Purchased my 2012 EL Limited brand new and has 178k miles on it. I haven't had any issues with the automatic running boards. I spray it down with WD-40 every so often to keep the joints from ceasing up. I occasionally see people riding around with one or both fully extended and think, dang if they only watch a Youtube video they can fix it by spraying some PB blaster on it..lol. No way would I go to the dealership and let me charge me an arm and leg for a simple fix. Heck, I just recently did my own timing job successfully and it was the first time going into an engine..