Looking for Help and Guideance

[REDOPC]

Hi All,

This is my first acutal post on a forum ever!
I'm very new to the forum as well about 1 hour old.

I'm looking for help and guidance as to a predicament that i currently have.
I purchased a brand new OPC ASTRA in December last year, and unfortunatly (an old senior didn't see my bright red car at the set of lights) slammed into the back of me.

My Car has been sitting at a repair centre for 3 months now after spare parts needed to be shipped in from Germany... and today i found out that another shipment is required becuase the initial order wasn't fully forfilled. (Very dissapointing).

I'm hopeing that someone can let me know the general concesus of spare parts in Australia, and if / how i can appropriatly contact Opel regarding this long and frustrating process.

Your feedback on this would be great everyone.

[eddysdaman]

Hi mate,

Sorry to hear. And I am an disheartened to hear this being an OPC owner myself.
Call Holden Customer Care 1800 033 349 (Opels support line has been killed and merged in with Holden) and raise this asap.
They are required by law to keep spare parts in stock for 10 years from end of production. Yes this sometimes means waiting for them to arrive from overseas but I would be questioning why a NEW car doesn't have spare parts available somewhere in the country.

[REDOPC]

Hi mate,

Sorry to hear. And I am an disheartened to hear this being an OPC owner myself.
Call Holden Customer Care 1800 033 349 (Opels support line has been killed and merged in with Holden) and raise this asap.
They are required by law to keep spare parts in stock for 10 years from end of production. Yes this sometimes means waiting for them to arrive from overseas but I would be questioning why a NEW car doesn't have spare parts available somewhere in the country.


Hi Bud,
Thanks so much for your guidance.. i'll get on to this today and see where it leads me. It was terrible to know that the place of purchase (Holden Dealer) have already told me that they can't do nothing. I'll see what the Care Centre says, and i'll let you know.

[dutchy]

Call Holden Customer Care 1800 033 349 (Opels support line has been killed and merged in with Holden) and raise this asap. They are required by law to keep spare parts in stock for 10 years from end of production. Yes this sometimes means waiting for them to arrive from overseas but I would be questioning why a NEW car doesn't have spare parts available somewhere in the country.

What Eddy said. I would really put my foot down here as they are indeed in breach of the law (and their own promise when they closed down.....)

[andrew]

What Eddy said. I would really put my foot down here as they are indeed in breach of the law (and their own promise when they closed down.....)

its not only opel that holden has problem has getting parts, my mate who owns a panel shop next to a holden centre had to wait 5 months for some current model cruze door skins and bonnet
and that was a brand new one that was not even sold yet, if the car is getting repaired under insurance part do take longer to get here as insurance companies don't pay for freight
that's one big hold up a lot of cars have, they just get put on the stock orders, holden are required to keep spare parts in stock which is just the normal service parts and replacement parts

[vekara]

I am finding a problem getting coolant hoses for my Astra H, again Holden say not longer available. they do breach the laws by not being able to supply simple parts but in my case i will get the parts quicker and cheaper form overseas than Holden so fighting is futile. There are a lot of parts available in the UK, and the supply takes typically 10 days.
I have a Cruze and in the cruze forum many people have been waiting for parts for months, and the cars are under new warranty. despicable really.
Here is another website where you can find parts: http://www.partsbase.org/opel/

My friend is restoring an older Mercedes, all parts are easily available for the next 100 years.

[REDOPC]

Hi Everyone!

First of all, let me apologise for not being online since posting my threads above... it has been months and I’m ashamed :(
Sorry.
Let me thank you all, for the guidance that was given. It was a battle with both Holden and Customer Care for months, with no answers and nothing getting easier. My repairs took almost 4 months… and remember it was really only the back bumper bar and its steel supports from underneath.
It was great getting back into it after driving around a couple of different loan BOMB’s. (1990 Magna, with cassette player, and a 2005 Suzuki Grand Vitara), almost didn’t remember how to drive a manual.
Since then I’ve just had bad luck and timing… trolley has hit my side door (slight dint – awaiting repairs), flying plasta debris on the freeway, has scratched and punctured the underneath of the front bumper.  all this within its first year.

And now last week… it really saddens me to say but I classify this as the backbone of my car.
I’ve learnt that because the OPC shares a lot of parts with the cruze, it’s actually been noted that there are gearbox faults with these models. I’ve experienced a slight (clunking sound, like when you change gears too early and almost stall) occurring during all gear changes and even in neutral and applying breaks.
I now need to change my cars backbone and some ribs as well.
The list is as follows;
New Gear Box
New Clutch / Clutch Plate / Clutch Disc
Front Diff / Diff Plates
Fly Wheel

I wonder if anyone else has had this as well? Is it possible I just have a lemon?

[dutchy]

ouch that sucks. really, does a cruze have the same gearbox as an astra opc ?!

[nigelh]

ouch that sucks. really, does a cruze have the same gearbox as an astra opc ?!
No they don't they have a korean copy of the m32 or f17ect (yes it's as bad as it sounds) at least the ones I have seen. No drive line parts are even similar to a cruze.

Don't know who you getting your info from but it's wrong

[REDOPC]

ouch that sucks. really, does a cruze have the same gearbox as an astra opc ?!



Apparently so...

Really?? These are the details that I'm receiving from my Holden dealers (mechanic). As they have already replaced a 2 more before mine.
I've also been in their presence when they have called GM here to find out other information, at least my Holden dealer mechanics are ok with the type of change.

[sooty]

I'd trust Nigel over anything Holden tells you about a gearbox

[guy 27]

I'd trust Nigel over anything Holden tells you about a gearbox

+1 billion.

[poita]

I'd trust Nigel over anything Holden tells you about a gearbox


+1 billion.

+11ty billion

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

[chris_r]

Astra J might share a lot with the Cruze overall, but the OPC is a completely different beast to any Cruze model. The entire drivetrain doesn't even appear in any Cruze model. And as for what nigelh says, you can pretty much bet everything you own on what he knows about gearboxes. If you're gonna take the word of a Holden dealer who most likely hasn't had any formal training with regards to Opel models over someone who is experienced in the field of repairing transmissions, it's no wonder you're having problems with the dealership. Don't take everything the dealers say as gospel, research till your eyes and ears bleed and then form a more educated opinion on the topic.

I'm not having a go at you, I'm just saying double check the information the dealership feeds you and arm yourself with the right information before going off in the service reception at them. I can tell you from experience, that doesn't help your case either. In fact, I've probably learnt more about all things mechanical from all the issues I've had and taking note from guys like Nigel, because from the advice he's given others on here, I don't believe he's been wrong yet.

[dutchy]

but he still has a problem. I would assume that Holden will fix everything under warranty, keep pushing mate as they should fix it. Maybe call that help number and explain, ask them which garage to go to and that you're not happy at all.

[arharoon]

Regardless of the information being correct I am more surprised about a gearbox issue being mentioned and more than one at one dealer. Have some gearbox issues followed on from the AH to the J?

I don't know if these are normal failure rates for these parts but with the information available on the internet it seems many of the hot hatches available nowadays have gearbox issues (both automatic and manual). Too much cost cutting in the design maybe.

Anyways hope you get everything fixed and have better luck with the car in the future.

[nigelh]

Unfortantly everything is built to a price but offen the gearbox is not the cause of the problem REDOPC can you give a bit more information about you concern because I also own one so have a better understanding about the car, from what you have said I would be thinking a problem with the DMF, but if Holden want to put a new gearbox, clutch and DMF in your car I wouldn't say no because as sooty can tell you even when you do have a real gearbox problems it can be very hard to get them to replace it. :)

[sooty]

Unfortantly everything is built to a price but offen the gearbox is not the cause of the problem REDOPC can you give a bit more information about you concern because I also own one so have a better understanding about the car, from what you have said I would be thinking a problem with the DMF, but if Holden want to put a new gearbox, clutch and DMF in your car I wouldn't say no because as sooty can tell you even when you do have a real gearbox problems it can be very hard to get them to replace it. :)
Lot, tell me about it. I fought for 6 months to get a recall in the UK recognised here and they wouldn't do it.

[J]

ouch that sucks. really, does a cruze have the same gearbox as an astra opc ?!


No they don't they have a korean copy of the m32 or f17ect (yes it's as bad as it sounds) at least the ones I have seen. No drive line parts are even similar to a cruze.

Don't know who you getting your info from but it's wrong


Apparently so...

Really?? These are the details that I'm receiving from my Holden dealers (mechanic)....

Well if I am reading this correctly, then I really hope the Holden dealers/mechanic etc. in question are indeed not so clueless to the point that they will stick a new gearbox from a Cruze (i.e. a Korean copy of the original OPC-spec box) as your replacement REDOPC - thinking that they are the same and "oh here is a spare from our Cruze inventory that should fit right in"!

The "work" some dealer mechanics do will never cease to amaze me...!

[rocky424]

It is appalling to assume that the cruze would have the same gearbox as the Astra OPC. If it were the Astra 1.4T or 1.6T maybe with the M32 box but definitely not the OPC which I think runs the F40CR.

[dutchy]

It is appalling to assume that the cruze would have the same gearbox as the Astra OPC. If it were the Astra 1.4T or 1.6T maybe with the M32 box but definitely not the OPC which I think runs the F40CR.

yeah, don't understand why they would even consider a much and much higher rated opc gearbox into a cruse. But hey, if they say it's possible and they want to do that under warranty... who cares :) That would mean that my Astra 1.6 would also fit the opc gearbox !!!

[mylifeasbenjamin]

I hope they get that all sorted mate!!

As for not trusting a word holden say..I called a Holden/HSV dealership for information on my VXR and was told there was no such thing as a turbocharged Astra ever and I was wrong.

[Raisin]

I hope they get that all sorted mate!!

As for not trusting a word holden say..I called a Holden/HSV dealership for information on my VXR and was told there was no such thing as a turbocharged Astra ever and I was wrong.

Bwahaha, that's golden, and so very scary at the same time.

[mylifeasbenjamin]

Bwahaha, that's golden, and so very scary at the same time.

Wasn't just a Holden dealership, it was a specific HSV on as well. I hope I never have to take my car there..