SUBJECT: HOLDEN CREWMAN - I expected a lot more that I have received - the biggest piece of junk I have ever bought

• "After finally having had a gutful of my lousy crewman I decided to do a Google search and see if I was (as Holden customer service told me), the only one having problems with the car. I found Complaints Corner and some other unhappy crewman owners so I thought I would vent my anger and frustration. It’s hard to know where to begin so I might as well just do it in chronological order.
• I purchased the car in July 2004. After about 2 days the finger eyelets on the tonneau cover simultaneously broke. I then drove it from Adelaide over to Eyre Peninsula and back with no dramas except discovering that the thing gets bogged at the mere sight of sand. Had the 1000km service, a new tonneau cover and then drove it for a while round the suburbs and headed up to Ayers rock during the October school holidays. It was on this trip that I discovered the cars love of sucking in dust. We drove from Marla to Oodnadatta on a dirt road for 200km then from Oodnadatta to Cooper Pedy for about another 200km. The tray just filled up with dust, the cabin filled up with dust (with the windows up) and even the rear tail lights filled up with dust. I looked in the tray and realized that there are 4 drainage holes but only 2 had rubber grommets in them so I assumed the dust came in the open ones. We also noticed that the rear seatbelts were loose and would not rewind after use as was the drivers seat belt. The tonneau eyelets broke again.
• Soon after we headed down Yorke Peninsula to go camping for a weekend, when we arrived at the property I got bogged in sand. I was using the jack to lift up the car to get it out and the jack completely seized up and was unusable. We planned to head west at Christmas so I had the 15,000km service at around 11,000km as I knew we would be on the road when it became due and told them that the jack was stuffed and mentioned the dust. They said they would check the tailgate to make sure it was sealing properly and said that they would order some grommets for the 2 holes. In the meantime I stuck two champagne corks in the other two holes in the tray with some liquid nails.
• When I picked the car up I was told that they fixed the jack and that the grommets were on order. They also told me that to eliminate the dust problem I had to have the a/c on “recycle” when driving along a dirt road in order to “create a vacuum” that would suck the doors in and seal them better. At the time I though this was perhaps the most outlandish solution to a problem i had ever heard of and I had visions of me driving along a dirt road in the middle of winter with the a/c on recycle- but gave them the benefit of the doubt anyway. I also noticed after the service that they hadn’t checked or tensioned all the seatbelts (which they said they would do in a letter they sent explaining the 15,000km service), as they were still loose and unwound.
• We left Adelaide mid December on a 6 week trip to Western Australia. Soon after leaving both rear windows refused to work, fortunately they were in the up position but nevertheless we were unable to have them down at all for the entire trip. We avoided dirt roads on our trip but I did manage to get bogged again in sand up near Exmouth and when I got the (recently repaired) jack out it wouldn’t budge an inch. Luckily I was pulled out by a passing 4x4 and I also had a hydraulic jack back at the campsite which I had brought along for the camper trailer tires. Needless to say it was in the car from then on.
• Upon our return to Adelaide I took the car in so they could fix the windows. The car had also developed a persistent, high pitched squeak that came from the centre of the under carriage when ever the car hit any uneven road surface. The two plastic triangular pieces that sit between the front and rear windows were also broken and just rattling up and down. I also pointed out the seatbelts, the jack, the dust in the tail lights and the grommets (which they still didn’t have). When I picked the car up they said that dust was the cause of the window and seatbelt problem as well as the squeaking – what a surprise. They replace the seatbelts, tail lights and window switches. They said that they had to order the jack, the grommets and the plastic bits for between the windows. The car still
  squeaks constantly.

COMPLAINTS CORNER

• About 6 weeks later the car developed a loud whirring noise similar to that of a shot wheel bearing. Once again I took it in where they discovered that after about 23000km the diff was shot. Soon after they replaced the diff I headed up to Ayers rock again with some friends from the states who were visiting us - pretty much a duplication of the previous trip up there. We were on the Oodnadatta track between Oodnadatta and Williams’s creek when the passenger in the back lowered the window to take a picture (yes we were driving with the windows up and the a/c on recycle) and the window broke again and was down. Needless to say, 300km and a few road trains going past later the car was full of dust and so were we. The tray was also really full of dust, a couple of mm thick at least.
• Now I was really pissed off. I was embarrassed because my guests were uncomfortable and that the same problems were repeating themselves again and again. The seatbelts were already slack again, the tail lights were full of dust again, the window was broken again and the tray (and all of our belongings) was full of dust. Upon my return to Adelaide I stopped off at the dealer before I got home to show him just how much dust there was as well as the other problems. He asked me if I had my a/c on recycle, I told him that was kind of a moot point since the window was broken, he laughed. After picking the car up from a service and to have the window fixed (at which time the car was not even washed and cleaned), still no new jack, plastic bits or grommets, I noticed that there was a lot of dust gathered at the rear seatbelt outlets at the top of the back seat near where the head rests are. I lifted the back seat up and to my shock found a bolt missing that secures the seatbelt to the car and subsequently a hole that you can see through to the road. Surely this is a major safety issue? I had driven 36000km in a car with an insecure rear seatbelt, endangering my children and anyone else who has used that rear seat.
• When I called the dealership they told me to call Holden customer service as there was nothing they could do beyond replacing things. Well, if this wasn’t a marathon and a half. It was a series of phone conversations that spanned a month with a person who by the sounds of it had never seen a crewman let alone driven one - and in the end it appears it’s my entire fault as I was told I had put the car under duress i.e. driving it on a dirt road. I was once again told that I needed to have the a/c on, and I once again said that it doesn’t really make a difference when the window is down and broken and that there is a hole under the back seat that let air and dust in. I was told that the tonneau cover is only there to keep rain out, not dust. And I was told that no car is dust proof.
• Since then (April/may) I haven’t taken the car out of the city. I plan to get it serviced when it’s due in about 2000km. When I take it in they will also have to: Replace the tail lights (again); Give me a new jack; Replace the rear seatbelts (again); Install the 2 rubber grommets that were missing when I purchased the vehicle in July 04; Replace the rear window that was stuck down when it was broken and now the glass has been permanently etched because of the dust abrasion; Replace the decorative plastic bits between the front and rear doors (that have been on order since march); Repair the glove box that just fell out recently (broken plastic hinge); Replace a piece of plastic that fell out of the front bumper; Replace the missing seatbelt bolt Replace the tonneau cover (again). Fix the annoying squeak.
• After this is done I am going to have it detailed and I will flog it for whatever I can get because this is honestly the biggest piece of junk I have ever bought in my life and that’s including some internet stocks I bought in the late 90’s. I guess I am more disappointed with Holden’s attitude than the car itself. The car is not a bad ride, fuel economy is reasonable and I am satisfied with the handling and performance. What I don’t like is being lied to, talked down to and blamed for the cars inadequacies. The other thing that really peeves me is that they continue to advertise it on TV going over mountains, across terrain with not a road (dirt or
  sealed) in sight and everybody is sitting inside as comfortable as if they were in their living room – which is just a straight out lie to the general public. They are basically insulting me by telling me on the phone that the car can’t/ isn’t meant to handle a dirt road yet that is how they market it. It is classified as “light commercial vehicle”. Also, no follow up service from the dealership, especially since they told me to call customer service.
• I paid $40,000 cash for this car and they were very happy to sell it too me and take my money. But now when I want action and answers no one can be found. I expected a lot more that I have received. Ill take back my old HG Belmont Ute any day – now that was a real car." J Farnham
  
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