Vectra Service Disaster Holden Dealer Sale City Holden Gippsland Victoria
I wish to make everyone in this forum aware of some disturbing events that occurred to our JS11 Vectra C22SEL 309000 Ks 2001.
In March 2015 or thereabouts we presented our Vehicle to Sale City Holden for a timing belt service and repair of a coolant leak. I suspected a head gasket fault as I had sighted a white mayo type material in the coolant bottle. I pointed this out to the service manager on numerous occasions and he always appeared to forget my request but assured me that they would pressure test the vehicle cooling system. I pointed out to the service manager that they should do this prior to disassembly of the timing gear so as to confirm a head gasket problem and re-quote the job so we could be on a good business relationship. On prior occasions this dealer and service manager have always been close to original verbal quote.
On all service requests I have provided the majority of parts so as to save money on Holden Genuine parts. The vehicle was returned to me a couple of weeks later and I was billed for coolant system test which indicated a "no fault in the cooling system scenario". What I did not know is that they had not checked for a head gasket leak but the basic bike pump test that costs $120.00
When my wife arrived home with the vehicle I asked her if they fixed the coolant leak and she replied that the SM advised that they found no leaks. The following day I noticed a small volume coolant loss yet again. I was sure that the head gasket had failed and I gave the dealer the benefit of the doubt as the vehicle was high km and age will take its toll. In other words we let them off the hook because HOLDEN does not honour any warranty when you supply the parts. Lets move forward now.
On the 05 May 2015 we presented our Vectra back to the Sale City Holden for repair of the Head gasket. We supplied the following components so as to complete the repair
1. New Cylinder Head
2. Gasket Kit
3. New Valves
5. 10 New Head Bolts
6. Synthetic Oil 5L
7. Coolant Concentrate 5L
8. Oil Filter
1. Quote agreed on was $1100.00 APPROX, I ALLOWED $1500.00 INC GST. verbal on the phone as always. The quote was correct as I had checked with another engine rebuilder. The quote was labour only as I was supplying the parts.
The Service manager accepted the vehicle and components and advised that the New head would be sent to a third party for assembly using my existing cams etc. So far so good.
Now the fun and games begin, 2 weeks into the service I called to find out when my vehicle will be ready for collection. I was told to call back later and when I did the advice was, that there was a vacuum leak and they instantly blamed the gaskets supplied (new sealed). I kept my calm and asked him what they will do and he replied that they will find out what the issue was. Week 3 the SM reckons it was the manifold gasket leaking but never clarified which one. The fuel side or exhaust, this is a mystery.
When they fixed the manifold gasket they discovered an oil leak between the head and block yet again blaming faulty head gasket. I then asked the SM what is this ALL GOING TO COST me as the entire job had gone belly up and he was making excuse after excuse by blaming age of car and parts. He told me that he would LOOK AFTER ME. They ordered new gaskets bolts etc and again removed the head to find the following fault as they claim.
The service manager told me that the reason why the oil leak appeared was because one of the engine block bolt holes was stripped and that it could not be torqued to spec 25nm. I was gob smacked, what he was telling me was that
1. They stripped the bolt hole themselves and the technician covered it up.
2. They failed to check the cleanliness of the block and the possibility that the holes needed repair prior to re assembly.
At this point I need to point out that I could have done this myself (repair) but I was time poor due to an ongoing fight with cancer that my wife has. We decided to let a professional Holden Dealer make the repairs as we trusted the brand and its people. We were very wrong and it is important that everyone in here gets this heads up.
On the 09 June 15 I contacted the SM but he had gone into hiding, the receptionist put me through to a DP which I later found out was the dealer principal. Every time I tried to explain what was going on and that it strongly appeared that his staff had wrecked my vehicle with poor workmanship he would commence to yell over me. I pointed out to the DP that I had been listening to them for 6 weeks, had no car, did not know what the bill would be. He kept on calling me buddy and told me to put my hand over my mouth and listen to him. The yelling match went on and he hung the phone up one me.
I called back and asked to speak to him again, I told him that I was paying a premium for this horrible service and he told me that the premium price of a Holden Dealer is for the diagnosis of the problem. I picked myself up off the floor and reminded him that they failed to diagnose the problem the first time I took the vehicle in. They were now ducking for cover with the following information he fed me. He said that my ORIGINAL ISSUE WAS THE HEAD BOLT. I quickly reminded him that my Vectra was a well maintained car and that it was not leaking oil when I presented it for repair. It had a head gasket issue and that was all it had. I supplied NEW EVERYTHING and the novice that put my car together made a mistake and that they should wear that.
I hung up on him at this stage because he was playing the blame game and I had reached the end of my BS meter. At approx. 1730 that evening the service manager called me to advise me of the new bill.
$2995.00
The labour component was $1775.00 ex GST. The rest was parts that I had already supplied that they damaged and head building which was $450.00 as they did not know how to assemble a head let alone put a head back on without wrecking it. Keep in mind that I had supplied all parts so now my head debacle has reached $4500.00.
I will take a breath and come back to continue with the story.
