Hummer maintenance: cost, plans and service schedule

Are Hummers expensive to maintain?

First, let’s clarify the difference between maintenance and repairs.

• Maintenance involves routine service that you always have to complete at certain time or mileage intervals, regardless of your car’s condition. Examples include oil changes and air filters every one year/12,000 miles, brake pads and spark plugs every 40,000 miles and more.
• Repairs are done in response to a breakdown or a part failure. In other words, if something goes wrong with the car, you’re looking at repairs, not routine maintenance. A clunky transmission, blank infotainment screen or a sluggish engine are all signs that your vehicle may need repairs.

Keeping up with routine maintenance is the best way to reduce the likelihood that you’ll need a pricey repair later.

Now that we have those two definitions out of the way, let’s look at how costly Hummers are to maintain.

Are Hummer H1s, H2s and H3s expensive to maintain?

Classic gas-powered Hummer models can range anywhere from “slightly above average” to “exorbitantly expensive” to maintain.

The Hummer H1 is easily the most expensive to maintain (and repair) of the whole bunch.

“H1s are NOT an easy vehicle to maintain,” Sean Kim, an experienced mechanic, told ConsumerAffairs.

According to Kim, this is largely because you can’t find routine maintenance parts for an H1 at AutoZone, Costco or even your local GM dealer. “Most of the H1’s individual components (e.g., suspension drivetrain, brakes, hubs, etc.) are not shared with other GM vehicles and are H1 specific.”

The Hummer H2s and H3s, however, do share parts with other GM vehicles of that era, and since they were built from the ground up for civilians — and not the Department of Defense — they’re a bit easier on the wallet.

“For H2s and H3s, it’s basically similar maintenance to a Chevy Tahoe or Suburban of that era (2002-2010). I’d budget roughly $700 to $1,000 a year to keep one on the road,” Kim said.

We’ll discuss how that figure stacks up to modern vehicles in a bit. First, a quick word about the modern Hummer EV.

Are Hummer EVs expensive to maintain?

Even though the all-electric Hummer EV has a starting price of nearly $100,000, the cost of maintaining one may be less than you’d think.

Electric vehicles require significantly less ongoing maintenance than their gas- or hybrid-powered equivalents, in general. The Hummer EV does not need oil changes, spark plugs, engine air filters or any of the routine maintenance typically associated with a gas-chugging motor. You’ll mostly be looking at brakes, tires and the occasional inspection. Your brakes will also last much longer thanks to the Hummer EV’s regenerative braking system.

While it’s still too early to tell exactly how much a Hummer EV will cost in maintenance, similar luxury EVs from Rivian and Tesla cost $300 or less to maintain annually, on average.

Circling back to the H1, H2 and H3, let’s see how those classic gas-powered Hummers compare to modern vehicles in terms of combined maintenance and repair costs.

How Hummer compares to other automakers

As mechanic Sean Kim mentioned above, the cost of owning an H2 or an H3 is similar to the cost of owning another General Motors SUV from that era. Data from RepairPal supports his claim, estimating that the H2 and H3 will cost roughly $1,019 and $850 each year, respectively.

When averaged together, the cost of owning a Hummer (about $935 per year) is certainly more than your average Honda or Toyota, but still less than a BMW or even a modern Ford.

Granted, these are just ballpark figures adjusted for inflation. Your cost may vary wildly depending on which Hummer model you get and how well it was maintained by its previous owner(s).

So let’s quickly recap which Hummer models will be the cheapest (and most expensive) to repair and maintain.

Hummer maintenance and repair costs by model

Of all the brands we’ve surveyed, Hummer may have the most variance in ownership costs within its own lineup. Depending on which model you choose, the cost of maintaining and repairing a Hummer could be $300 — or ten times that.

Naturally, the H1 is the most expensive by far thanks to its need for specialty parts, along with its mixed reputation for reliability.

“H1s are riddled with mechanical and electrical failures,” says Kim. “The majority of owners I know barely drive them and just treat it like an investment.”

As for the H2 and H3, however, the cost of maintenance and repairs is roughly average, which isn’t bad for an aging luxury SUV. In fact, the H3’s estimated $850 per year is actually less than the average cost of car maintenance across brands (about $900).

Hummer maintenance cost and schedule

If we look at the owners manual for a 2010 Hummer H2 (section 7-1), we can see that the routine maintenance schedule is extremely typical for a modern gas-powered vehicle. That means oil and filter changes every 5,000 miles, transmission fluid changes every 50,000 miles and more.

To keep things simple, it’s safe to say that the chart in our feature on average car maintenance costs — which estimates the service intervals and costs for a typical gas-powered vehicle — applies to the Hummer H2 and H3.

The Hummer EV, on the other hand, only requires tire rotations and multi-point inspections every one year/12,000 miles. You’ll need cabin air filters every 22,500 miles and brake fluid at five years, but besides that, the first “major” service doesn’t come until mile 150,000, when you have to drain and fill the coolant circuits.

The H1, of course, is the opposite. You can see the complete H1 maintenance schedule here, courtesy of Real4WD. On paper, it looks pretty typical, but keep in mind that H1s may require specialty parts and experienced labor, hence the high cost.

Hummer repair costs

If things go wrong on your H1, H2, H3 or Hummer EV, how much will they cost to fix compared to your average vehicle?

• On the H1, the cost of repairs can range from average to extremely high, largely depending on how well the previous owner kept up with routine maintenance. Tyler Hoover of Hoovies Garage was surprised to hear that his H1 “only” needed $3,000 worth of repairs and deferred maintenance, though the Car Wizard did warn him that there was more coming down the pipeline.

  Needless to say, if your heart is set on an H1, we’d recommend finding an experienced H1 mechanic in your area and requesting that they conduct a pre-purchase inspection on any H1 you’re considering buying so you don’t inherit an expensive money pit.

• On the H2 and H3, the cost of repairs should be relatively average compared to a modern SUV. GM does a good job of producing plenty of affordable parts for legacy vehicles, meaning you can still buy a radiator for a 2005 Hummer H2 via GMPartsCenter.net for under $300 shipped.
• On the Hummer EV, the cost of repairs is yet unknown because virtually all of the Hummer EVs on the road are still under their original three-year/36,000-mile manufacturer’s warranty. But if the cost of repairing $100,000-plus Tesla vehicles is any indicator, the cost of replacing EV components could be quite high.

Overall, the cost of repairing a Hummer entirely depends on which model you choose. All things considered, the most affordable Hummer model to purchase and own long-term is probably the H3, since a pre-owned H3 with under 100,000 miles costs less than $15,000 to buy and $850 to repair and maintain annually (provided the previous owner took care of it).

In any case, would an extended warranty help?

» LEARN: What is a manufacturer’s warranty?

How can an extended warranty help?

In general, an extended auto warranty can provide additional warranty protection for your vehicle well beyond the initial factory warranty period. That means you can get anything from powertrain-only to bumper-to-bumper protection against pricey repairs, even as your vehicle racks up well over 50,000 miles.

Despite their age, we were able to find coverage options for select Hummer vehicles. Endurance quoted us $156 per month for a Premier Plus plan on a 2010 H3, which covers the essentials and may one day protect you from a catastrophic engine repair.

Other warranty providers like olive only cover select vehicles that are under 10 years old, so your options for extended warranty protection on Hummers in general may be limited. But it may be worth grabbing a few extra quotes from the best extended car warranty companies to see if anyone can beat Endurance’s offer.

» MORE: Car warranty vs. car insurance