GM killed the oil dipstick. That’s not progress.

When you pop the hood of a new pickup truck, there’s something you won’t find any more: the oil dipstick.

General Motors has confirmed that its new sixth-generation 5.7-liter and 6.6-liter V8 engines, coming to the 2027 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500, will no longer have a conventional dipstick. Instead, drivers will check the oil level on a digital display inside the truck.

I still check my tires with a pressure gauge, even though my vehicles have tire-pressure monitoring systems.

I’ve been working on cars for decades, and I think this is a mistake.

Checking your oil is one of the simplest and most important things you can do to protect your engine. You pull out the dipstick, wipe it clean, reinsert it, and pull it out