SUBJECT:
FORD BA - Extremely frustrated
" I'm a tech rep so I do a lot of km's but the
car I've had the most problem is my ford BA. The first major problem
and of great safety concern to myself was the brakes. Under heavy
braking the steering wheel shutters violently out of my hands. The
service guys (Power Ford Castle Hill where it was purchased) have
fixed it no less than 7 times. They just grind the disc's back but
it reoccurs within 5000kms. After finally replacing all discs it is
now a minor inconvenience but they said it was a common problem with
that model having softer steel in the pads. I hear many others with
the same problem but mine is more advanced because I do a lot of kms.
The latest to happen which is why I'm writing this is the planetary
gears have broken and guess what?...It has just done 105,000km so
it's not covered by warranty (expected costs to be 5000-6000). After
a week of renting a car for $100 a day they just tell me that I have
to wait another 2 WEEKS for a part and I have to continue renting
a car. Keep an eye on this model. I don't want other people to get
caught like me. Another thing I noticed is Ford doesn't have a complains
section on their web page. Too many problem and overloaded their network.
Extremely frustrated, Matt"
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SUBJECT:
HOLDEN - Astra Gearbox Extraordinary Price
" I would like to air my grievance with a car
repair I am undertaking, and have it published as an appropriate warning
to others with the same vehicle. My vehicle is a 1999 TS Astra with
120,000 kms. It's been very well cared for and serviced regularly.
The manual gearbox started to become notchy and finally failed whilst
changing gears in slow moving traffic. Upon having it towed to the
nearest Holden dealership ( they wouldn't even arrange the tow for
me) I was quoted $7500 for a new gearbox (without labour), $5500 for
a rebuild with new parts, or $3000 for a 2nd hand gearbox fitted with
only 6 month warranty and with 50,000 kms on it. A brand new Astra
Classic is now worth $18000 with all onroad costs.
I cannot understand how one part can almost total
half the cars brand new retail value. It's been a good car apart from
having to have the timing belt changed every 30,000kms due to a manufacturing
problem at $600 a pop. Given the expense of parts and repairing this
vehicle I would certainly not
recommend it to anyone." David Locke
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SUBJECT:
MAZDA 626 - air conditioner problem
"I own a 1995 Mazda 626 V6 Hatch. I purchased
the car new, and I've never been happy with the air conditioner. The
unit must be operated flat-out to gain any comfort, and is simply
inadequate. I complained to my Mazda dealer who checked the problem.
They reported that the air, at the vents, was the correct temperature.
They suggested two reasons for my complaint. Firstly, they suggested
that the colour of the car would be a factor - dark blue/black. Secondly,
they pointed to the amount of glass (front windscreen and rear hatch)
and suggested that would cause the car's interior to heat up quickly.
However, they claim the air conditioner is working correctly. I really
like the car, but this problem is very annoying. I would really like
to know if it is possible to upgrade the airconditioning. Is it possible
to fit a larger compressor or condenser, and will this fix my problem
? Are there any other suggestions about how I can better cool the
interior of the car ?" Geoff Jonas
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SUBJECT:
DAEWOO - Daewoo Nubira Service takes a Dive since GM Takeover
"I bought my Daewoo Nubira in 2001 at a time
when they were offering Freecare and also a special offer of an extra
year on the warrantee. Everything was going swimmingly until General
Motors bought Daewoo and our servicing was then transferred over to
Holden. It seems that having to honour the servicing agreement has
been a bit of a albatross around Holden's neck because there has been
a terrible decline in the level and quality of care taken in servicing
since this happened. I have been presenting the car for servicing
at the recommended times but recently was put in a dangerous situation
because of an act of pure negligence on part of not one but two Daewoo
approved servicing agents. At the last service the paperwork states
that the brakepads were 80% worn, yet they failed to mention that
the brakes would need changing before the next service. A couple of
months later, before the next service was due, I took the car to get
a pink slip and to have the tyres and brakes checked and a wheel alignment.
They told me everything was fine, passed the car for rego and told
me I could hold off on the brakes and tyres for a while longer.
Recently I was driving the car in the rain down Old
Bathurst Rd, down the Blue Mountains escarpment. I drive up and down
this road several times a week, and those who know it will also know
it is notorious for accidents as it is easy to loose traction on the
hairpin bends in the wet. At that point, my brakes went metal to metal
and it was a rather frightening trip down the plains. I also had my
two young children in the car. Anyway, despite my efforts and protestations,
nobody wants to take responsibility, least of all General Motors Holden
and I had to pay out over $600 in repair cost for something which
should never have happened. On this basis alone I would never buy
a Holden, or use a Holden service, and I am due to upgrade my car
this year. I would be interested in hearing from any other
Daewoo owners who are also having problems with servicing since the
Holden take over*. I must add that apart from this really
bad experience, the Daewoo (not the GM Daewoo but the one made in
Korea before the takeover) has been a fantastic car. It hasn't skipped
a beat since I bought it and has lasted the distance really well.
It still looks great and drives well and it is a great shame they
had to be bought out by Holden because otherwise I would have bought
another one. On the other hand I have owned 3 different Holdens over
the years; a Gemini, a Camira and a Commodore and they were all crap
and always having to be fixed. In fact the Gemini had been garaged
for about 80% of the time and it still rusted to pieces. That's Holden
Quality!" Lenore Butt *to contact
FURTHER COMMENTS: "Regarding the service issue
since Holden took over. Well, I'm out of my Warranty so I do not go
back to the original place where I got mine from as I had a similar
experience just not the Pads but the Break discs needed replacement,
and the Pusharms as well but this was known to be a factory problem
so after long arguing with the dealer we settled on free parts and
I pay for work. However there is one thing which had me put a bit
off track! After only 49,000 km I had a fall out of the camshaft belt
and lost all of my valves ... in the middle of morning traffic - was
not a nice picture... I just tried to check if I can get some payback
from Daewoo's their manual states this should be changed at 90,000
km and not break at 49,000 km as now many of mechanics told me. Apart
from that its a great little car!"
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SUBJECT:
NISSAN X-TRAIL PROBLEM - warranty - Duncan
Nissan
"We have a Nissan X Trail, purchased from Duncan
Nissan on the 15/2/02, 1BAE 173. It was taken into Duncan Nissan in
Vic Park, Perth WA several weeks ago because it was using a lot of
oil with only 96,000km on the clock. The car is still under warranty
and Nissan Australia is supposedly doing something about it. Firstly
a new CAT converter was fitted and then they required us to drive
1000km, road testing at our expense, which we did, using 4 plus litres
of oil. They now tell us that they have taken the head off but see
nothing obviously wrong and have requested further tests. At no time
during the period has anyone rung us with an up to date report. We
have been without a vehicle now for over 3 weeks and have no indication
of how long Nissan are going to prolong the procedure of making this
vehicle roadworthy again. We falsely understood that a Nissan warranty
was something that could be relied upon and in the past our experience
with Nissan Maxims x 3 has been very satisfying but now I am fast
loosing confidence in your organization.
I am sending this email in the hope that the necessary repairs on
this car can be fast tracked, as this is proving to be a very costly
exercise and frustrating, with our patience fast running out. We know
there are other avenues for us to take our complaint, but feel that
we should first make you aware of our dissatisfaction . Yours sincerely
CLIVE ELLIOTT"
SUBJECT:
NISSAN X-TRAIL PROBLEM - warranty
(RE: COMPLAINT FROM CLIVE ELLIOTT - SEE ABOVE)
" I have exactly the same model Nissan
X Trail with exactly the same problem. The problem is excessive engine
oil usage and severe engine internal noise. I too have taken the vehicle
to my local Nissan dealer however in two weeks have not heard from
Nissan at all. Yesterday I visited the dealer to attempt to acertain
what is going on and found the complete engine assembly out of my
vehicle. More surprising was another X Trail was parked beside my
vehicle in the same disassembled condition with exactly the same problem.
From what I can gather from the dealer is that Nissan are quiet on
this one too. Seems to be a pattern emerging. I phoned the Nissan
customer service manager in Melbourne re my warranty last Friday(
28/1/05), she was totally unhelpful and gave me no information whatsoever
despite a lengthy chat. From what the dealer tells me they are having
the same problem. Nissan obviously have a problem but it seems they
are unwilling to admit to it, pity really, because I believe the X
Trail is a good concept. I too have owned Nissans previously and been
pleased with their performance however my confidence is beginning
to wane." Jeff Smith
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SUBJECT:
KIA CARNIVAL PROBLEM - Don't touch!
"Don't touch a Kia Carnival! Ours is 5 years
old with 130000ks and has now appears to have blown its second engine.
The first engine lasted 70000ks and was replaced under warranty. The
replacement engine was supposed to have solved the problems but it
has only lasted 60000ks. We are now looking at a repair bill that
looks like it will be well in excess of $5000. So much for the low
purchase cost! When this is repaired this car will be replaced as
I have had enough. This car has also had front brake discs and pads
replaced at 30000ks. The replacements have not yet needed replacing
(including pads) so it wasn't the style of driving. The handbrake
took nearly 2 years and 50000ks for Kia to get it working, eventually
by replacing the entire assembly. O2 sensors were replaced. I almost
had a service station closed after the seal between the fuel tank
and filler hose failed while refuelling the car and spilled petrol
under the car all over the service station driveway. The car has numerous
squeaks and rattles which no one has been able to fix. When you reach
your 100000k service you will need a second mortgage on your house
to pay for the 3 timing belts on the car which Kia charges $500 -
$600 for and you cannot source anywhere but Kia. Friends refer to
this car as the lemon. If Kia cannot provide an engine that lasts
more than 60000ks they have no business selling cars! I will never
touch another Kia product." S Rashleigh
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SUBJECT:
HONDA ODYSSEY - air conditioner problem
"I have a 6 month old Odyssey in immaculate condition
with not scratches,dents etc. After 5 months the air conditioner ceased
to work. When Honda looked at it they called me to say they could
fix it for $860 as it is not a warranty problem. They said there is
a tiny hole in the condensor tube they may have been hit by some very
small road debri from driving. They said when they fixed it they would
put a protector plate in front of it to stop it happening again. Our
point to Honda has been that they are either manufacturing this part
without making it strong enough or inadequatley protecting it. They
took 9 days of me driving four young children around in 39 degree
heat, to reply to our fax that we sent four times. Their reply was
we can be of no assistance to you in this matter. This is our third
Odyssey in less than 4 years, surely we deserve better service. "
Nicole Holland
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SUBJECT:
NISSAN MAXIMA TI PROBLEM - cracks in the dash
"I purchased my Nissan Maxima TI in late 1999
the manufacture plate states it is October 1999 manufactured vehicle.
This vehicle has done 87,000km since purchase it has been kept when
not being driven in an enclose carport as I have 2 vehicles I use
my other vehicle to save the Maxima I look after my car keeping it
clean and polished and use amoral on the dash so I was surprised to
find that I had a hairline crack in the dash vinyl which I had repaired
approximately 4 weeks ago I now find I have 7 small hairline cracks
in the dash vinyl these cracks are all above the instrument panel
and I don't know who I can contact about this problem to see if I
can get some help. PS The service record for the Maxima is up to date
and has been service regularly."
Barry Speck
*** PROBLEM RESOLVED ***
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SUBJECT:
NISSAN PULSAR PROBLEM - Northside Nissan
"To Nissan Australia and Northside Nissan: I
am sorry to have to write to you but I wish to pass on how dissatisfied
we are with your after Sales service, mainly the Service Section when
getting our car serviced. We purchased our new Nissan Pulsar from
NorthSide Nissan Wangara WA December 2003. My main complaint is the
latest service we had just prior to this Christmas 2004 for our 20000kms
service. We have had extremely poor fuel consumption from day 1 approx
420 out of a full tank. I have reported this every service and this
time they said they could not find anything wrong and would contact
the main dealer in the eastern states. They said they would get back
to me when they heard from them about possible ways of solving the
problem. I am still waiting for there reply!!!!! I purchase a genuine
Nissan spoiler through Nissan and had it fitted by them to when I
purchases the car. We have had trouble with the boot coming down especially
on a windy days and causing injury to my wife’s head on 2 occasions.
Have reported this each service but was told because a spoiler has
been installed it needs, a stronger boot spring was required. This
was never explained when purchasing the vehicle or on installation
of spoiler. No Duty Of Care. On my last service I requested the price
of the so called strong spring and was told they (Northside Nissan)
would call me and let me know. 2 weeks later still waiting. !!!! On
receiving my vehicle back after last service we noticed a large lump
of grease on the floor mat where obviously the seat runners were lubricated.
My wife had to wipe and pick up the of grease off the floor with a
tissue. Also when we received the vehicle back an attempt had been
made to so called detail the vehicle. I realize this is a an extra
service but the attempt was pitiful.While my vehicle was in for service
the service person rang me and asked if I would like the wheels rotated
at a cost of $20. This use to be part of a new vehicle service. I
declined. When I went to pick up the vehicle I was told the wheels
had been rotated anyway (at no cost) because they had the wheels off
( I assume to inspect the brakes). So why was the charge going to
be added in the first place. Another way to make more money off people.
To some up my service history on our new Pulsar, we
are extremely disappointed and annoyed especially of the so called
follow of problems. I have a Toyota Camry from new (5 years old now)
and have had nothing but excellent services, friendliness and follow
sessions with them and I am now considering having my Pulsar serviced
by Toyota. I have already contacted Toyota and are more then happy
to take on my business. Maybe you should send your service adviser
there to see how they conduct the Service section and take a leaf
out of there book. Extremely Disappointed R Harfield
PS. My wife mentioned that she just receive a text message on Friday
to see if we are happy with the service we received. Needless to say
NO we are NOT.. " Bob Harfield, WA
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" .... I am out of pocket over $900 when all
I’d wanted was a $175 service and still without any bolts in
my inlet manifold. As the Holden warranty only covers the first $1000
of any repair it seems fairly obvious that thge Holden warranty is
worth considerably less than the paper it's written on. Safe to say
there is no possibility of my ever doing business with any Holden
dealer again" J Brown, NSW - read
in full
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