Do you still use holden dealer for service

[David1]

I took my SSV Redline in for its 175k logbook service.
Something I did notice is that they used Helix HX7 10w30SN+ rather then dexos 5w30.
I wonder if more places are moving to different brand/oil ratings now that Holden has dissapeared, has anyone else noticed this?
In the past I am reasonably sure they used the 5w30 but would need to look up past receipts to confirm.
Is this something I should be concerned about or is any oil close to spec ok as long as regular services are maintained?
I also saw a major jump in service costs now that I have past the cap price services but I guess this was to be expected.

 

[NJD-1992]

Dealers will likely move to whatever gives them the most profit, i.e whatever bulk oil they buy.
Especially as warranty on remaining cars ends.

It's not just dealers, but also many oil manufacturers are now dropping Dexos certifications.

Penrite GF-5 which was Dexos, is now GF-S, which is not. Yet both seem identical. Nulon I believe is dropping it as is Castrol and others. Makes complete sense, zero point paying GM expensive fees for what is effectively a dead brand.

Exception will be US manufacturers, such as Valvoline and perhaps Mobile. Given the exposure they have to the US market, id assume they will hang on to those certifications.

Debating oils is perhaps the greats automative pub talk, but in the end as long as you are using a quality full synthetic 5w-30 from a reputable manufacturer, you should be fine

 

[Fu Manchu]

Not a VF but does support the above comment.
Our previous Hyundai Sant Fe had several oils used.
From factory Hyundai promote Castrol, so delivered had Castrol. Then its first service it had Valvolene used by the dealer. Then it had Fuchs used by a different dealer.

Because all those oils are part of what the dealer gets at the right price and they still meet the manufacturer’s standards, it shows you can safely use what ever is affordable as long as the manufacturers standards are met.

 

[Fu Manchu]

As for using a dealer for a service, I would while the car is under warranty because even if someone else can legally maintain it, when things go pear shaped, it certainly helps to have had the car is the manufacturers hands. I speak from experience.

Once the warranty has expired you are an absolute idiot to have the car maintained by a dealer or franchise. Get an independent family business to do it or do it all yourself.

 

[Forg]

As for using a dealer for a service, I would while the car is under warranty because even if someone else can legally maintain it, when things go pear shaped, it certainly helps to have had the car is the manufacturers hands. I speak from experience.

The flip side of that is the cosmetic damage the dealer will do to your new pride & joy …

 

[David1]

Unfortunately I have not used any other places for a service so it will be trial an error to swap. I do all services on my wife's sv6 but I want to keep the value on the redline hence keep getting services performed by a mechanic so I have receipts if I ever decide to sell. I can understand the dexos not being stocked by most service places but would have thought 5w30 would have been something they would use so weird for them to go for the 10w30 they used for my service.

 

[VZSSHawk]

I refuse to take my Holdens back to the dealer I bought them from, I had issues with my VZ SS, took it there, numerous times & they couldn’t find the fix, after 7 visits with the VZ I took to a small well known mechanic & he had it fixed that day.

Also had issues with my VF SSV Redline II, took to Holden, they said there were no issues, I said there clearly were & showed them photos of what the issue was & when the dash showed me codes & what not, they said well it’s not doing it now, took it back there a number of times, in the end they wanted me to sign off on the issue being fixed & 3 years later I still refuse to, because the issue isn’t fixed, took it to the same local mechanic & had of fixed within a couple days.

 

[Fu Manchu]

The flip side of that is the cosmetic damage the dealer will do to your new pride & joy …

Ooof. Fk yes.
We don’t have our Santa Fe anymore. I keep our cars to almost concours standard. When we eventually we it back after something like 10 or 11months, rear seats damaged, specs of rust all over it from industrial fall out from grinders etc. Engine bay had stuff written on panels and wiped off badly. Rounded off nuts. Damaged engine bay panels that were thrown on the ground. Seat bolt missing. The rocker sills damaged from hoist. Like peeled plastic. Door damaged. Car smelt like diff oil. Seats covered in grey stains. Grease worked into the beige leather. Rear interior quarters damaged. I can go on too. It was still brand new.

No one cares because their employers don’t care about them enough. They are working to impossible time targets by the manufacturers. If they go over they don’t get paid for it. The manufacturers don’t care about the dealers. The customer is left standing in all the emotional detritus that flows down hill.

Take it to a small family business and they will care more. Just can’t really do it if

 

[Fu Manchu]

We got every cent back and a big part of what helped us was because the car had been in the hands of the brand at every turn. They had no one else to blame shift.

Get the car serviced by the dealer while under warranty incase things go bad.

 

[Forg]

Although now I think about it, I do have a counter-example, but maybe this was an “it’s not what but who you know” situation.

The family-business mechanic my parents had been going to & then where I started going was run by two brothers, one of whom got a job as workshop manager at the local Subaru dealer. I’d known him for probably 15 years when I bought a 2yo Liberty RS which was still in warranty, so figured it was worth getting that dealer to service it. About 3 months or so out of warranty I heard a ticking noise on startup, which went away, but I did take it up there for them to check; they found nothing. It occurred again some time later, same again, no apparent problem. I did consider maybe I was being paranoid, it was like 2.5x as costly to buy as my previous most-fancy car, and the only under-10yo car I’d ever had …
By the time it was 9 months out of warranty it had started occurring more often, but then I did see some smoke out the back on occasion.
Called Subaru Oz HO Support, they said there had actually been a problem reported recently from Japan HO, and take it back to the dealer workshop.
So they fitted brand-spankers new heads & matching pistons (from a Gen-II JDM GT) that didn’t have the problem filling the hydraulic lifters which the Gen-I engine had, and the cost to me was the same as the 100k km service I was going to need in about 5000km. Which, out of warranty, seemed like a reasonable deal to me.

And I’m pretty sure that without having used that dealer for a little while, but also without having known the workshop manager, the cost would’ve all been on me (or some sort of angsty ACCC threat) which’d have been around the $7k mark at the time.