Servicing with Holden dealer or reputable local mechanic.

[monstar]

Yeah that personal attention is important, is why I like to service the car myself or locally with mates either in the trade, in motorsports, or blokes who wished they were.
Bottom line is that Holden techs are the experts, with up-to-minute training and technical expertise. Apart from dropping oil, visual inspections, spinning the filter and plugs, I think it is prudent to pay the higher price of Holden service to secure the power of knowledge on major services (and touch base / take advantage of factory recalls / software updates / tricks and troubleshooting).

 

[Sean880]

Hey guys just a quick question on people's thought's. Once your VF has got 70k kms on it, is everyone still taking there car to the local Holden dealer to be serviced ( i reckon they use cheap ass oils etc) or can you take to you local mechanic who you know will do a much better job or will this void warranty etc?.
Does anyone have any experience with this ?

If you are concerned Holden dealer service will not use the correct oil in your car then supply your own and tell them to use it when you check the car in. I don't trust them so I always supply the correct oil and they do what I ask. If you are using capped price servicing they most likely won't give you a discount though on the cap price.

The post above by BlackVXGTS proves again that you still cannot trust some dealers to use the correct oil even though your engine warranty is strictly subject to the GM spec Dexos 1 oil being used.

If you are using an independent, supply them the correct engine oil also and the correct oil filter. You cannot rely on them using the correct product. They have dozens of different makes and models of vehicles going through their business each month and they sure don't stock all the different types and grades of oils these different vehicles will require.

 

[MOIRAE]

One thing missing at most dealerships, unless you are quite lucky I guess, is trust.
With the last few holden's I have owned I have gone through my own mechanic. I trust him. Trust him to do the right thing with the car, trust him to not wash it with a brillo pad, trust him to use legit parts, or GIVE me the option.
I also trust him to not bulltish me with any issues and also give options moving forward. especially with older cars. For example, brakes are probably good for another 5k kms or so... or do you want me to change them now...? Etc etc. A good mechanic is as valuable as a good GP in this day and age. The problem with mine is that he is too far from home and also exceptionally popular. Mainly because he does the right things and is really well referenced. Personally I would have referred at least ten people to him and they would have probably done the same.

All that said, I will be taking the VF to holden for at least the next 50000kms...Hire car... etc etc.. But as posted above, I will be very clear with what I require.

 

[Flo Rider]

I think the value from the dealerships is getting better, for instance Holden recently offered cheaper map updates if you booked in a service. I still prefer a good local mechanic.

 

[theott]

If you are concerned Holden dealer service will not use the correct oil in your car then supply your own and tell them to use it when you check the car in. I don't trust them so I always supply the correct oil and they do what I ask. If you are using capped price servicing they most likely won't give you a discount though on the cap price.

The post above by BlackVXGTS proves again that you still cannot trust some dealers to use the correct oil even though your engine warranty is strictly subject to the GM spec Dexos 1 oil being used.

If you are using an independent, supply them the correct engine oil also and the correct oil filter. You cannot rely on them using the correct product. They have dozens of different makes and models of vehicles going through their business each month and they sure don't stock all the different types and grades of oils these different vehicles will require.

I don't agree with your last paragraph. I run a busy inner city workshop in Brisbane. We have a pretty varied range of cars coming thru the door. Every vehicle is checked on a database and the correct oil only is used. We have shelving with about 20 different 20 l containers meeting different specs.

I am quite anti dealerships and capped price servicing. Obviously people will thi nk I am not objective in my role but I did my trade in a dealership so have been from both sides. We have a company we service with about 30 hiluxs. A few times they have been to dealerships if out on the job. The come back to us as soon as they are homes as they have so many bad experiences. One case a 40k service done "capped price" on the hilux. This service gets quite a bit. When we looked at it a week later only oil and filter had been done. Air,cabin and driveline oils not touched, and filthy. To top it the brake pads were cactus and not noticed at all. This is what bought it in to us.

When I did my trade there were 3 techs to 3 mechanics in each team. The numbers are certainly not that anymore and I worry apprentices getting rushed thru their time as they are cheap.

I say give your local a guy. You might be surprised the knowledge and passion he puts in to every car.

To give a range of cars we work on today we had a 89 corolla 2 weeks ago we had a 900k rolls Royce and before that a full rust removal(suspension) on a lotus. So it shows the little guys are more than capable

 

[Forg]

Capped price servicing? I expected that would mean I'd be paying more than the dealer, when I got the guy I actually trust to service the car instead. Seems it doesn't.

 

[theott]

Capped price servicing? I expected that would mean I'd be paying more than the dealer, when I got the guy I actually trust to service the car instead. Seems it doesn't.

Does not always. We will match it if requested. (No choice if it's a fleet car. They will simply not approve the job!!) It actually really hurts us to do so but in this day and age we have to.
The dealerships want us gone. What happens once we have all disappeared because the dealerships are being subsidized by the factory. Suddenly no competition and the capped prices disappear and dealer prices rise.

 

[ITOONS]

If you know of a reputable mechanic that you can trust, always use them. I can tell you from personal experince there is no guarantee that Holden dealership will service your car well. They may even have less knowledge of your car than you, particularly if its a dealership that shares their showroom with other car dealers (Hyundai, Mazda, Suzuki, etc.) because your car may - and probably will - get shafted to a first year apprentice who doesn't have any specific knowledge of Holden and their full range of vehicles.

 

[Martyr]

Just had 90,000 service done on a VFII SS yesterday. Came in at an eye watering $1134;

$356 for the service (I thought it was capped at $299?)
$234 for parts related to the service (oil, o ring, oil filter, intake element, cleaner, brake fluid, 'workshop supplies')
$88 checked wheel alignment of front and back and adjusted the front
$148 throttle body service
$158 fuel line carbon flush
$150 replace radiator coolant
I politely declined the offer to replace front wipers at $140.80

Not sure if the last three were required... who am I to argue.
The two things I wanted fixed under warranty (and the reason I got a service there in the first place) had to be rebooked because the parts aren't in stock... so yeah people don't go to dealers because they're absolute ripoffs.

 

[zero_tolerance]

Just had 90,000 service done on a VFII SS yesterday. Came in at an eye watering $1134;

$356 for the service (I thought it was capped at $299?)
$234 for parts related to the service (oil, o ring, oil filter, intake element, cleaner, brake fluid, 'workshop supplies')
$88 checked wheel alignment of front and back and adjusted the front
$148 throttle body service
$158 fuel line carbon flush
$150 replace radiator coolant
I politely declined the offer to replace front wipers at $140.80

Not sure if the last three were required... who am I to argue.
The two things I wanted fixed under warranty (and the reason I got a service there in the first place) had to be rebooked because the parts aren't in stock... so yeah people don't go to dealers because they're absolute ripoffs.

Something doesn't add up here. The $234 for parts/workshop supplies is meant to be included in the capped price, surely?