General Motors promised big improvements for the two new engines that will be making their debuts in the 2027 GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado 1500 models. More power and internal improvements are promising to make these engines worthy successors to both the 5.3-liter and the 6.2-liter V8s.

However, a new report says all of these improvements will come with a pretty big tradeoff in do-it-yourself maintenance, as the humble dipstick is reportedly getting shelved for a digital dipstick.

Analog dipstick goes the way of the dodo in 2027 trucks

Digital oil sensors have been around for a long time, with the technology first appearing on luxury vehicles a few decades back. GM has long resisted the urge to add the tech to its volume pickup models and has carried on with putting an analog dipstick for those who want to do DIY oil changes.

This is now changing with the digital oil level being displayed on the touchscreen, according to The Verge, who say it will be part of a broader electronic interface in the 16.3-inch touchscreen that will serve as a digitized hub for vehicle maintenance and service information. At face value, it would simplify the task of checking and changing the oil, but it also adds complexity since the digital sensor removes human involvement from a key step in the oil change process.

Report comes amid other big change for GM vehicles

The reported dipstick exit comes as GM reverses course on its infotainment plans. Originally, the company announced it was moving away from Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in favor of a new UI that relied on native software to handle mobile integration.

This ambitious plan was supposed to roll out across all of GM’s future models, but the company announced it’s taking a step back, and it will re-integrate Apple CarPlay and Android Auto after considerable pushback from consumers and the automotive media.

As for the dipstick, it seems like its exit was due to GM saving some extra cash. A mere 50-cent dipstick might not seem like much in the grander scheme of things, but when you multiply that by all of the trucks GM plans to build, this seemingly small expense can multiply pretty quickly. As such, any novel way of saving a few hundred thousand dollars is always welcome, and it also helps GM pad its profit goals for the 2027 trucks movig forward.