Advice needed

[ti0350]

My SS is under the holden ceritfied used car warranty, I had it serviced by my mechanic down the road which basically negates the warranty while doiing the service he found that my steering rack is leaking ( not real impressed in a car this old)..
Got a letter from my dealer asking why I hadnt serviced the car with them when I rang them to tell them why, I decided to get a price on the getting rack done they said $750 (i assume over priced like most dealers)..
They also told me that if i did bring the car in and get it serviced they would replace the rack for free under warranty..
SO i have delemer, do I take the car in and pay $240 for the service and get the rack done for free or do I just tell them to shove it and get my mechanic to do it down the track.. Mechanic has said on a list of priorities that need to get done to the car the rack is down the list behind the tyres and brakes so it's something that doesnt need to get done straight away..
I'm in two minds on what to do, the reason I went to my mechanic in the first place was he's real close to home and I actually trust him with my car he knows Holdens backwards and really cares about the work he does..

[brentonsav]

how much is your mech going to charge for the rack install???

i voided my cert used car warranty but havent needed to get anything replaced yet.

i have had two services since i bought mine now, and 25k's. havent received one letter or phone call since i bought it about servicing but i guess its only a matter of time.

also, i wonder if holden have in its plans to send odo readings to dealers to encourage servicing and what not in the future? slight OT however

[VX2VESS]

well $240 is cheaper than $750... but if moneys no problem get it done elsewhere. holdens only good for the warrantee bits, if they can get it right, good to have for major components engine gearbox etc that will cost thousands if they fail....

apart from warrantee/service time get all other work done elsewhere. as soon as my warrantee was up seeyah later. used to do brakes etc myself while in warrantee anyway cheaper and better. saved up expensive warrantee items for when the service is due, diff, racks, motor etc.

PS some suspension places have replacement exchange reco racks cheaper than that.

[brentonsav]

well $240 is cheaper than $750... but if moneys no problem get it done elsewhere. holdens only good for the warrantee bits, if they can get it right, good to have for major components engine gearbox etc that will cost thousands if they fail....

apart from warrantee/service time get all other work done elsewhere. as soon as my warrantee was up seeyah later. used to do brakes etc myself while in warrantee anyway cheaper and better. saved up expensive warrantee items for when the service is due, diff, racks, motor etc.

PS some suspension places have replacement exchange reco racks cheaper than that.

you cant get all work done elsewhere under certified used vehicle warranty
all work must be done continually at the dealer you bought it from for the warranty to be valid. its diff to new car warranty

[ti0350]

Just relised i forgot to add that the dealer quoted me for a reconditioned rack.. The othjer thing after paying for my service Im not exactly flush with money..

[ssgirl2]

My SS is under the holden ceritfied used car warranty, I had it serviced by my mechanic down the road which basically negates the warranty while doiing the service he found that my steering rack is leaking ( not real impressed in a car this old)..
Got a letter from my dealer asking why I hadnt serviced the car with them when I rang them to tell them why, I decided to get a price on the getting rack done they said $750 (i assume over priced like most dealers)..
They also told me that if i did bring the car in and get it serviced they would replace the rack for free under warranty..
SO i have delemer, do I take the car in and pay $240 for the service and get the rack done for free or do I just tell them to shove it and get my mechanic to do it down the track.. Mechanic has said on a list of priorities that need to get done to the car the rack is down the list behind the tyres and brakes so it's something that doesnt need to get done straight away..
I'm in two minds on what to do, the reason I went to my mechanic in the first place was he's real close to home and I actually trust him with my car he knows Holdens backwards and really cares about the work he does..

If you're happy to pay your own mechanic $$$$ to do the rack (warranty on parts?), when you can get it done for nothing by a dealer and be covered by a 2yr warranty on the parts - go for it.

Sure, with the dealer you will have to pay $240 for a $170 service (so rack repair will cost YOU a total of $70), but that's alot better than paying $170 for a service elsewhere PLUS $$$ to repair the rack :teach: .

If you do decide to take it to the dealer to get the rack done, make sure you clarify what will and won't be covered under the UCW. Don't want any nasty $ surprises!

SS :)

PS: I'm actually quite amazed that the dealer didn't void your warranty the moment you advised them over the phone that you had already taken the car elsewhere to be serviced!



The othjer thing after paying for my service Im not exactly flush with money..

That just makes the decision easier :D

[vxssgurl]

Well, if you are not fulsh with money, you have pretty much anwered your own question, then, haven't you?

$750 out of your pocket... or $240 ?

Just because it's down on your service guy's list of priorities, doesn't mean that it can - or should - be ignored... those problems you know about but don't do anything about are generally the ones that bite back and nip you on the @rse, just when you don't want them to.

To me, it's probably a false economy to spend $750 just for the sake of Holden not touching it





BUT, you also have to add weight to you (justified) fear that Holden could well f@ck it up - or something else, like drop the car off the hoist, or damage the front clip, or cane the cr@ppers out of it, or one of a number of other Holden workshop issues that have been discussed on this forum over the past 3 months. (I also don't want a Holden tech anywhere near Red anytime soon, so can fully sympathise with your dilemma)

[JT]

$240 is a lot of money for an oil change

[ti0350]

I rang my dealers service centre up and found out a bit of info, If paid my $240 for a service they would replace my rack under warranty with a reconditioned rack.. I also asked them how much would they charge me to do it if wasnt done under waranty and they said $750..
I also did some looking around tonight online and found reconditioned racks for $240.. While we were really happy with the salesman we got the car off, it's the same old story where the service department is totally crap..
I took my car back to them several times to get a problem looked at but they couldnt work out what it was..
After the 3rd time they told me it was the idler pulley which wasnt covered by my warranty and would cost me $180 to get fixed.. When I got my pink slip done last month my mechanic said there was nothing wrong with it..
I also asked them to enable the police mode on my dash and they kept telling me I would loose the DTE setting on my trip computer if they did it although werent absolutely sure..
When i asked them to double check and find out exactly they came 30 min later saying nobody knew.. I knew I would loose the speed alert so I told them to go do it..
Scarey thing is these guys are a Holden service centre yet it appears they dont know anything about the cars they service a big reason why I told them politely to shove their warranty up their asses.. The woman on the phone didnt know what to say when I said why would bring my car back to you if try and rip my off telling me to replace parts that dont need replacing...
I wont name the dealer but they are on the North Shore, since this is the newest car I've ever kowned it's a lesson learned for me..
My rant is over and my car will have the rack done soon and the big bonus is the shonk at the Holden service centre will never touch my car again..

[SEMPER FI]

Mate, stick with your local mechanic and give your holden a bye !!

You will surely be safe that a 18 yr old apprentice won't be working on you car !!

[Sonnymad]

I rang my dealers service centre up and found out a bit of info, If paid my $240 for a service they would replace my rack under warranty with a reconditioned rack.. I also asked them how much would they charge me to do it if wasnt done under waranty and they said $750..
I also did some looking around tonight online and found reconditioned racks for $240.. While we were really happy with the salesman we got the car off, it's the same old story where the service department is totally crap..
I took my car back to them several times to get a problem looked at but they couldnt work out what it was..
After the 3rd time they told me it was the idler pulley which wasnt covered by my warranty and would cost me $180 to get fixed.. When I got my pink slip done last month my mechanic said there was nothing wrong with it..
I also asked them to enable the police mode on my dash and they kept telling me I would loose the DTE setting on my trip computer if they did it although werent absolutely sure..
When i asked them to double check and find out exactly they came 30 min later saying nobody knew.. I knew I would loose the speed alert so I told them to go do it..
Scarey thing is these guys are a Holden service centre yet it appears they dont know anything about the cars they service a big reason why I told them politely to shove their warranty up their asses.. The woman on the phone didnt know what to say when I said why would bring my car back to you if try and rip my off telling me to replace parts that dont need replacing...
I wont name the dealer but they are on the North Shore, since this is the newest car I've ever kowned it's a lesson learned for me..
My rant is over and my car will have the rack done soon and the big bonus is the shonk at the Holden service centre will never touch my car again..

Un fortuantly u were tied into the holden after market warranty crap like many others have,this is the only way holden will get ppl to service their cars at thier dealers,the downside to all this is for $240 they do absoloutly nothing to ur car and on top dont tell you of any repairs the car needs,one of my customers had been going to holden dealer for 3 years to retain his 3 year dealer warranty,after it ran out he came back to us,for us to find it needed $4000 worth of work,wen he returned to them and asked why he was never told of these "old" issues with his car,they told him it was fine when they serviced it and condemmed the repairs as "wear tear" which is not covered,heres the bottom line or wat we do for our customers,everytime a customer with this warranty gets a service,they bring it back to us and we go over it with a fine tooth comb and find everylitte repair and photograph it and off to the dealer to customer goes and wat do you know...they say" ohhh we missed that" and put their tale between their leg and do the rapairs :),i know one guy on this forum who is one of our customers that has basically had his whole car rebuilt becuase we keep finding things wrong :deal: ,hope this helps

regards sonny

[ti0350]

You hit it on the head Sonny, since this is the first car i've ever owned with a warranty I got tied into it, big reason why we decided not to get the car edited.. Now my eyes are opened the gloves are off we were going to get the exhaust done and book in with you for the edit but my wife just got layed off at work. So now instead of being a definate we are back to hoping we can get it done this year sometime...

[Timmay5.7]

another certified used car warranty... like mine... how does it become void?
its coming up due for the big 100k service... and what things can i still get done under warranty? i think i gots the good ol oil consumption issues... (the reason i requested the warranty)

[ssgirl2]

Timmay5.7

another certified used car warranty... like mine... how does it become void?
its coming up due for the big 100k service... and what things can i still get done under warranty? i think i gots the good ol oil consumption issues... (the reason i requested the warranty)

When you purchased your vehicle and warranty, you were given a booklet which outlines what is and isn't covered. This booklet also tells you what actions on your behalf will void your warranty eg: if you take it for servicing elsewhere or have certain mod's done to it. It will also tell you how much $ they will cover up to, ie: engine re-build for a "non-wear n tear" fault...they usually will only pay up to $1,000 (depends on the cover and company) and you have to kick in the rest.

If you believe it's got oil consumption issues, the dealer will carry out a test which basically means they put a certain amount of oil in the engine, fill out a form, you drive the car for XXXX kms, you return to them and they check how much oil is still remaining in the engine and add this figure to the form. If it's within spec, nothing will be done.

At the end of the day, it's totally up to the dealer whether they will play nice or hard ball.

Hope that helps.

SS :)

[SV346]

Id give this a go ti0350 try going to holden and getting the rack for free under warranty and ask if you can fit it yourself because you would like to, but then take it back to your mechanic, dont let holden do it, go with someone you can trust!
Saved dollars, job done right :)

[Mungrel]

I'd be more inclined to let holden do it.
Reason being, you'll most probably need an alignment afterwards, which i believe holden warranty will also pay for :thumbsup:

[holdengirl01]

Not all Holden dealers are crap just a lot of them..... If you decide to go with Holden then just request that a fully fledged tech works on the car and not a apprentice.... they are bound then as you are the owner...

[dysfctn]

I'm in a similar circumstance...

I bought my SS from a Nth Shore dealer around 2 months ago (so I still have 1 month used car warranty) and have the 3-year 'certified used car warranty' as well.

In the past two months I've had my car back at the dealers a number of times. Some things have been me just being fussy (like a rattle in the console - which they fixed), but the big one was a reconditioned diff after owning the car 2 days. One thing to mention is that everytime they've touched it I've had to go back because something wasn't right and they've had to fix it again. Recently they tightened the handbrake - Now I have a "sshh shhh shhh shhh" sound (coming from the rear left wheel) which the guy there said was handbrake related so now I have to go back for that. Same day I had them fix the lumbar support in the drivers seat as it was broken - next day it's broken again and I've gotta go back.

Long story short - I'm making good use of the 3month / 5000km warranty while I still can, but once that's finished I won't be having the Holden dealer service my car. Max they cover is $1000 anyway. Cars are cars and things will go wrong with them, but I'm not prepared to pay the kind of $$$ Holden will charge for regular servicing ($240 for no more than an oil change!!!), especially when I've been far from impressed by them so far.

I haven't been there yet, but I'm planning on taking my car to Marrano's for all my future mods & servicing, as they are so highly recommend on the car forums. That's if they can fit my old VT SS in amongst all the VE TT mods they seem to be doing!!! hahaha