Warranty Question?

[falcom]

A friend of mine has a one year old VE Commodore(He actually owns two VE's and a loyal Holden Man) and the other day the "ABS Fault" light on the dash lit up.

So he took it to the Holden dealer who hooked up some machine to it and they said they could not find any fault. Since they could not find a fault they charged him.

He was so P****ed off he said that he was never going to buy another car from this dealer again.

Does this sound fair to you guys?

[TheRealMadMax]

A friend of mine has a one year old VE Commodore(He actually owns two VE's and a loyal Holden Man) and the other day the "ABS Fault" light on the dash lit up.

So he took it to the Holden dealer who hooked up some machine to it and they said they could not find any fault. Since they could not find a fault they charged him.

He was so P****ed off he said that he was never going to buy another car from this dealer again.

Does this sound fair to you guys?

So he had to pay because they are not competent enough to find the fault relating to the light being on? Was the light on at the time?

Doesn't sound fair to me.

[macca33]

Nothing like 'top-shelf' customer service is there???

If they've lost one repeat customer from their inappropriate action, then it is their own stupidity which is to blame.

cheers

[steve_t]

Did he already pay? Tell him to not pay and to talk to someone higher up in Holden

[VXSS346]

A friend of mine has a one year old VE Commodore(He actually owns two VE's and a loyal Holden Man) and the other day the "ABS Fault" light on the dash lit up.

So he took it to the Holden dealer who hooked up some machine to it and they said they could not find any fault. Since they could not find a fault they charged him.

He was so P****ed off he said that he was never going to buy another car from this dealer again.

Does this sound fair to you guys?

Disgraceful!!!

Zero customer service. :limpy:

Cheers :)

[Hi Octane]

Pathetic....

[Toddler78]

I suspect there is a little more to this story. I will go ahead asume that the protocol for the VE is no different from the earlier models in the fact that they will have a history of the trouble code, therefore if it is not current it is still in the history. So regardless of whether the fault is still active or not it should be there and be cleared just out of curtosy if nothing more it takes 2 mins to do.
HOWEVER, if the fault is a direct result of a modification, ie he took his seat out/steering wheel off and then turned on the ignition then I dont see why the dealer should be responsible for his misuse/error. yes out of curtosy they should have just done it for free for him but if he went in carrying on like a 3yr old then I wouldnt be inclinded to help him out either

[HEXEM]

A friend of mine has a one year old VE Commodore(He actually owns two VE's and a loyal Holden Man) and the other day the "ABS Fault" light on the dash lit up.

So he took it to the Holden dealer who hooked up some machine to it and they said they could not find any fault. Since they could not find a fault they charged him.

He was so P****ed off he said that he was never going to buy another car from this dealer again.

Does this sound fair to you guys?

I have never had to pay for the dealer hooking up TECH-2 to check for an error code (fault codes) relating to me advising them I have had an ABS,Engine or other dash indicator lighting up either during or out of warranty.

Most of these the checks are undertaken by the workshop foreman or diagnostic tech rather than pulling machenics off services etc. IMO the fact that the system did not record the fault is irrelivant. Most people don't dream up a fault indicator light on the dash while driving..

Question: When you arrived at the dealer had to you turned off the car before you entred the service area?. From my experiance (over the last 3 holdens) SRS/ABS and some others, fault codes are cleared once the car is turned off. More serious issues will retain fault codes. You need to have a mechanic who knows how to use the TECH-2.

When my ABS module failed and a new one is installed (Series 1 VY) I would get speratic ABS faults and the system would not hold the fault code. It took someone with a bit of nouse to look further into the ABS/SRS etc diagnostics to discover that the Idle Relaxer Motor (used in the traction control system) was failing...

Anyway I think it was pretty rude for them to charge for what would of probably been 10mins for them to say there is no code so we cann't do anything at this stage.....

[NuffNuff]

I had the same problem, they couldnt find the fault. ABS, Traction control and ESP turned off. (dirty sensors I believe) they were pulling a code but it was from my mafless tune.

They didn't charge me, just appolgised and said it should be right, as it did actually clear itself up and start working before I got to them (driving in the rain must have cleaned them up?)

[falcom]

Just to Carify some of the questions above:

1)The light had gone out by the time car was brought to dealership but as an ABS Fault could be a safety issue he thought it would be prudent to have it checked.

2) Car is completely standard.(No Modifications)

3) His wife picked up the car and just paid the bill. He rang Service manager latter and he was not interested and just said it was company policy.(He is not the type of person who likes confrontation but is very very unlikely to do business at this dealership again and as he likes to shop locally it probably means it will be the first time in his life that He doesn't buy a Holden even though his gripe was with the dealership rather than Holden)

[planetdavo]

Standard Holden policy to dealers is that they permit charging for diagnostic purposes that don't find a fault. Dealers are even permitted to charge a customer a fee for diagnosing a part that failed whilst under warranty too. The replacement part will be fitted at no cost, but the diagnostic charge for faulty sensors/modules etc can still apply, and most charge it.
It is up to individual dealers to decide how strict they follow this policy.

[falcom]

PlanetDavo do you think that this is fair?

For the light to come on in the first place there must be some sort of fault.

To charge the customer because the mechanic could not diagnose why the light come on is just not right.

Also common sense on the part of the dealer should come into it.(This customer and his family has bought many new Holdens from this dealership and intended to buy a new Commodore every 3 years.)

Now for the sake of few dollars this dealership will now miss out on thousands.

[fishla]

Your mate is doing the right thing by not going back there.

Dealers make most of their money on service costs and repeat customers.

I'd even follow up with a letter to Holden head office and the VACC.
I wonder if Holden dealers (or any dealer have to comply to VACC code of practice?)

http://www.vacc.com.au/AboutUs/VACCCodeofPractice/tabid/752/Default.aspx

[Wonky]

My dealer has cleared codes I got when I plugged in a faulty scangauge to test it - i.e. my fault and no charge!! Given the car in question in this thread is totally stock and the fact that it could have been a safety related issue if I was him I would definitely vote with my feet, but only after writing a letter to the dealer principal explaining the reasons!

[Boganspeed]

I had the same problem, they couldnt find the fault. ABS, Traction control and ESP turned off. (dirty sensors I believe) they were pulling a code but it was from my mafless tune.



This happens to me in my VE Berlina every now and then.
Knowing how unreliable PC's and mobile phones are these days, there's no reason to believe a car computer would be any better so i just assume that it will reboot next time I turn the ignition off and open the door.

I've mentioned it at service, they said they couldnt find anything and nothings been recorded, I just ignore it and move on.

Very occasionally my air con controls wont work, nothing, zilch, nada.
I have to stop, turn off the car, open the drivers door(important), close it (also important, so you dont fall out), start the car and then drive off as if nothing happened.

[planetdavo]

PlanetDavo do you think that this is fair?

Now for the sake of few dollars this dealership will now miss out on thousands.

For a car under new car warranty, I don't think it is good business at all. Classic case of possibly winning the (smaller) battle, but losing the (bigger) war. Or, can't see past the end of your nose...

I should clarify my earlier comment in one area, to make it a bit clearer.
Common practice re charging for testing suspect sensors/modules etc is more relevant to parts fitted by someone other than the dealer, when the car is out of new car warranty. Most charge it as the customer went elsewhere to begin with, and the workshop may not have correctly diagnosed what caused the part to fail, only what ultimately failed. We've had several cases where a sensor is replaced, then fails quickly again. Warranty was rejected because the sensor was getting spiked by an issue elsewhere, something the original shop failed to diagnose, so the other workshop/customer was up for diagnostic charges plus replacement of required parts.