Continuous Fuel Pump Failures in HSV E3 GTS 2011

[whitels1ss]

Sounds like a real nice, cared for car apart from this problem & also sounds like the dealer got it at the right price.

The dealer will most likely get Holden to pay to fix it again & retail it with an extended warranty,

if it plays up again someone might just fit a decent aftermarket pump.

[Wonky]

Problem is given the root cause is still a mystery even a "good" pump like my Harrop ZL1 may fail. Hopefully it has more "give" to cope with whatever is causing the problem but ..........??????

[crackelaktor]

Well I picked up our new VXR today and absolutely love it. It’s obviously not a V8 and was built in Germany but what a great car it is. Lots of people knock the new ZB Commodore but take the badge off it if it really bothers you . It came with 8 years warranty too which was an added bonus.

[Micks]

Looks great enjoy your ride

[crackelaktor]

Looks great enjoy your ride

Thank you will do

[whitels1ss]

Looks very sharp mate!

[XSNRGY]

Has anyone checked voltage / current draw?
Sounds like the pump maybe working its ass off and crapping out due to overuse.

[whitels1ss]

Bit late now OP has traded the car in.

[XSNRGY]

Crap, when did that happen?

[XSNRGY]

Shame you decided to trade it but I don't blame you, I would probably have done the same in your position.

Oops, now I see

[crackelaktor]

Sounds like a real nice, cared for car apart from this problem & also sounds like the dealer got it at the right price.

The dealer will most likely get Holden to pay to fix it again & retail it with an extended warranty,

if it plays up again someone might just fit a decent aftermarket pump.

Well here's an interesting update. I traded in my broken GTS into one of the local Holdens for $28k. They and HSV have the full history of the failing fuel pumps and told me they were going to find and fix the issue, and then send it off to a wholesaler somewhere on Paramatta road. They offered me $28k (around $12k under market), as they also had to replace one of the damaged rims, and do some touch ups, plus the time it would take to find the root cause of the failing fuel pumps, so I was OK with that. (I found out later they didn't fix the rim, just swapped it with the spare in the boot)

Once again, I took the trade in because I didn't want to sell a lemon of a car to someone but needed to get rid of it, so giving it back to Holden for a low price was the only way forward for me.

So what did Holden do.....they fixed the fuel pump and sent the car on another close by Holden car yard in the same local area. Some poor bloke bought it for his wife and paid $40k for it. 2 months after he bought it, he listed it on Carsales, the HSV Buy Swap and Sell site on Facebook, and Gumtree cars for $45k (since dropped it to $44.5k). A mate of mine showed me the posts and I contacted the new owner to let him know the full history of the car and suggested he go back to Holden, asking for a full refund or fair trading. He was pretty shocked and told me he would.

I was pretty unhappy that Holden firstly made $12k on the car without fixing it properly. I could have done the same myself but wouldn't have felt right doing so. Secondly, I thought if I were in this guys position, knowing the history, I would just want my money back and not want to push the problem on to someone else. To be fair, before I contacted the guy, he wasn't told the car was on its 10th fuel pump, he just thought he got unlucky with a second hand car, and had 1 failure as a result (which Holden did under warranty as it was within the first 3 months warranty he was given). The guy was shocked when I told him the history of the car, and was going to confront Holden with it.

I was asked by another member to share the VIN & Build number so here they are:

VIN: 6G1EX5EWXBL537600
BUILD #766
PLATES: BZB62R

If Holden had of told the buyer the history and sold it at a lower price (with full risk acceptance of the buyer), then it wouldn't have mattered. The fact that they just pushed the problem to another dealer, and made $12k on top of what they paid for it, annoys me and I just hope this owner decides to do the right thing and make it Holdens issue, not someone else's.

He's had the car for less than 3 months and just wants it gone. What a shame.....

[Micks]

Thanks for the update, hopefully they do the right thing this time, if not thanks for putting up the details so hopefully any future buyer can do the research first.

[whitels1ss]

I have deleted the post with pictures of members new car because of request in private message to me by member for privacy reasons.

(Pictures showing number plates)

[Xjas]

What did you expect would happen? Sounds like the dealer did exactly what car dealers are know for, make as much money as they could without any regard for their customers.

[whitels1ss]

Well here's an interesting update.
Some poor bloke bought it for his wife and paid $40k for it.
2 months after he bought it,
he listed it on Carsales, the HSV Buy Swap and Sell site on Facebook, and Gumtree cars for $45k
(since dropped it to $44.5k).
A mate of mine showed me the posts and I contacted the new owner to let him know the full history of the car and suggested he go back to Holden, asking for a full refund or fair trading.
He was pretty shocked and told me he would.
To be fair, before I contacted the guy, he wasn't told the car was on its 10th fuel pump,
he just thought he got unlucky with a second hand car, and had 1 failure as a result
(which Holden did under warranty as it was within the first 3 months warranty he was given).

Hey Paul, I don't know why you feel sorry for this "poor bloke"
he paid $40k, had something fixed no cost under warranty, now he is asking $45k for it.

He is allowed to make profit & that's fine but a business is not?


At the end of the day I don't blame the dealer for wanting to make a profit, that's just business.

They are just an independent business with a Holden franchise.

Holden / HSV built the car & all the warranty work is Holden / HSV's responsibility.

All factory warranty work can only be done if authorized by Holden / HSV using the genuine OEM parts which they supply
& they pay the franchised independent dealer to perform any repairs.

Problem is as I see it, Holden / HSV kept replacing the same thing trying to fix the issue, they never refused to fix it,
I am sure they would have checked the car & checked for fault codes each time.

I understand your frustration but it really seems that the only thing wrong with the actual car is a single factory OEM part which seems to be commonly faulty.

As I posted earlier in the thread, if it was mine, I would have just fitted a decent aftermarket fuel pump, (this could be done for about $500)
& been done with it as it just seems that the particular model pump here was an unreliable OEM part.