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Sudden Loss of Power Steering WHEN DRIVING

Micaxe

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Had some issues with mine cutting out over last few months. Had the 45k service done 3 weeks ago & asked them about it, they checked & said it needs replacement. All done no charge, they mentioned an extended warranty on it ( a got it used, no extended warranty mentioned). 05/14 SSV Redline.
 

RoganJosh

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Thanks!
FWIW, I am going to try to get a new rack, even though mine has never failed in over 75k k's. I just hate the thought that it may happen unexpectedly one day.
You do understand the dealer is going to tell you that you have to pay them $149.00 to "check it out" and ensure there is a code present first , no code then you have to cough up the $149.00 and you won't get the power steering repaired This is the reason I posted the link above about the ACCC and Ford ... showing that their behaviour is what Holden are guilty of with the power steering. Same behaviour. There is no way of checking this out yourself and the code isn't store for very long, so by the time you book it in and take it there, high chance the code has disappeared. Nice little earner for the Dealer.
 

Micaxe

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Hey guys, made a new account just to post here. Had this happen to my VF Evoke first whilst making a sharp turn to park at uni, and since has happened a few times. Have photo and video evidence of the error on my dash for when I eventually need to wrestle with a dealer to get this fixed.

I spoke to HCC and, just as expected, I had a lady that told me that she couldn't do anything, that she couldn't find a recall or customer campaign number for the issue and when I explained to her that this very issue was being recalled in America, she told me "Well, that's America, their cars are completely different and every car is individual". Knew once that came out of her mouth, our conversation clearly wasn't going to go anywhere; very frustrating.

Spoke to the dealer I purchased the car from at the end of November 2017 (Brighton Holden, VIC), the tech denied ever knowing of this issue (which seeing now all you guys have the very same issue is hard to believe) and told me I'd need to get the car in for a diagnostic check. I tried explaining that the error disappears and that it was unlikely they'd find anything, leading me to a slap of $150 for no reason, but as expected, they were very unhelpful and short.

I found a Facebook post of an individual that had even gone to the very dealer I got the car from and had his rack replaced by Holden out of warranty, so it's very frustrating they won't acknowledge it is even a known issue when I probe them.

I'm pretty stressed thinking of how I'm going to get this resolved when literally everyone I contact is working against me. Are there any dealers around the Victorian Brighton one people would recommend, or something I should do? As mentioned before I'm a uni student and I can't afford to pay the $150 to get this rolling if there's a chance they're going to turn me away. I also don't exactly want to leave my car in a state where it's ready to throw me into a curb or wall whenever it feels like it.

Here's the photo of the error if anyone would like to use it themselves
 

Banjo79

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You do understand the dealer is going to tell you that you have to pay them $149.00 to "check it out" and ensure there is a code present first , no code then you have to cough up the $149.00 and you won't get the power steering repaired This is the reason I posted the link above about the ACCC and Ford ... showing that their behaviour is what Holden are guilty of with the power steering. Same behaviour. There is no way of checking this out yourself and the code isn't store for very long, so by the time you book it in and take it there, high chance the code has disappeared. Nice little earner for the Dealer.
Although mine threw the light three times, Holden never saw them nor were they logged. They certainly refused to do any free work unless they saw it with there own eyes. The Mrs, empowered by Skylarking, went all lawyer and s#*t on them locally and to various people at customer care. Rack replaced.
 

Skylarking

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@Banjo79 i’m glad the missus going “all lawyer and sh!t” worked out.

I’d still implore all who have had their racks replaced to also report this safety issue to both DOTARS & ACCC as it may help bring this to the forefront and avoid an accident and possible serious injury or death.

Hopefully someone who has this fault will also do what the courts reaffirmed as their right in law and ask for a full refund when this major fault occurs with the vehicle they purchased... I haven’t read the courts findings but the law as I have read it doesn’t even require that a dealer must have the vehicle inspected for repair If it’s a major fault as considered by a normal person, then that is enough as it passes the legal hurdle to require a full refund... but dealers and manufacturers are usually pricks and don’t want to follow the law let alone acknowledge it...

Yes, I “bang on” about this but in the the case of the Ford powershift fault, the court came to a conclusion that Ford were not following their legal obligations making it rather clear they were being bushbags. In fact if anyone had one of those Ford powersh!t vehicles and sold it for a loss because of the issues, it looks like they may be able to revisit that loss with Ford...

As for the Holden power steering issue, I must check my MSE and check if there are gold connectors no the rack. If not, then I will have this addressed by Holden as anything less is just a temporary patch up job, maybe longer lasting than the dielectric grease but not a full on fix...
 

VT&VX

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National watchdog might be a good option- frankly I don't want the car if its even possible to lose steering and risk lives.

Give Tracey Grimshaw on a Current Affair a call. Holden might give you a brand new ZB on TV and you can say "no thanks, unless it is AWD Calais and fully loaded", if they can't give them away, that will sort out the bosses at Holden. ;)
 

Banjo79

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When the local dealer was told that we had informed DOTARS of the issue they certainly started taking notice and were quite surprised that we went there. Still, was much further along until approval was given. I might also add that I didn't purchase the vehicle from the dealer that fixed it and hadn't been there since the final "under warranty" service some 18 months earlier.
 

Skylarking

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You do understand the dealer is going to tell you that you have to pay them $149.00 to "check it out" and ensure there is a code present first , no code then you have to cough up the $149.00 and you won't get the power steering repaired This is the reason I posted the link above about the ACCC and Ford ... showing that their behaviour is what Holden are guilty of with the power steering. Same behaviour. There is no way of checking this out yourself and the code isn't store for very long, so by the time you book it in and take it there, high chance the code has disappeared. Nice little earner for the Dealer.
Now that the Ford ruling is in, we know that a dealer requiring you to demonstrate a fault where the dealer take no action because you can’t demonstrate it, since it is intermittent, is clearly an illegal tactic if they know such intermittant faults exists.

And we know that Holden & GM know of this intermittant power steering failure by virtue of the US recall and the service campaigns down under.

So if you anyone has the steering assistance failure, consider it a major fault. It may be intermittant in nature but it’s still a major faul. And the law is unclear if you’re even required to demonstrate a major fault. In law the remedy for a major fault is your choice of repair, replacement or full refund... and now the courts have reaffirmed that fact we should act accordingly.
 

Skylarking

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When the local dealer was told that we had informed DOTARS of the issue they certainly started taking notice and were quite surprised that we went there. Still, was much further along until approval was given. I might also add that I didn't purchase the vehicle from the dealer that fixed it and hadn't been there since the final "under warranty" service some 18 months earlier.
Yeah, it must have been a frustrating process but it’s all good now (hopefully)....

What I’m surprised at is that there still has been no forced recall on this power steering failure issue... DOTARS must be quicker (and more transparent) at getting to the bottom of this.

Just out of curiosity, has DOTARS responded to your report in any way?
 
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