Hey guys
You are all talking about cars still in warranty... I know I have a VK, but I used to be a service advisor working for holden (up until about 9 months ago) and I know a number of the ins and outs.
1: to keep manufacturers warranty, all you need to do is go to a MTA registered mechanic and make sure that they stamp and sign your manual.
2: quite often (mainly due to time restraints as there is a habit through most dealerships to overbook) with a minor service, the oil is changed, if the tech working on the car decides a rotate is worth the time he'll do it and the car is roadtested... thats it. I on a number of occaisions found techs looking through the wheels to check the brakes not even attempting to take them off! and I know after talking to other service advisors that this is not only a local thing, it happens all over the place.
3: if your car is not cleaned or at least as clean as you left it ie. grease marks.. it is simply a sign of a lazy mechanic.
4: the labour rates that are charged are amazingly high! Often upwards of $100/hr inc GST. However, this is easily explained by the massive overheads that a big business like this requires to run efficiently. The only way to avoid this is to go somewhere where the overheads are not so high ie. a smaller workshop.
5: in terms of extended warranty, Yes, Dealerships more often than not have a clause that says that the vehicle MUST be serviced at the particular dealership that the vehicle was bought from otherwise it is voided for good! However, this is only the case during the time of the exteneded warranty, which does not begin until manufacturers warranty has expired eg. 3yrs/100,000km. so you can have your car serviced anywhere else until this time. Also, most of the time, these warranties only cover certain items. things like a clutch, trim etc are not covered. Check your extended warranty book for these details. Also, the majority of times, this warranty will not cover the first $100 or anything over $1000. so there is about $900 that it will cover.
Now for some positives:
While getting your vehicle serviced at a Dealership, the techs can often check your car for items that can be replaced under warranty. If your car is there on a slow day, you may find that the tech has been instructed to check it out extrememly thoroughly to try to find something to do. It also means that they can rectify that annoying clunking noise at the same time as your service is being done and get GMH to pay for it. this also means that you aren't left without your baby for as long.
One more plus for the dealers, if you are consistantly taking your car for a service at the one dealer, they can help a bit more when the car is just a bit out of warranty. for example, you would know about the ticking noise problem in a lot of the LS1 engines which basically required a rebuild. I had a customer once whose VXII 'ss' had 110,000km on the clock and they came in for the 110k service... Their history with us had been quite regular since day one and with the help of the service manager, I was able to talk holden into helping this customer out. The boys at Holden came through and covered the lot!
so... theres the deal
if you want to know any more, just reply and I'll get back to you
happy commodoring!!!
) they charged some n00b 476 bucks TO REPLACE A BATTERY like wtf people, hahah and btw some dude totalled one of the cars, so i would rather live with a ciggaret burn
