Holden's convinced me never to get another one...

[NUTTTR]

Well i'm happy today... *note sarcasm* (it's a bit long, but hey)

Took the car in as it has been idling on 3 cylinders sometimes, noticably due to the shaking and VERY rich petrol smell from the exhaust, occasionally missing or lacking power @ 3000rpm on the freeway, etc... Took it in, no fault codes recorded, "everything normal", latest ecu software, no vacuum leaks, etc....
They charged me $37.40 for the check claiming that there was no fault and i'd have to pay until they found one, then, if they DID find one (and it was the one i described) they MIGHT be able to look into a refund for the money i paid for labour (read: MAYBE, he said he can't guarantee he can refund it)... I rang holden HO and they said, well take it up with the service manager, TBH i don't care about the money, it's the fact i had a problem and other people witnessed it, yet i take it to them and they tell me bad luck... At no time was i informed that there would be a cost involved, never in my time if i've sent ANYTHING off for warranty check have i been charged for no fault found... Holden HO said, speak to the dealer, we have no power over that... I'm mega pissed off, because i bought a 30K car (rounded off!) and it's done 19,000k's and it's got a mysterious issue that doesn't exist and i'll have to keep paying every time i take it in until they find the problem...
I'm not sure if this is common practise, never had it with Nissan, Diahatsu, Mazda or mercedes... but i think it's a load of bollocks.... Do you think i'd waste 1.5hours of my day waiting at a dealership if there WASN'T a problem?! I'd understand if it was a mobile mechanic guy that i'd called out and he'd visited me, fair enough, but i took it to holden themselves and they still charged me..........
My fiance was going to buy an astra but we sure as hell aren't after this... I'd rather drive around in her charade than buy another car from holden after this... No more holden services, i'm keeping the roadside assistance tho, so when it fails or breaks down, they can pay to tow it and fix it!!!

I have a problem with the steering grinding/squeeking sometimes, but till it's spilt fluid all over the road and one wheel is heading down the road while i'm stopped, i'm not taking it back... They say "when you have a problem bring it in before the problem get's worse" you take it in, can't replicate it and they charge you for it.....

What a load of shit!

Sorry, but i've had my spiel and it just pisses me off bigtime that they are like this.......

[astra_city]

yeah that sucks man, sorry to hear it :(
Don't blame you for being serverly pissed off, good luck with it anyway.

[DrDevil]

i would be taking it to another dealership/workshop. that sounds like complete crap.

btw. did u get a "free" car wash out of it?

[NUTTTR]

Nope, no car wash....... i can't believe i spent 1.5hours there, got up at 6.30 to be there before 8 even when i don't start work till 1pm this week too, so i need some sleep.... I'm gonna ring the service manager (despite my great desire not to) and request a refund for the money paid and i'll never deal with them again!

[Aus-SRi]

hmm seems strange, i remmeber i had some sort of leak which i thought was the air con, took it to holden and they put a fluro dye in and everything, turns out it wasnt the air con after all, but yeh holden didnt charge me anything for doint it, maybe i got lucky

[NUTTTR]

Rang them and after 20 mins or so of discussing it with him he said he'd refund the money, but i told him about my steering rack issue and that i now don't want to bring it in till it fails, he did see my point and understand, he's sending me a refund and i told him i'll think seriously before bringing back to them, but i guess there's a possibility i may have to oneday...
I said "It's swayed our decision against buying another astra, you have one there we were going to buy but now we aren't" he said "well, you musn't have been very confident in the product to start with" i said "actually, i love my astra and wouldn't trade it for anything" and once i told him about other dealers never charging us for stuff he said he'd refund... he used the excuse "well, you didn't buy it from us, if you had've bought it from us, it might be different"........ i was about to say ********** lol...... He also said something bad about another dealership too, so makes me wonder if the dealers have competition between eachother to be bigger arseholes!

[BoostedAstra]

too bad u don't live in Brisbane. Holden can be c&*ts(excuse me girls!) when it comes to things like this. Stand ur ground mate, and definately don't be afraid to raise your voice and pace whilst at the delearship, they never like to have other customers hear about someone elses bad news.....

Julian

[Greg K]

i hate going to dealers!
the other month, i started the car and no needles would move or anything on my dash!
i could tell what speed i was doing or anything!

so i took it to holden and they said that they will call me if it need anything ehich incurs a cost!


4 hours later, the dealer guy rings me up and tells me that they have fixed the problem and the car is ready

go there and they were going to charge me $62

$55.60 for labour, $5.60 for gst, and $0.80 for a fuse!!!!!

so it was going to cost me $62 bucks for an $0.80 fuse!

i refused to pay for it and told them all to get $@#%
so they waived it as they saw i wasnt going to pay it!

sorry for the hijack!
heheh
i know how you feel NUTTTR

[Anonymous]

Sorry to hear that Mate :shock:
So I gather ya SRi is still under Warranty?
If so, Call the Dept. Fair Trading & Practises.
What they have done is Illegal(If its still under Warranty)

[PilkyGSI]

hey nutter,sounds like you had a problem like me. took them a year and alot of ****ing around to sort it. was check first time by holden ,nothing wrong, took it back, cost a couple of grand for them to rip it to pieces, i made them pay. they couldnt find problem, went to another dealership, they could find anything, they changed vac hoses, still not sort, went back again, this been going on for a year, all under warranty but still had to pay. went back in they changed a sensor hey press-toe running sweet as gold no problems, mostly everything u had happen to me, exhaust the lot, get them to change your fuel sensor. or clean it, it should then be fine

[sri02]

nutter can you say which dealership it is? I in particular have issues with one of them!

[Dee]

sri02: no names of any companies will be said on this forum.... nuttr if you want to disclose the name, please do not put it here, send a pm or something. we dont wanna have any company flaming here please

[Anonymous]

beat me to it.... dam :lol:

[OzzySRi]

i think it was Gaz914 that had a prob like urs.. car runnin on 3cyl. Holden replaced the ECU for him. prob fixed.

[ultim8DTM5]

sri02: no names of any companies will be said on this forum.... nuttr if you want to disclose the name, please do not put it here, send a pm or something. we dont wanna have any company flaming here please

Truth is a complete defence to defamation

[OPC]

OK heres what ya do then....

take it to the dealership tell em you want a trade in...

im sure they will find the problem straight away cos they are the ones who are gunna hafta deal with it ay....

TAADAA :shock: NO APPLAUSE JUST THROW $$$$ THANK YOU THANK YOU IM HERE ALL NIGHT

[NUTTTR]

Can i mention the dealers location? I won't say the name, for obvious reason, but i live in pennant hills and it was BLOODY close to me..... :)
I personally would NEVER recommend my worst enemy to them now, however, i rang another dealership (suttons waitara) and was VERY pleased with what the service guys said there, so HIGHLY recommended, he said he'd NEVER charge for something like this, go figure!
Aaron

[SmellyTofu]

however, i rang another dealership (suttons waitara) and was VERY pleased with what the service guys said there, so HIGHLY recommended, he said he'd NEVER charge for something like this, go figure!


I wouldn't recommend them for their "car spa" (aka automatic car wash) and for their 2 second wheel alignment however, I know the guys behind the counter there (if they haven't changed jobs lately).

[EGG80X]

i never take my car back to the dealership service center.... a bunch 16 yr old rev heads working on your car (i use to work for Honda)..... i don't trust them leaving my car to some stranger. Lucky for me I got a few good friend who r mechanics and own their own workshops.... as long as the mechanic is mta approved.... it shouldn't void the car's warranty

[NUTTTR]

yeah, i never let anyone wash my car (bar me) and i also never tell them to touch the alignment, i get it done by someone else who i know does a 100% job! :) Thanks smelly!
I can do services and stuff myself in reality, just warranty issues that i want sorted.. Warranty's useless if they don't do anything about it!
Aaron

[SmellyTofu]

Lucky for me I got a few good friend who r mechanics and own their own workshops

Care to share their details? I'm after a 60k service and need someone who does it properly... well, actually, it's 12mths in 2 days time since I did my last "service". Only really need the belts changed. Everything else I can do myself like pollen cleaner and oil change etc.

Btw, u still have your Echo? I've been a browers of the Ozecho site but still not decided on buying a jellybean though I did buy the F & R Vitz badges from HK should I take the plunge.

[journo]

sri02: no names of any companies will be said on this forum.... nuttr if you want to disclose the name, please do not put it here, send a pm or something. we dont wanna have any company flaming here please

Truth is a complete defence to defamation

Now this is where a little knowlege is a dangerous thing...

Defamation can be tested in any state the material was published in... in this case, locally, any of our states or territories.

Not all states have that rule about truth... Qld, for example, requires the material to be PROVEN true, DEMONSTRATED to be in or of the public interest sufficient to warrant publication, and then also NOT TO BE of a malicious nature, even when the former conditions are met.

People who can be sued over defamitory material posted on this site include: The owner(s) of the site, the poster of the material, anyone who forwards the material to another person.
Suing parties could include: the individual whom the post was about (or any one who could consievably be identified as being that person, correctly or incorrectly, the business in question, and, in this case, Holden -- how holden? The arguement would be there is an imputation in the post that they allow second rate servicing agents to be holden dealers.

And depending on the mood of the person/organisation doing the suing they can choose which state to sue in -- ie the one in which defamation laws allow the least chance of the defamation being defended successfully.

Don't assume you know anything about defamation unless you live and breath it every day... defamation laws are complex, change state by state and a lawsuit generally costs in excess of $250,000 to successfully defend, especially when a large and very financial company is involved - the suits often run on for more than two years when not settled out of court.

So there you have it... anyone who wants to make any more GUESSES about defamation can feel free to ask me for more detailed info...

Sorry for the long post... but defamation is serious and I think some posters need to realise this.

[EGG80X]

Lucky for me I got a few good friend who r mechanics and own their own workshops

Care to share their details? I'm after a 60k service and need someone who does it properly... well, actually, it's 12mths in 2 days time since I did my last "service". Only really need the belts changed. Everything else I can do myself like pollen cleaner and oil change etc.

Btw, u still have your Echo? I've been a browers of the Ozecho site but still not decided on buying a jellybean though I did buy the F & R Vitz badges from HK should I take the plunge.

My Egg is going strong, in fact it should supercharged soon and upgrade to Tein Flex EDFC

I go to IS motor racing in Rockdale to mod my car, the owner Indy So is the technical adviser for option magazine... if u buy option magazine, u probably read his column. Nice friendly crew

and also a family friend who has a workshop in Terry Hills..... been servicing my cars there for the last 7 years

any chance on grabbin the vitz badges off u??

[jch75]

We took our car in for a service a few months back. Anyway, soon after we noticed this sound which we thought was a tyre flat spot, probably from the service centre taking our car for a fang and hammering the skids. So last week suddenly, when we went over bumbs we started hearing this "clunk" and thought it might have been a shocker or something. So we took the car in for a check, they say "we couldn't replicate the issue but our serviceman tightened every nut & bolt under the car". Funny enough, the problem is gone. We suspect there was some dodgy workmanship it at our last service and this was just a nice big cover up. There is no way they could have not been able to replicate the fault becos they wouldnt have even got out the drive way without the issue occurring. I can't complain too much, the problem's fixed and they cleaned my car but still...... DODGEY!

[SmellyTofu]

My Egg is going strong, in fact it should supercharged soon and upgrade to Tein Flex EDFC

I go to IS motor racing in Rockdale to mod my car, the owner Indy So is the technical adviser for option magazine... if u buy option magazine, u probably read his column. Nice friendly crew

and also a family friend who has a workshop in Terry Hills..... been servicing my cars there for the last 7 years

any chance on grabbin the vitz badges off u??

Hmm.. Rockdale & Terrey Hills... a bit far from up north where I am in Hornsby area. However, if anybody else has a good "central" point where people can get good service at a good price (or even just good service) at any workshop, call them out. We need to support them because they are a dying breed.

I do read you are a customer of Bel as well. I know Brian there personally (from high school days) but stupid :P (and rightly) them don't do servicing on Euro cars. :evil:

If you are after Vitz badges, I'll see what I can do if you are interested (or Yaris or even these ones)

http://homepage1.nifty.com/vitz/euro/en-eco.jpg

I remember seeing them at the Tom's shop but I didn't get them as they were more for the Yaris than the Vitz. However, I got family coming back from HK but I want to keep my set for now. One way or another, I could see even myself in one if not another larger jellybean-mobile.