dodgy holden dealers and mechanics

[Burnout_bro]

i live in canberra and my mate works at a holden work shop (no names) anyway he tells me stories all the time where people have been ripped off, in one incident he told me a mechanic rubbed brake pads onto concrete so the customer would replace them, another was they quoted a lady 4 hours or something crazy for a waterpump gasket, it just annoys me that even the old holden dealers are doing the dodgy.

[dodgy]

When my other half got her VP (before she met me) she had it serviced at a Holden Dealership and was told that the brakes needed to be replaced. She told them that they were roadworthy as the car just had a roadworthy test done and took the car. On the way home the brakes started failing and when her local mechanic looked at it (that night) the master cylinder was empty. The dealership was in Melbourne

[Troy711]

canberra holden dealers are fuggin idiots. ive had nothing but bad service, poor work and lame excuses. as ive said before, the only reason my car will ever go to a dealer to get work done is if it is warrenty work. other then that ill take it else where.

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

canberra holden dealers are fuggin idiots. ive had nothing but bad service, poor work and lame excuses. as ive said before, the only reason my car will ever go to a dealer to get work done is if it is warrenty work. other then that ill take it else where.

So you are happy to get dodgy work done if it was free? From experience, warranty work is more dodgy than paid work, even though the dealer gets reimbursed from GMH for warranty they get a fixed rate, so they take short cuts.

[vk3800]

My local dealer told me that i need the brake pads change as they only had 4mm left. That was 20,000kms ago and there still on the car.
Price of a service when the car was under used car warranty was double what i'm now paying a differnet mechanic.

[sganro]

Yeah mechanics definately have a reputation for quoting rediculous things and ripping off people who dont know much about cars.
Luckily for me my dad owns his own mechanic business so im pretty confident in getting good work done lol.

[Troy711]

So you are happy to get dodgy work done if it was free? From experience, warranty work is more dodgy than paid work, even though the dealer gets reimbursed from GMH for warranty they get a fixed rate, so they take short cuts.

because i basiclly have no choice and if its not right ill take it back again and again until it is. unfortunatly there is only 2 holden dealers in canberra and both of them suck. i see exactly what you are saying and i agree 100%, but when it comes down to it the options are simple... let idiots do free work on your car to fix problems, or leave it and pay for it later down the track.

[hingo1983]

I won't take my car to a Holden dealer. They are known to charge an arm and a leg. I take my car to Mitchell Service Centre and they always do a good job and will call me and get my approval if they need to replace/fix something that might be costly.

[Joey_21]

trial and error do it urself at least u nour getting it done prop0erly well depnds haha and its free feew troubles though if u dont no much bout cars or u stuff sumthing up but ohwel

[Emackulation]

Note to self: If I ever move to Canberra, don't go to Holden for car work.... What am I talking about, I woudn't go to Holden for car work anywhere lmao.

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

trial and error do it urself at least u nour getting it done prop0erly well depnds haha and its free feew troubles though if u dont no much bout cars or u stuff sumthing up but ohwel

Doing it yourself without a bit of knowledge is definitely not getting it done properly.

And BTW, it hurt my eyes trying to decypher your typing.....

[Torniquet]

wen i was in yr10 i used to do work exp at a holden dealer in syd. the mechannic i was with used to go smoke cones on his lunch brake..enough said =).

I now work in a small workshop and the difference in customer service and the "lil extras" we do while servicing a car is amazing.

the most worrying part though is when a mechannic who did his apprenticeship at a dealer starts working in a smaller workshop, with cars his never touched before. then it gets dangerous lol

[Reaper]

So you are happy to get dodgy work done if it was free? From experience, warranty work is more dodgy than paid work, even though the dealer gets reimbursed from GMH for warranty they get a fixed rate, so they take short cuts.

Have to admit I'm with Troy on that one. It's not fair to generalize but 2 dealers have blown it as far as I am concerned with their "suggested sell". The main culprit is the brake pads which on 2 occasions were less than 1/2 worn and I still got the phone call asking if I wanted a new set.

Further more, when the electric aerial failed on the last car (broken cable) he insisted that I had hit a tree with it which caused it to break. As the only driver of the car I could categorically say that it hadn't hit a tree. I pointed out that if I did, the mast would either be kinked or broken. Anyway, he said he would look into it and after a couple of hours the same guy rang up with the startling news that cable was broken and it hadn't hit anything so it would all be under warranty. I really despise being treated like an idiot and it is even worse when the offender is wrong.

I could go on but overall I find the whole experience very frustrating and difficult compared to the mechanic who I use. They pick the car up and have it back within a few hours. They also try hard to work around my need to have the car off the road as little as possible (I do around 60,000 km a year). Also, what costs around $160 or more is usually around $90 or so from my local mechanic.

I wouldn't go back for warranty either but really there is no choice. My experiences having to bring the car back several times to fix even simple problems does nothing in encouraging me to get my car serviced there.

The problem is there are some very knowledgeable people working behind the scenes (several are on this forum) and they are let down by many of their co-workers.

Reaper

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

Service advisors are paid bonuses based on the service departments turnover. You wouldn't belive the amount of ignorant people out there that just take the advisors word that something needs replacing. With "suggested sell" items, it is the advisor that does that, not the dealership as a whole. Anything extra they can get out of a customer all goes towards their bonus.

Your broken aerial is an example of a process of elimination. They will come up with as many explanations for it to be broken that could be your fault before they will have to wear the cost. Gullible people will just accept a reason if it sounds logical and end up paying for what should be a warranty job.

There are a hundred reasons why dealerships are more expensive than the small workshop, and I think most of you are intelligent enough to know without going through them. I'm not defending dealerships but it is a numbers game, the more cars you have to work on the less time you can spend on each car, things get missed and shortcuts are taken. The independent can't afford to make mistakes and goes that bit extra to ensure repeat business, a dealership relies on numbers not quality. That is why you won't see a dealership in a small centre with a relatively low population.

Then again, for every bad story you hear about dealerships, there are 10 good ones. It is just concentrated here because this is a Commodore forum.

[calais_304]

Then again, for every bad story you hear about dealerships, there are 10 good ones. It is just concentrated here because this is a Commodore forum.

i beileve it the other way around 1 good story to every 10 bad ones, and i don't believe it's concentrated here, it goes will all makes not just holden.

[RockyVX]

abba - you are no doubt somewhat correct again. After all, there are no doubt at least 3 dodgy mechanic stories, even on JC, than there are dodgy Holden dealership stories. The dealership stories just stand out more, because they are all "Holden" branded, and also one would expect such branded workshops to provide a reliable service (Yeah, right!)


After all, you could be talking Kmart auto. Years ago i knew a kid who was in year 11, who was offered, and worked as an "A Grade Mechanic" at the local Kmart auto, despite having absolutely no qualifications. This was admittedly about 10 years or so ago, but as far as i know, he is still working there without any qualifications, and I have to say that the stories that I heared about that shop were far worse than most others in know.

And then we could compare Holden dealerships to used car sales workshops. An old friend of mine used to spend hours blabbering about all the "tricks of the trade". Nothing like green bannanas to quiet a noisy diff.....

[Doctor Bob]

Nothing like green bannanas to quiet a noisy diff.....

its funny ya know ive heard this one since i started in the trade some 30 odd years ago & i have never seen it done nor have i ever drained a diff that smelt like it had anything in it.

[Troy711]

yea, i was always under the impression it was an urban myth, same as pepper to fix a cracked radiator

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

It's egg and pepper that fixes the leak lol, the egg cooks and combined with the pepper it blocks the crack....supposedly. I've never seen bananas in a diff either.

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

Just more on the dodgy dealer subject. I wonder if there was a poll that included all JC members how many satisfied/unsatisfied people there are with Holden service. Our service centre has a pretty good record, but then it's not Holden. It's the same with most things though, you only hear about the bad not the good.

[Sedat]

Do the servicing yourself, you get to learn about the car and you can rely on yourself.

[Reaper]

Do the servicing yourself, you get to learn about the car and you can rely on yourself.

1. It isn't my car
2. I can't be bothered!
3. My time is worth more than the $100 or so involved.

Reaper

[cxcxcxvcvcvc]

Further more, when the electric aerial failed on the last car (broken cable) he insisted that I had hit a tree with it which caused it to break. As the only driver of the car I could categorically say that it hadn't hit a tree. I pointed out that if I did, the mast would either be kinked or broken. Anyway, he said he would look into it and after a couple of hours the same guy rang up with the startling news that cable was broken and it hadn't hit anything so it would all be under warranty. I really despise being treated like an idiot and it is even worse when the offender is wrong.Reaper

see this is what gets me upset!
a mechanic who is wrong and dosent even have the decent respect to apologize when they are wrong!:

[Mr_Slim]

4. i'd probably just fvck it up and make it worse

[Reaper]

see this is what gets me upset!
a mechanic who is wrong and dosent even have the decent respect to apologize when they are wrong!:

I try not to get upset - I just don't go back. The big problem for those businesses is these sorts of experiences drag things down for the guys who are good at their jobs.

Reaper