Sounds like your transmission is fubar
Unfortunately there are known design weaknesses in the 6L80 transmission that do cause failure
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And I doubt the above mentioned weaknesses are exhaustive.
Depending on build dates, maybe some have been addressed in manufacture of our VF’s but I wouldn’t be holding my breath every design defect was resolved…
IIRC the factory recommended transmission service interval is 150,000kms, or 75,000kms if the vehicle is operated in harsh conditions - city stop start driving is considered harsh. I can’t remember the time duration for the trans service but it’s a km or month type deal whichever comes first and it’s calculated from the day of first registration. (In my view, even the 75,000kms is far too long between good drink of new fluid). Holden does provides a small leeway of 3 months or I think 5,000kms (but that doesn’t change the subsequent service due date/kms…
Why do I mention this, well if you bought the car from a car dealer you may have Australian Consumer Law (ACL) on your side as transmissions are supposed to be durable and long lasting. And the way the law is written, no statutory warranty period is defines as it’s structured around what an average consumer would consider as being reasonable. In my view a reasonable consumer would expect that the transmission should last much longer than 7 years or 180,000kms.
Given that Holden also sold some VF commodores with 3, 5 or 7 year warranties, there is some scope to argue that Holden should cover the full repair costs under their voluntary warranty since it would cover some so why not your ownership, especially as ACL would cover you anyway… In such cases, Holden likes to call such goodwill…
One problem re ACL/Goodwill claim may be that you didn’t service it within Holdens allotted distance or timeframe since the transmission was serviced at 155,000 which may be 5,000kms too late (or late on time basis).. And that would especially be the case if Holden now considers your vehicle was operated in a harsh environment. Interestingly I drive in city stop start traffic and no dealer from any manufacturer has ever informed me that I must service more regularly.
I only mentions such so you can develop counter arguments when/if you discuss an ACL statutory warranty claim with your selling dealer.
Obviously Holden will try and squirm out of any warranty costs (be they ACL stat warranty, factory warranty or good will) so you’ll have to argue and maybe even go to VCAT.
Only you can decide how much chasing warranty is worth to you… but doing a correct and full rebuild to address all defects may be rather costly…
If you bought it privately, ACL doesn’t apply so repair costs will fall on you.
Given the above,
as a first sanity check, it may be worth looking for transmission fluid leaks and checking the current transmission fluid level (which is a PITA to do since these cars don’t have dipsticks).
The following thread talks of transmission fluid changes and how to check correct fluid level..
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Good luck with it and let us know how you go with this issue.
