I purchased a brand new Hyundai Getz from North Star Motors in Mildura in Nov '06. Being extremely confidant in the people I was dealing with because I had already had dealings with them through my cleaning their showroom each week for them for the past 2 yrs periodically. If there was anyone I could trust to look after me it would be "North Star Motors" yeah right! The first service ... free, 1000 kms. Not engaging in gear properly and motor revving, came back no faults found all in good working order. Second service 7500 kms. I took my car in at 10.30am as per booking time. Went back at 12.30 to pick it up. Just about ready 'Paul White - head mechanic' quoted. I sat in the waiting area they drove it out for me to pick up. Noticed no protection on seats was taken - no plastic covers placed on seat. I went into service area to pay. I asked 'what has actually been done today?' being a mere female? Reply was 'checked all these items here on the invoice' including tyre pressure, windscreen washer bottle etc etc. I thought o.k. and paid $88.00. Happy I drove out that my car was safe and no problems. I continued to drive the car back to work. Didn't notice the bonnet had been left up. Drove it home from work, got home parked car. Then I didn't lock the car and within a short time later the alarm activated and my partner went out and looked and noticed they had left the bonnet up! 3 days later drove to another town, notice car pulling to the left, stopped at service station and checked tyre pressure. 18 pound in left 15 in right, 20 in left back 22 in back right? So what else haven't they done? Went home, husband checked oil, suspicious as has a dark tinge to it, darker than new oil. I rang North Star Motors asking how they can service a car, tell me they checked tyre pressure, changed oil etc etc and looks like nothing has been done and yet I have paid for a service to be done on my brand new car! What if I was a 65 / 70 yr old female driving on an open road and the bonnet flew up? Mistakes happen yes but pure negligence is another matter! What happened to being able to trust your mechanic? I feel I owe it to every consumer whether they buy a new car or a second hand one to tell them my issue because if my car has a problem is it the manufacturer at fault or the mechanic. In regards to my warranty I am getting a log book service done to my vehicle and if something goes wrong with the car they are going to say they have serviced the car properly and yet have they? Why should my partner have to check their work? Are they going to replace parts they are supposed to? Does someone have to lose their life from bonnet not being shut properly? What about everybody else that go to the dealership? What does it cost to get a real service? Can you trust mechanics? For all the aussie battlers out there that work your **** off to buy a car are all the dealerships the same out there. Do they not service the cars? Or is it ok for people with money? How many other people out there does this happen to? And is it by people you think you can trust? Is it just females? Told me to my face, ticked the items in front of me on the invoice yep done this, this and this? Don't lie, don't tell lies ...

Hi, stop complaining about how long it takes to do a clutch in a Patrol. You try doing it; it is a major job as the box is so heavy. Plus they most likely have sent the flywheel away to get machined, so they have to wait for it to get back. Yes it is unusual for the 4.2 clutch to fail that early. The 3.0L clutch is usually the one to fail at those ks.

I am a member of the Patrol forum and I haven't heard of one 4.2L clutch stuffing up at those ks. Once a clutch is out a mechanic can tell if it is driver or mechanical fault, it shows of the clutch plate. It depends on what side the wear is on. So I have had a lot of people that say it's not the way I drive it, it's the car, but you can tell by the clutch plate ... And yes I am a mechanic, was at Nissan as well. And yes I do have an 02 Patrol 3.0L with 140000ks and original clutch, and yes I drive it off road and hard. And the 3.0L's are the one that burn out clutches ...

Hi, if you read your warranty book, you will find that braking systems aren't covered under warranty. If you drive anything European you will find that discs wear out at about the same rate as brake pads. Ever noticed that most euro cars have a lot of brake dust on the wheels. This is because they have a soft compound to enhance the brake pedal feel. It's like tyre with a soft compound, sure they stick like glue to the road, but they wear quickly.

Basically you will have no leg to stand on as brakes are a non warranty item. Not Nissans fault, a lot of cars require discs at around those ks ...

This website allows you to select the make and model of your car and to check whether the vehicle has been recalled at any time. Well worth checking out.

Cheers

http://dynamic.dotars.gov.au/recalls/Select_Category.asp

Back in 2004 I decided to purchase a new BA Falcon Classic. Lovely car apart from a few niggling problems (shudder in the brakes, boot leaks etc) it has been fine. I would have preferred the XR6 but gave in to my kids need for a DVD player which the Classic has as standard.

Anyway 2 and half years down the track I'm looking at upgrading to an XR6 (or 8 if the budget allows). My car is Shockwave in colour and has done 55,000kms and is in immaculate condition. I was looking for an XR6 the same colour (of which there's a few of), with similar kms and age. I came cross a 2005 BF Mk1 XR6 in Shockwave for a retail price of $29k at a Sydney Ford dealership. When the subject of changeover price came up I nearly fell of my chair ... thinking around $10 Grand would be reasonable (as I couldn't justify more than that for the sake of a sports body kit, 17" alloys and a few other minor features) the dealer suggested 15k!.

Now this implies my 2004 Classic is worth only $14,000 after 2 and a half years and paying around $36,000 on the road when new. It goes to show that the resale on BA's is poor at best. Looks like I'll be hanging on to my car for a while.

I have a Jackaroo 2000 3.0 TD. 180 000kms. I recently replaced the oil pressure sensor under the manifold. This solved problems such as: - rough idle - low idle speed - stalling - intermittent loss of power whilst driving - all above would eventually come good once engine fully warmed up. - problem progressed to engine turning over but not starting. replaced sensor and away she went - hope this helps note: this sensor is a common problem. It has been replaced before.

One week before Easter 07 my 4.2 turbo GU Patrol went back to Werribee Nissan because the clutch had a slight shudder. This vehicle has only done 44800 km. They removed the gear box to find the clutch was completely burnt out stating it was driver abuse and it would cost me $1410.00 to replace.

After repair was done the gearbox had a bad rattle in neutral so I returned the car to them and they said it could be a bearing in the g/box. By this time the vehicle had 45600 km. They removed the g/box again only to find the pressure plate had failed. Their answer to this was faulty goods this one is free. On inspection of faulty pressure plate the thrust bearing was only touching three quarters of the fingers on plate, still they refuse to warranty the first clutch.

I contacted Val Davis from Nissan Australia on 03 97974111 to ask if this was a problem with these vehicles. Her reply was no, never. When I told her about your case she said what you read on these pages is usually all lies so don't give up hope ring her and complain. And my occupation self employed owner driver with 23 years experience. You don't do these things for fun it is too expensive. And yes my ute is still sitting on the hoist at Nissan. It takes them a week & a half to do the job.

I booked in my Jackaroo to have the clutch replaced, Clutch fitted PBR. They machined the flywheel and put the new clutch in ... now they can't get it into gear ... any gear. They checked the slave and the master cyl and replaced some seals, still no gears. Is there any info that you could let me know. That they may have overlooked?

i.e.

Very interesting - I purchased a 2002 Astra CD brand new.

Being a bit of a DIY mechanic (nuttin' too big), I decided to change the oil in the transmission because I didn't like the 'poopy' and 'notchy' feel of the gear shifts. To my amazement I found out that there is no service schedule for trannie oil changes - it's there for life! The only way was to drop the bottom trannie plate (let the oil out, fit a new gasket and refit the plate) which I did.

The trannie oil amount stated in the manual is 1.8 litres, so I measure the old amount that dropped out and again to my amazement there was only 0.8 litres there! Does that mean that GM when building Astra's saves 1 litre per car (it would add up - just think that if they build 300,000 Astra's, that's 300,000 litres of trannie oil they save.) A big worry.

I filled the trannie up again using a small inlet (by removing a plug and put the proper 1.8 litres in) I used a very expensive oil - REDLINE MT-90. Since then the gearshifts are smooth; quite and a fast improvement from stock.

Nissan have a major problem with discs worn so bad after 30k to 40k that they are illegal to drive with and possibly void insurance. Problem is so bad that no stocks of new discs available in Oz for two weeks. Nissan refuse to cover under warranty and say it is new braking system and is general to all Pathfinders. Complaint - not advised when making purchase of extra expense every 30 to 50k. Comments of other new Pathfinder owners that are affected are invited as I believe they want us to pay long term for their disaster. I won't wear it. Regards

Your vehicle has done 300,000kms, and you're complaining of a faulty part, how long do you expect a high volume high pressure diesel pump to last? If you want my honest opinion the pump (and motor) has done their job. You don't have to take it back to Nissan, pretty much any workshop could do the job, and yes I happen to own one of those workshops. As for the price, that's what they cost! We don't get them off the tree out the back.

RE: A FEW COMMON PROBLEMS CAN BE SOLVED IF YOU TELL THE MECHANIC WHAT TO DO

Honest mechanic - if you find one let me know who it is and I'll be glad to use him/her thanks.

In January we decided to take our Nissan X Trail 1 year after purchasing from Nissan as a Demo on the beach for light 4wd. On return the next day we arranged for it to be cleaned professionally. Now 3 months later after taking our vehicle to our preferred mechanic (definitely Not a Nissan Dealer due to past experience) was told there was a problem with the clutch and to take it unfortunately to Nissan as it is a Warranty Job.

Nissan advised that it was either a Lub problem in the gear box or a clutch problem and only the clutch is covered under warranty. After speaking to two machanics I was advised that even the Lub issue should be covered as it is not a part that could be serviced. After contacting head office they agreed to pay for labour to find out the problem. Today I was advised that there is sand in my gear box which I was advised was due to driving in the water which our vehicle was definitely not driven in. The last thing I would do.

Two independent mechanics have advised that this should not occur and is a manufacturer warranty. Did my own investigating and contacted a dealer and pretended I was purchasing a X Trail and asked can it be used off road which they promoted extremely and no way at all should sand ever get in the gear box as this is why you pay more money.

I would like to know your opinion on this issue as I have now been quoted it will cost about $2500 and they have now decided to not cover the labour which does not surprise me as we have experienced the below issues.

1. When purchasing the vehicle we were advised of a $1000 fuel car. After 2months had not received and we were advised as it is a demo we now don't get one. The person who sold us the car would not take our calls nor did he care. After taking it further higher than the dealership I received the fuel car.

2. After the first service after giving the dealership a second chance I drop my car off at 7:30am caught the Nissan bus home. Received a phone call to advise they are 1/2 hour behind and the bus would still pick me up at the same time but would have to wait 1/2 hour. After I arrived my car was out the front so I thought it maybe finished when I asked they advised that they would process me shortly. Waiting 45min still no one had advised car was ready so I looked outside and they drove it off to start servicing. When I complained they told me they are busy and just wait. It was ready 1 hour after.

3. The dealer contacted us for another chance - when we did (dumb on my behalf) give them another go - this time the wheel alignment was not done. So we returned the car when they advised and as they use a tyre company they forgot to book; and we then had to on a Saturday return the car ourself to the tyre company to complete. After all that they forgot to even sign the log book.

After all the bad service I no longer use Nissan; only now due to warranty which I have been advised is not covered and they stamped the log book as well from nearly 6 mths ago when Nissan didn't. I now find out both Nissan dealerships - the one we used in the past and present are owned by the same person. I would rather get my friends 18mth old child to service my car before I would even take it to Nissan mechanic. The car is great but the service is ****.

Had this car, my second Outback, since new. 200,000k's coming up. Never missed a beat. Only beef is that it lets water in tailgate & dust in reversing lamp area. Has only needed service & normal wear & tear items. However I always performed my own interim oil & filter changes between normal services from the same accredited dealer. The car is still tight & quiet. Trying to make up my mind whether to do the grey nomad thing before or after getting another one.

I too have been having issues with my gear change. I've had it looked at and they thought they had fixed it but not the case. I was told that the Barina model has had similar issues but he hadn't heard of any Astra's with this. Mind you the Holden service place I was at only drive the auto Astra so I don't know if they'd be much help on mine! Have you had it looked at since?

Has anyone had problems with Renault RX4 differential or transfer box

Hi, I have a similar problem with a BF Wagon on straight gas. This 6 month old vehicle cuts out at high and low speed and Sunshine Ford in Ashmore are not the people you should deal with. They don't want your problems. Ring tech hotline, register your complaint and ask for another new car as I have and to date had no luck. At some point the vehicles malfunction will cause a major accident and it may be one of us unfortunately that it will happen to.

I feel safer walking on the freeway than driving in a Ford. Good luck and safe motoring

Dear Friends, I just bought a used Kia Carnival in April 2006. It looks good, well serviced, and low mileage. It lost power and was not performing well. I took it to a professional Kia service centre for check-up and I was told that it needed a completely new engine. A couple of professional mechanics that I have consulted told me that my engine problem was a manufacturing /design fault and it was not a normal wear & tear problem. I have written to my insurance company and they told me to contact Kia. I will be contacting Kia this week basically asking them to replace my engine. I will also place a complaint with the Ombudsman (Consumer affairs). I know that consumer affairs may not act quickly because engine problem is not really a safety issue such as airbags, brakes, or wheels. Consumer affairs may act quickly when it is a safety issue. Therefore, if I do not get a favourable response from Kia then I will pursue the matter in Court. If any of you (Kia Carnival Owners) interested in pursuing the matter in Court then please contact me. We may sue Kia together. My details are: Alex Goiye, Essendon Victoria, Phone: 0409851548 (mobile)

I own a 2001 Nissan Patrol 3.0 litre turbo diesel which has done a lot of kames around 300,000kms. My car is always serviced every 5000kms, and doesn't go 4wding at all. One morning I went to start my car and it just wouldn't kick over, turning but not fuel coming through. My mate who is a diesel mechanic informed me that it looks like the injector pump is gone, and being my mate attempted to do it himself. But typical you need special Nissan tools to get it off, and Nissan will not lend them out (Surprise Surprise). I am looking at around $2000 for a reconditioned pump, and over $3000 for a new one. Plus the labour of around $1500 cause you have to take the whole engine apart to get all the timing right again. I do understand that my car has done a lot of kames, but the price of the pump and the fact that you need the special tools is just a joke! Not Happy about Nissan Patrols now.

I own a TJ had the same problem. Your battery is stuffed. When you change the battery put an independent power supply thru your cigarette lighter 9 volt from auto shops so you don't have to reset your ecu and radio.

My car has a knocking noise somewhere in the steering column also. I have been to 4 different mechanics so far with a number of diagnosis. Next week it goes in for and hit and hope repair mission on insistence from the family. Keep you posted.

I bought a brand new VE Commodore SV6, what a nightmare! In the first 40km the console panels fell off on both sides, constant rattling in the dash and the centre speaker blew that was before I got home! Upon getting home my handbrake was failing to hold by itself (I was opening the gate). The next day I took it back to resolve the problems which most were apart from the rattling.

So far I have had engine mounts replaced, left handstrut replaced, right rear shock replaced, the dash pulled apart wires checked for vibrations, my dash is now permanently uneven! And the rattle remains, the whole handbrake mechanism replaced, during this time the mechanics have marked interior door trim the car now has 9000km on it and still rattles. The Holden dealership say they are waiting for their rep. to come around they will call me (yeah right). It also took 1 day to replace rear seatbelts (product recall).

In three months of owning the lemon it has been in the Holden garage for at least 14 full days. This has been a shattering experience as I have owned brand new Nissan, Mitsubishis, Mazda; all have been faultless during the 0km-100,000km I owned them. If you are still mad enough to buy one billion dollar blunder, the only pros are good power and handling (shame it rattles). I doubt I would ever buy another Holden in my life, and definitely not recommend anyone to purchase one.

RE: DANGER TO LIFE THROUGH NON TRADES & UNLICENSED INCOMPETENCY

I have had dealings with Mr. Paul Tall for the last 6 years. I found this posting by accident and just can not believe that we are talking about the same person. I can shout nothing but praise for the workmanship, the professionalism of Mr Tall. He has always responded to all calls, has provided information that has proved to be correct in the servicing and maintenance of my caravan. Has gone out of his way including delivering to me and fitting equipment out of work hours. In fact I would say his professionalism is beyond reproach and I would thoroughly recommend his workshop for all caravan related repairs and servicing.

Davis, you are one of the only ones on here that speaks any sense, the only problem I can see with the original post is why leave it until the day before you are planning to leave to get your car checked. The dealer is doing the right thing by the law. 'When I asked them if they would be better off sourcing the part from a wrecker they said they wouldn't even consider it as it is a safety issue and then they had the cheek to say that they were investigating whether they could make a line themselves. So to me it sounds like they would rather dodgy the part up rather than get a perfectly good one from a wrecker. Safety issue my ****. Again, Nissan in Melville are telling me this.' And also I wouldn't ever fit a customer supplied second hand brake line no matter what you get them to sign, the onus is on you as the installer to know whether that line is safe or not..(Impossible to tell) but when push comes to shove that's how a judge will see it when that line breaks and you kill someone. Full points to Nissan Melville for trying to save Chris Youngs or an innocent bystanders life.