2010 Wagon Violent gear change when cruising at 100km/h

[Skylarking]

Finally got the reason for the issue from the dealer, needs a new gearbox. When he rang me to tell me, he said that he could get it "fixed" for around $400-500, but it would need to be fixed again in a couple of months (when the car is out of warranty). In order to properly fix it, it's around $1500 for a new gearbox. He then asked what I wanted to do, and obviously I want it fixed properly. He then asked how much I could contribute to the repair cost. I was a bit taken aback by that, and said that I could only possibly do a couple of hundred dollars.

Anyway, my next question is, am I at all liable for any of these costs? I feel like I'm not, but the fact that he asked me to contribute has me wondering..

The law require the vehicle, be it new or used, to be free from defects unless those defects were documented prior to the sale. The format of the defect notification document is defined in law so it can't be verbal which means stull like "but i told you the gearbox was stuffed before you bought it" just doesn't cut it. So if any undocumented (as prescribed) defect occur, then it is for the selling dealer to rectify the problem. The owner has no cost contribution to make, even if they provided an insurance policy type warranty (caus you are not claiming on that)... And rectifying the problem means it must be done to induistry standards and be safe and servicable. So putting a bannana skin in the diff to quiet it down is not acceptable in law...

Dealers and manufacturers have for too long called following ACL a guesture of good will. They often ask for an owner to make some contribution because in their mind it's fair. It's not fair to charge someone money so that they follow the law. If they try that on me i'd firstly politely decline and then if they insist I'd say my contrinution is not to report them to the state consumer group and ACCC because they are attempting to evade prescribed law.

Have another chat to them and request they reevaluate their repair strategy... Also have a chat to your state consumer group for some advice as it can be helpful...

Oh, and industry repair standards are well defined in that replacing an auto transmission for example requires the lines and cooler to be flushed as does the Torque Converter. That's so the **** stuff from the old trans doesn't contaminate and then damage the new trans. As to using a second hand trans, well they've set the ground work now by stating a new gearbox is the solution, a solution they have to pay for

 

[krusing]

Hi all,

Been away from the forums for a while, but can finally come back now that I've got a Commodore again .

I recently purchased a 2010 Wagon from a dealer, and it's been driving fine, however on the weekend was the first time I took it on the expressway.

Cruising along at 100km/h, revs sitting just under 2k, if I gently place my foot on the accelerator to get the car to change down a gear and speed up, I instead get quite a violent gear change and the car aggressively pulls back, before it changes into the correct gear and accelerates like nothing happened.
I don't think the issue is changing down to too low a gear, because the revs don't go up. I seem to recall a bit of a clunking sound when it happens also. It's not like the foot is taken off the accelerator either, because the car actively pulls back, rather than just rolls along, like aggressive engine braking (but as I said, revs don't go up).
I'm still within my 3 month warranty with the dealer, so I think I just need to call him up and see what he can do about it, but does anyone have any ideas what these symptoms might indicate?

Thanks!
Luke

Just out of interest,
Does the Car have a Towbar on it ?
If so, what is it rated at ?

How many K's on the car ?
If its around 220,000 k's ?
6 Speed ?
The transmission is stuffed, and needs to be reconditioned and/or replace,
With the cost from approx $2.5k > $5.5k depends on the worn components, who and where it is repaired.

 

[Denno]

Thanks for the information everyone, and the specifics of the law from Skylarking. At least now I know who to speak to in case things go sideways.

I've definitely lost trust in the dealer, even though he was "honest" and let me know that he could have taken the cheap way out.
I'm almost certainly going to have to take the car straight to an independent transmission place to get it reviewed, so I'll be out of pocket for that.

I definitely wasn't informed of any existing products. The listing on Car Sales had a very nice "Nothing to Spend" and "Serviced". I already noticed that the dealer mis-advertised the car, saying that it had a reverse camera when it only has reverse sensors, something I know he knows, but I let that slide because it wasn't something that the sale was hinging on.

As for the specifics of the car:
Yes has a towbar, no clue what it is rated at
~175k km's
6 speed

Thanks for the comparible price, that's certainly very helpful, and does make me wonder what I'm actually getting.

I think I better give him a call tomorrow and get things cleared up.

Should I also request that the seat belt get fixed, because it doesn't retract as nicely as it probably should. I remember being defected for that way back when I had one of my first commodores, so sounds like that's something he should fix too

Edit: Thanks for the support too everyone, I am feeling a little bit of stress about it, I'm not gonna lie, so it's nice to have a few people responding and giving their thoughts

 

[krusing]

Not sure in SA, but here in VIC, the seat belt must retract when unbuckled, otherwise it’s deemed as faulty, and would be a roadworthy issue.

I had my transmission replace recently, and it wasn’t cheap, but was worth it,
The trans specialist said that 6 speeds don’t last as long in V6’s as they do in the V8’s,
Mine had done 220,000 k’s and he said it has done well as usual.
But he did say, in his words,

“If this was a V6, it wouldn’t have lasted this long”, “as they fail around 170,000 k/m mark”.

 

[HarryHoudini]

I know VE V6's that are well into the 200,000K's with the original 6 speed,depends on how they are driven and the servicing i guess.

 

[Denno]

Thanks Harry, that's encouraging..

I've just rung the dealer and found out that I am getting a used transmission swapped in, roughly around 100k km's on it.

He wasn't happy that I rang, and even less so when I told him that I've been doing some reading (referring to reading up on my rights as a purchaser), sending a pretty snarky SMS afterwards.

Oh well, I'll continue to be polite. I'm sure he didn't mean to sell me a car with a bad transmission, he probably didn't even know it was the case, just accepted it as a trade in and moved on.

 

[Martbar]

Thanks Harry, that's encouraging..

I've just rung the dealer and found out that I am getting a used transmission swapped in, roughly around 100k km's on it.

He wasn't happy that I rang, and even less so when I told him that I've been doing some reading (referring to reading up on my rights as a purchaser), sending a pretty snarky SMS afterwards.

Oh well, I'll continue to be polite. I'm sure he didn't mean to sell me a car with a bad transmission, he probably didn't even know it was the case, just accepted it as a trade in and moved on.

Mate, never feel sorry for used car salesmen. He will be able to source a trans and get it in your car for about $1500. Considering he would have made at least $2-3000 on the car he sold you, he's
still well ahead. He needs rooting for trying it on in the first place.
Sounds like a favourable outcome
well done.

 

[Dayvo]

Car salesmen are your best mate when they want to sell you a car after the deal is done they don't want to know you.
Just out of interest is it a well known car yard or one of the smaller ones. Also ask what sort of warranty you have if any on the replacement trans.

 

[greenacc]

Yes you are just a dollar sign to them. They roll the dice on each car they buy and sell and do minimum checks and servicing to each car so as to increase profit. Some they make more than others. Not your problem, that's what your warranty is for.

 

[Denno]

I'll most certainly be enquiring about the type of warranty I have on the repairs.
Is there anything outlined in the law? I couldn't see anything obvious in the sections that I was looking at, but I wasn't exactly looking for "extra warranty on warranty repairs".

It's only a small car yard, one guy owns and runs it.