[RandyMan]

I just passed my first year of ownership. So far I still love this vehicle. Everything works as expected, no real problems.
I live in the Atlanta area, and we mostly drive this for short in-town trips. We made one road trip to Southern Florida and back.

Vehicle: 2019 Traverse Premier FWD. Engine: 3.6L V6.

My Total Miles: 8,443
MPG: 20.33
Total cost of fuel and maintenance: $1827.24

Maintenance:
Oil: I have now changed the oil three times. I use Mobil1 oil and an Amsoil (EAO17) extended life filter. The third oil change is just shy of 12 months. I used the filter for these 12 months, and just added a new one. The filter looks extremely good still from what I can see. I will probably not cut it apart, but who knows, I am curious.

Transmission fluid: Did a double dump and fill, 8 months apart (I know, I know). I used Valvoline Synthetic Dexron VI.

Air Filter: I installed K&N lifetime filters for the engine and cabin. I will clean and re-oil after the Spring pollen season here in Atlanta.

Wipers: I installed Anco contour blades. They were horrible. I replaced them with Bosch Icons. Ancos were replaced after 10 months, I should have replaced them much earlier. We'll see how the Bosch Icons last.

Tires: I still have the Hankooks on it that the previous owner installed. I am not super impressed with them, especially in cold/damp weather. In that condition they slip quite a bit, like the rubber is too hard. I think I'll end up with Michellin Defender LTX on her before the year is out. But man, they are expensive. Currently ~$1100 installed/balanced.

Repairs:
1. Rear sunshade bracket broke. Replaced with 3D printed version. So far so good.
2. EVAP purge valve. Super simple repair. Used AC Delco part (12690512).

Let me know if you have any questions.

-RandyMan

 

[Watthour]

Good data. FWIW, all Dexron 6 is synthetic. That's the specification. That doesn't mean they are all created equal, however. Changing it frequently seems to be a very good idea with the 9T65.

Was your purge valve leaking through (P0496)?

 

[RandyMan]

Purge valve - yes, P0496. We had some "long cranks" early in ownership, and had some randomly after filling it up with gas. We stop at the first pump stop and don't squirt any more in, but that is a hard habit to break. Eventually received the P0496. The part was around $25.50 on Amazon. I ordered it and replaced it. Took about an hour, including cleaning the throttle body and intake tube. BTW: intake tube was totally dry, no oil in it at all. Much better than my 2012 Equinox 3.0L.

-RandyMan

 

[rbarrios]

Thanks for info. These 2nd gen engine trans combo is impressive.
About to hit 500 miles in my 23, and without trying, im beating my 2010s mpg.

 

[Grute60]

I just passed my first year of ownership. So far I still love this vehicle. Everything works as expected, no real problems.
I live in the Atlanta area, and we mostly drive this for short in-town trips. We made one road trip to Southern Florida and back.

Vehicle: 2019 Traverse Premier FWD. Engine: 3.6L V6.

My Total Miles: 8,443
MPG: 20.33
Total cost of fuel and maintenance: $1827.24

Maintenance:
Oil: I have now changed the oil three times. I use Mobil1 oil and an Amsoil (EAO17) extended life filter. The third oil change is just shy of 12 months. I used the filter for these 12 months, and just added a new one. The filter looks extremely good still from what I can see. I will probably not cut it apart, but who knows, I am curious.

Transmission fluid: Did a double dump and fill, 8 months apart (I know, I know). I used Valvoline Synthetic Dexron VI.

Air Filter: I installed K&N lifetime filters for the engine and cabin. I will clean and re-oil after the Spring pollen season here in Atlanta.

Wipers: I installed Anco contour blades. They were horrible. I replaced them with Bosch Icons. Ancos were replaced after 10 months, I should have replaced them much earlier. We'll see how the Bosch Icons last.

Tires: I still have the Hankooks on it that the previous owner installed. I am not super impressed with them, especially in cold/damp weather. In that condition they slip quite a bit, like the rubber is too hard. I think I'll end up with Michellin Defender LTX on her before the year is out. But man, they are expensive. Currently ~$1100 installed/balanced.

Repairs:
1. Rear sunshade bracket broke. Replaced with 3D printed version. So far so good.
2. EVAP purge valve. Super simple repair. Used AC Delco part (12690512).


View attachment 11932

Let me know if you have any questions.

-RandyMan

Glad you are having good luck with your Traverse. It certainly seems like a lot of fluid changes for only 8k miles? Or am I just old school. Does the trans need to have the fluid changed that much?

You made a great choice with the Bosch icons. I switched out some "amazon specials" for these icons, and couldn't be happier. Thanks for all the information. Hope you and I both continue to have good luck with our Traverses!

 

[RandyMan]

Glad you are having good luck with your Traverse. It certainly seems like a lot of fluid changes for only 8k miles? Or am I just old school. Does the trans need to have the fluid changed that much?

I've only had it for 8k miles, and just over 1 year. The car is a 2019 with 58k miles.

I changed the oil the first time soon after I got it. The second time was right before a long road trip. I changed it a third time since the oil filter was approaching the 12 month life, and I had a free weekend.

The transmission fluid is scheduled for every 45k miles. I bought it with almost 50k miles, so decided to do the double dump and fill that AlisoBob wrote about. Some will do these two transmission fluid changes back to back, I delayed my second one until I changed the oil again. Next pass I'll do them closer together. I am also seeing folks shortening this 45k interval to 30k-35k miles based on how the fluid looks coming out. Also, remember that the filter on these are not user serviceable (unless you want to remove it and crack open the case).

Read this:
2020 9 speed transmission service

-RandyMan

 

[Watthour]

Read this:
2020 9 speed transmission service

That's a great tutorial outline of the service procedures for the 9T65.

 

[Grute60]

I've only had it for 8k miles, and just over 1 year. The car is a 2019 with 58k miles.

I changed the oil the first time soon after I got it. The second time was right before a long road trip. I changed it a third time since the oil filter was approaching the 12 month life, and I had a free weekend.

The transmission fluid is scheduled for every 45k miles. I bought it with almost 50k miles, so decided to do the double dump and fill that AlisoBob wrote about. Some will do these two transmission fluid changes back to back, I delayed my second one until I changed the oil again. Next pass I'll do them closer together. I am also seeing folks shortening this 45k interval to 30k-35k miles based on how the fluid looks coming out. Also, remember that the filter on these are not user serviceable (unless you want to remove it and crack open the case).

Read this:
2020 9 speed transmission service

-RandyMan

Ahhh! I didn't realize you had 58k, and you just bought it! I guess I'm just a dinosaur. I remember the turbohydramatic 400's and 350. The C6, and C4, the torqueflite, and others I can't remember, but seem to remember they didn't need changing very much. I also realize that today's transmissions are more complex, and have more gears, but just didn't realize they needed fluid changes so often. I think 5k is a good rule of thumb for oil changes, even though the manufacturer recommends 7,500. I just traded a Honda Ridgeline that I thought was high maintenance, and (for other reasons too,) but am seeing all or most cars/trucks require maintenance sooner or more maintenance than the cars of yesteryear.

Have you owned a Traverse before? If so, how was the reliability of it? Thanks for the reply!

 

[rbarrios]

Grute60,
The owners manual has a recommended interval for the trans.
But these transmissions have lifetime filters. They are buried deep within the trans. It has ro be removed and solit in half, then half of trans has to be dissasembled further to get to filter.
Also its very easy to drain and refill the 1st gens, as they also have a dipstick.
For this reason I chose to do many drain and refills.
Keep the fluid fresh and clean.
I recently bought a 23. But my 2010 never had any operation issues.
Well i did replace the laminate discs... but that isnt a moving parts issue.
The other thing is, that doing several drain and refills by 100k, the cost of the fluid was similar to doing a full flush at a shop.
It was so easy, that there was several times i did engine oil and trans fluid drain at the same time.
Im pleased my trans had nice shifts for 193,000.