Holden service or not

[shane100]

Hi, just wondering do you guys actually take your car to Holden for servicing and repairs, Is it worth taking my VZ elsewhere. I'm sure Holden would know all the ins and outs with commodores and do a more efficient job. Do you guys agree or should i look elsewhere to service and repair my VZ.

[davway]

unless there is something specific that only Holden can do and you need it done, i wouldnt bother.

I'm sure Holden would know all the ins and outs with commodores and do a more efficient job
BTW, thats friggen hilarious.
I hope you dont seriously believe that.

[TVR-190]

&squo;Mechanic hoons wasted my Monaro&squo; | The Daily Telegraph

if that aint enough discouragement im sure people below me will help

[MasterOfReality]

Hi, just wondering do you guys actually take your car to Holden for servicing and repairs, Is it worth taking my VZ elsewhere. I'm sure Holden would know all the ins and outs with commodores and do a more efficient job. Do you guys agree or should i look elsewhere to service and repair my VZ.

lol.

Find a decent local independant mechanic, unless you want to pay twice as much for each service at your local Holden dealer.

[anonymousmoose]

I gotta agree, I probably know the least about car mechanics on this forum and even I can tell that Holden doesn't know what they are on about. You should see the tyre PSI they recommended for my car LOL.

Also I've heard many many times from people who work[ed] at holden that most of their staff are apprentices. Not that its bad to hire apprentices, its great, yet I've heard a lot of the ones working on your car will be unsupervised etc.

I got my car serviced by holden and the bill was ridiculous. your better off using the forum to find a mechanic that is recommended in your area and go to them.

Saying all this, it also depends what dealer you go to of course. Some are better then others.

[Cobez]

Use the forums search function. Been covered a hundred times.

[shane100]

ok, so dont go to holden, I have an overheating issue. I took my last car VX to care care in Malaga, WA, they were good. Might go back there. Anyone know any good mechanics in Perth north side where i can take my VZ

[Cobez]

Go to a decent mechanic, independant local mechanics won't rip you off like Holden will. Holden mechanics are 80% apprentices anyway, and are no better than a local mechanic who knows his stuff. Local mechanics will do a thorough job without stooging you if they aren't dodgy, as their business and reputation relies upon their quality of work.

Whereas Holden already make a fair bit of cash ripping off people who don't know any better because they are a bunch of dogs. Only thing i use Holden for are spare parts that are hard to get a hold of via Repco etc, and even then they are expensive. Their spare parts division is a complete last resort for me. I wouldn't let their servicing department wash my wheels. They would probably **** that up too.

[Junny]

haha last time i went in to get my police mode activated. they had to ask like 3 people.

[Grennan]

Hi, just wondering do you guys actually take your car to Holden for servicing and repairs, Is it worth taking my VZ elsewhere. I'm sure Holden would know all the ins and outs with commodores and do a more efficient job. Do you guys agree or should i look elsewhere to service and repair my VZ.

If your car is not getting something fixed under warrenty then go elsewhere, hell I would probally go elsewhere even if it was under warrenty, but its free.

haha last time i went in to get my police mode activated. they had to ask like 3 people.

They were probally asking their supervisors if you were joking.

[Junny]

They were probally asking their supervisors if you were joking.

nah i said. digital speedo first. then i said every other name i could think of. then police mode. then tried to explain to them what it was.

[Drewie]

I have been thinking about the same thing for some time myself, my VX SS only has 55,000km on it and has been dealer serviced from new, I think it depends on the dealer, some are better than others, as for price the dealer I have been going to is no dearer than some of the chains like Ultratune, in fact their hourly rate is exactly the same, haven't really found a local mechanic that I feel confident with, I don't want to be a guinea pig as they learn the ins and outs of my car, I often wonder how a local mechanic can know every little technical bit about all cars from a Commodore to a Peugeot for instance, especially with all the latest electronic wizardry, does the local guy have the necessary equipment, there would be a few things that they would not be familiar with, the few local guys I have inquired at seem to be around $30 an hour cheaper than Holden, but if they take a bit longer to fix something they have not tackled before that $30 would soon evaporate also Holden give a 2 year warranty on labour and parts fitted by them. Hard question to answer, I guess after rambling on I will eventually try and find someone I trust but I would be pretty selective in who I would choose.

[love the general]

local mechanics should have a warranty anyway they have to by law i think. in qld anyway

[SAV_117]

i got my last service at holden and i was quite happy with the price and the service i waited for it hahaha and made sure it didnt dissappear

[alien]

Yea, my car will be due for a major service in 8000km's and i'll be taking it to Holden. However they're going to have a list of what to touch and what NOT to touch! Basically im just going so that i dont have to wait a few days for other places to get the supercharger oil shipped in and make sure the BCM is all up to date. Theres no mechanics around here that have a Tech 2!

[helrzr925]

mate i work at zupps ( i started my apprentiship about 4 weeks ago ) and i can say that they are way over priced. unless it's under warranty DON'T DO IT. what i can't do myself i goto my local mechanic for

but if anyone asks i didn't tell you

[CANYONERO]

the only time my car has been at a holden dealer is when i worked there, and i was working on it ( with a mate that worked there too) apart from that, i know a lot of mechanics so gettin work done is easy . the only time id go to holdens is for warranty work. thats it.

[VXdarkmagic]

I quickly learnt my lesson last year after taking my car to the dealers where i bought my VX, they didn't replace the screws on my headlight casing after replacing a globe (only took it to them for replacing the globe because I couldn't figure out an easy way to do it myself at the time and i was still a noob) and I decided that from then on I would take it to Autobahn or Ultratune for a service because who knows what the holden mechanics in that dealership will leave insecure and unscrewed if they were to service the whole engine...

[f1tzy]

They charge to much. I got a quote for the 105k service for my ute which is just an oil change and the said it was going to be $500. I promptly told them to **** off and i got the service done elsewhere for a lot less

[Cobez]

nah i said. digital speedo first. then i said every other name i could think of. then police mode. then tried to explain to them what it was.

Gold!! Dude, you DO know there is no such thing as "police mode". I really hate repeating myself as much as alot of other people on here do, but the police had NO special tunes or ANYTHING in the old police cars.

NOTHING. The cop cars had the digi dash, FE2 suspension (i THINK), and a couple of minor bits and pieces. NO special tuning or anything.

So they were probably asking around because you were asking about something that doesn't exist lol. Not to mention, even if there WAS a "police mode", Holden wouldn't know anything about it as they wouldn't have done any tuning for the police anyway.

And major fail for walking into a Holden service centre to ask for them to do ANYTHING to your car. They are con men and rip off artists, nothing more and nothing less. Bunch of b grade mechanics IMO. I found a fantastic local mechanic who does AMAZING work on my car at good prices, Holden overcharge to a stupid degree for very basic work.

They will probably jack prices up even more now due to this recession we are facing supposedly and because GM are losing money down negative sales.

[Cobez]

i got my last service at holden and i was quite happy with the price and the service i waited for it hahaha and made sure it didnt dissappear

What did they stiff you for a service? Man, a basic service takes about 25 minutes to do yourself. Drop the oil from the sump, let it drain, do the sump plug back up, unscrew the filter, throw it away, take the new filter, pour a little fresh oil in it and lube the gasket up a tiny bit, and screw the new one on.

Done. Both the sump and the filter are extremely easy to access and service. Filter costs you about $12 for a Ryco one, and the oil (for something decent) will cost you around $50.

Aim for roughly the $70 mark. I'll bet Holden charged you at least $120 - $150.........

[minux]

And major fail for walking into a Holden service centre to ask for them to do ANYTHING to your car. They are con men and rip off artists, nothing more and nothing less. Bunch of b grade mechanics IMO. I found a fantastic local mechanic who does AMAZING work on my car at good prices, Holden overcharge to a stupid degree for very basic work.

Pretty slanderous comment there, I would be careful. I have nothing but prise for my holden dealer, have been helpful with every car i have bought. There was one instance where repairs were not completed with parts I supplied which subsequently cost them 2 new 343mm HSV Rotors(saved me $1200) but this was the mechanics fault who was fired.

Done. Both the sump and the filter are extremely easy to access and service. Filter costs you about $12 for a Ryco one, and the oil (for something decent) will cost you around $50.

Aim for roughly the $70 mark. I'll bet Holden charged you at least $120 - $150.........

Oil, plugs and oil filter for me was $190, i supplied the plugs, oil was $108 which is a whole $9 more than retail, oil filter was $15. The fact i could watch TV and read the paper while it was done and have my service book stamped makes me happy. Who stamps a service book when you do the oil change?

Holden dealers are like any other business, you get your good and your bad. AT the end of the day, you will get more for a car with dealer stamps in a book when going to trade in.

[Cobez]

You bought 2 oil filters? What the **** kind of oil do you use that costs you $108? You don't use that Royal Purple shit do you?

Sorry, but i disagree, only heard a couple of ok reports about them from a couple of people, as opposed to countless reports of shit service, overcharging, dodgy work and so on and so forth.

Just stating facts, i'm not going to lie to someone then hear that they maybe took my advice, went to them and paid through the nose for something that didn't need to be that expensive, got crap service and equally as crap work done on their car. I don't lie to people.

Sure you can pick these things that they may have stiffed you on with your car, and you challenged them and made them replace the rotors with genuine ones, but alot of other people aren't like that and may not pick these things.

I wouldn't trust a Holden dealership to wash my wheels or my car. Not after the news reports on the calibre of some people working for them joyriding cars etc.

[Drewie]

Most of my dealer services have been around the $170 mark, the dealer I use has a large window looking into the workshop so you can see your car on the hoist being worked on, every service even the minor ones they remove the wheels check the brakes and have a good look underneath. There is more to a service than oil and a filter, what about things like rubber rack boots, drive shafts, universals oil leaks, loose fittings etc, the last service I had was a minor in between book services and I asked them to investigate a fuel smell as well as the usual oil and filter etc, I watched the mech work on it and he must have spent 45 minutes removing wheels having a good look over it and spent a lot of time checking the fuel smell, I was thinking this will be around the $200 mark, to my surprise when I got the bill it was $99 the service guy said we have a special on minor services so I put it through as that for you even though the mech had spent 45mins to an hour on the car. So I was pretty happy with that.

[Cobez]

I don't check those things during minor services, i check them once a fortnight. I figure i have more time to look over things alot more carefully and closely than blokes at a Holden Dealership, as they are on somewhat limited time.

But i must say, i do like Holden Spare parts, expensive yes, but just about anything i need, they have in stock and readily available, if they don't have it on THEIR shelf, they order it from another Holden dealership and it's there the same day.

But my mechanic checks everything regulary that i can't check, and he doesn't charge me for it either. He is one of the best mechanics i have PERSONALLY seen. Straight up, no bullshit, will hold my car for me at no charge and won't fix anything until he finds out EXACTLY what is wrong with it. He won't go fixing things and charge me for it only to find out it wasn't even that thing that was ****ed in the first place. Not to mention he is my uncle's good mate and has been sending his car to him for around 17 years now, never had a problem and always gets good service.

Stocky goes to him sometimes too.