Legal Action

[barney]

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone has had any experiance or luck with any sort of legal action towards Holden or a dealership in regard to warranty claims or problems with their car.

I have a one tonner that had a clutch put in at 6000ks and now its up for another one at 12000ks. There under warranty for now but i dont like my chances of getting them to keep replacing them. Also as a sole trader I can't keep having down time while my utes getting fixed all the time.

Capable of towing 1600kgs but burning clutches at 600kgs I need to work something out.

Any ideas as to where I can get advice would be good ie Fair Trading or similar or even personal experiances would be good.

Thanks

[VooDoo]

HAve you spoken to Holden about it? Thats the first step. If its under warranty and you havnt abused it (ie drags, burnouts etc) then i cant see why they wouldnt replace it again. It is the weak point of the M6. You may want to concider buying a stronger clutch yourself. Its a lot cheaper than legal action. (PM PlanB, his ones are pretty good)

[Dover]

But even if they replace the clutch 20 times under warranty theres at least that many days again he and the car is not working, who pays for that? then it goes deeper when you put off clients with the excuse "my car broke down" they will go elswere and i carnt blame them.
If its a one off thing i can excpt that but the same thing over and over??
And i still think if there gonna sell work utes that stuff out have loan utes not astras. I dont care for "its not our franchise policy" holden is holden to me.

Ben

[boxhead]

If you read the owners manual it states something along the lines that Holden are not responsable for loss of time, income or lending of a replacement vehicle.
This is the same for all manufacturers, the only exception to this I know of is Lexus (but they dont make a ute)

[Chris52]

IMHO it furthers the point for " Lemon Laws " to be Introduced. This would force manufacturers to design/build/sell a more reliable product.I'm a self employed tradie as well and having my work vehicle off the road costs me $$.
Time is money - once Holden have sold a vehicle their care factor relating to the owners downtime (re: warranty issues) is Zero!!

Cheers

Chris.

[VYSSBlack]

If Holden design a car and advertise it to be able to tow 1600 kg and the clutch burns out at 600kgs, then that is false advertising and they didnt design the product properly. In this case they should be held responsible.

barney, I know how you feel, I had a 2100kg tow pack fitted to my car by Holden, and after towing approx 800-900 kg an two occasions has resulted in the trans slipping on gear changes afterwards. The second time it happened they pulled some crap "customer abuse" excuse and voided the waranty on my trans. In the end I paid to get it fixed by a competent trans specialist and it hasnt had a problem since.
I also recently found out that towing these weights causes they rear tyres to wear on the insides which costs 2 rear tyres every time I tow something. WTF are Holden doing. It doesnt help to get repeat customers. I cant afford to take time off work on a regular basis to have my car fixed because I decided to tow the trailer. I think it sucks.

End rant

[Ghia351]

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone has had any experiance or luck with any sort of legal action towards Holden or a dealership in regard to warranty claims or problems with their car.

I have a one tonner that had a clutch put in at 6000ks and now its up for another one at 12000ks. There under warranty for now but i dont like my chances of getting them to keep replacing them. Also as a sole trader I can't keep having down time while my utes getting fixed all the time.

Capable of towing 1600kgs but burning clutches at 600kgs I need to work something out.
Any ideas as to where I can get advice would be good ie Fair Trading or similar or even personal experiances would be good.

Thanks

Would the dealer be willing to charge you the difference between the standard replacment clutch and one of greater durabilty and install that instead?

[muzza]

Hows about talking to the dealer/Holden and seeing if they will come part way toward a lower ratio diff to ease the clutch slippage on take off?

Just an idea - BTW, I reckon the stock clutches are a bit puss and an upgrade "towing clutch" should be offered.

[daza]

Hello Barney
That sounds like you have had a bad run. 6000kms out of each clutch sounds a bit sus though. You may not be giving it a hard time but it could be tied up with the way you are driving it?
Little things like putting the car into neutral and taking your foot of the clutch at the lights, when using the clutch pressing the pedal all the way to the floor and when taking off only use minimal throttle untill the car is rolling untill the clutch out then using the throttle to get moving. I always bed in my clutch for the first 6-700 kms as well, using minimal slip as I believe it seasons the lining and makes it more durable in the long run. I may be stressing the obvious but the more the clutch is slipped the quicker it wears out. I have had a few manuals and only had to change 2 clutches for wear, each one had more than 150000km's on it. :cool:
Many people learnt to drive in smaller cars with less powerfull engines that would take a bit of clutch misuse. These V8's have bucket loads of torque and there is no need to slip the clutch in all but the most extreme situations IMHO.
Just playing devils advocate.
Good luck and I hope you get the problem sorted out.
Cheers
Daza

[One tonner]

Would the dealer be willing to charge you the difference between the standard replacment clutch and one of greater durabilty and install that instead?

I offered to pay for the clutch if Holden fitted it, No way.
I wanted them to fit 3.9s when they replaced the diff, No way again.
Barney I also feel your pain.
I think the best course of action would be to replace the clutch as Voodoo suggested.
You have to weigh up the options with legal action when taking on Holden.
Big company = big fat solicitor.
Heavy duty clutch cost around $1800 fitted diff gears set up correctly around $1200.
How much is you’re down time worth.

Check out this clutch

http://www.ls1.com.au/adserver/adclick.php?bannerid=52&zoneid=4&source=&dest=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.textralia.com%2F

I know it sux and I agree Holden should build a better trade Ute.

[OzJavelin]

I hate to say it but I purchased my AUII Falcon ute specifically because it could two 2300kg and carry 1000kg .. and it does both well. I've love it to have the power of a GenIII (185kW ain't much for towing another car), so maybe next time will be a Holden One-tonne? My SV8 has a 2100kg hitch and we use it for towing a horse float, normally one horse so probably it's towing about 1600kg most of the time. It tows this great. Heaps of power, no problems with the driveline and the FE2 suspension gives it a great ride. I know it's not macho, but the old auto is great for towing .. I don't know why people bother with manuals *IF* they are going to tow regularly?

Rod.

[VYBerlinaV8]

If you need a reliable work ute, buy a Japanese model. I know it's no where near as nice, satisfying or gratifying as a V8 Holden, but the reality is that the Holden product is simply not very good quality.

Before everyone starts flaming me, I have a VY Berlina LS1, and although it's easily the most fun, comfortable, fast and satisfying car I have ever owned, it is also by far the worst quality. I have never had as many problems with a brand new car as I have had with my Holden, and I haven't even had a mechanical failure yet! I thought maybe I had just gotten a crap one, but from reading this forum, I think I actually got a good one (strong, quiet engine with zero oil usage, tight quiet trans).

C'mon Holden - GET YOUR $HIT TOGETHER!

[Bully]

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone has had any experiance or luck with any sort of legal action towards Holden or a dealership in regard to warranty claims or problems with their car.

I have a one tonner that had a clutch put in at 6000ks and now its up for another one at 12000ks. There under warranty for now but i dont like my chances of getting them to keep replacing them. Also as a sole trader I can't keep having down time while my utes getting fixed all the time.

Capable of towing 1600kgs but burning clutches at 600kgs I need to work something out.

Any ideas as to where I can get advice would be good ie Fair Trading or similar or even personal experiances would be good.

Thanks
I know how you feel. When I was still on the tools I ended up selling my 2 year old rodeo because it had cost me so much time & lost income through being in getting warranty repairs, they wouldnt even offer me a loan car at that stage, plus they tried to charge me $185 for a wheel alignment after they replaced the complete front suspension under warranty.
Something you could try if you dont have any luck is write a letter to Denny Mooney with details of the problems. A mate of mine did this when Hanenberger was in charge, his V6 engine died just short of warranty after always being serviced at holden dealers who didnt want to know about him, then he ended up with a brand new engine!!!




And i still think if there gonna sell work utes that stuff out have loan utes not astras. I dont care for "its not our franchise policy" holden is holden to me.

Ben

Too right, except in my instance, Mrs (who cant drive a manual for medical reasons) took our clubsport to get warranty repairs, ended up being given an s pack ute M6 loaner!!!
Holden need to take more responsibility for the after sales service, even if you ring Holden customer assistance in melbourne, all they tell you is that the dealers are privately run operations & they have no control over them.

[Dover]

[/QUOTE]Too right, except in my instance, Mrs (who cant drive a manual for medical reasons) took our clubsport to get warranty repairs, ended up being given an s pack ute M6 loaner!!!
Holden need to take more responsibility for the after sales service, even if you ring Holden customer assistance in melbourne, all they tell you is that the dealers are privately run operations & they have no control over them.[/QUOTE]


Yea i cant understand of the gov lets car makers get away with it, holden make out there me a favour by fixing my undrivable 8 month old ute that they had for a week for the second time. it make you understand how some people just lose it :box: .


I there not the same thing but i spent a few g on a sony tv i while ago and the remote was playing up so i rang to where to take the remote and was told just bring the lot in and we will replace it?? i only needed a remote.
Why is the service so different? My ute only worth 12 of these tvs..

There will be a day there in mitus shoes again and i hope they understand why.
Ben

[mmciau]

I'd initiate discussions with the Office of Fair Trading in your State of NSW and advise them of "what appears to be a failure of original equipment on a continuing basis" and this is impacting on your livelihood and financial well being.

Tell them you are continuing to approach Holden for clutch replacements because the item cannot sustain "normal" operations and that you will be seeking their assistance if Holden discontinue helping you for any reason

Mike