehicles to help protect owners against repair bills, but if you intend on keeping your Chevrolet past its manufacturer’s warranty period, it’s a good idea to have a plan or budget in place in case you get stuck with an expensive repair bill.

How can an extended warranty or maintenance plan help?

If the cost of repairing and maintaining your Chevy has you in a panic, there are ways you can lower your financial liability. Notably, a prepaid maintenance plan or extended warranty can save you money on upkeep, and Chevrolet even offers its own versions of these products. Just take the time to understand what these products do and how they stack up against your other options before you buy.

» MORE: Pros and cons of extended auto warranties

Chevrolet prepaid maintenance plans

Prepaid maintenance plans let you pay for maintenance services ahead of time. This can result in savings because some dealerships offer discounts when you buy ahead. Paying in advance also protects you from possible price increases or inflation.

Chevrolet offers two prepaid maintenance plans: Pre-Paid Maintenance and Pre-Paid Maintenance Plus. Both include engine oil and filter changes, tire rotations and inspections for up to six years or 12 services, whichever comes first. Pre-Paid Maintenance Plus adds coverage for replacing cabin air filters, engine air filters, brake fluid and windshield wiper blades.

These plans are available for new, pre-owned and leased vehicles. Just know that you’ll need to have all of these services done at your local Chevrolet, Buick, GMC or Cadillac dealership.

Chevrolet extended warranties

While prepaid maintenance plans only apply to scheduled maintenance services, extended warranties, also called vehicle service contracts, cover the cost of unexpected repairs when your vehicle breaks down.

Chevrolet offers three extended warranty plans: Powertrain, Silver and Platinum. When we investigated these plans, we found they were often more affordable than warranties from third-party warranty companies (possibly due to those companies playing it safe regarding Chevy’s mixed record for reliability). However, it’s still important to shop around for the best deal. (We’ve seen warranty price quotes fluctuate substantially between companies with little rhyme or reason.)

Bottom line — if you’re concerned about getting a massive bill for something like a transmission replacement, an extended warranty might be the way to go.

» MORE: Car warranty vs. car insurance