Transmission needs replacing after 109000km. F*#k holden servicing!

[Skylarking]

... I reckon it does have to do with a lack of fluid changing because the OP said it was never changed and the tranny needs lubrication, like the engine...

From a factory or ACL warranty perspective, the lack of fluid change can't be an issue in any way if you follow the service schedule. After all, if the service interval for fluid change has not yet arrived (be it the normal or severe schedule*) then the fluid should be OK according to the manufacturer. So then how can a manufacturer or seller** blame you for the failure because you followed their service schedule? It's laughable

If one didn't follow the service schedule then that's a different issue. Interestingly the dealer is trying to claim such tripe because the owner used a "zooper" service which is sold as being identical to a logbook servce. Such marketing opens up other ACL issues around deceptive practice by those that sold the zooper service and the dealer that provided the service only later to claim it was a zooper service and not a fixed price factory service...

The reality may be that the sevice schedule is indeed insufficient but that will result in lots of failures and lots of warranty costs. However that's not the fault of the buyer that a manufacturer wanted a nice cheap to maintain (on paper) product that their dealers can sell. Unfortunately what they sell falls short of the ACL durability standards that buyers and the market expect.

Whichever way you look at it, it's a clusterfuck and will cost the seller or manufacture to put this right. Unfortuanetly the owner will have to fight for their rights under law.

Really, we all need to be more critical in our thinking and not accept the bullshite "not covered under warranty because..." crap the sellers and manufacturers often trot out

* I've never had a dealer service manager tell me i need to use the severe service schedule. They are my local dealer and see the vehicle every service, they see the kms driven, the weather conditions in the area and also experience the local traffic where it's driven. They never enquire whether I tow, idle for hours or other such stuff that may impact the service schedule that should be used. Yet the law sees than as the experts, so presumably they service the vehicle correctly. Why then would I later accept that I didn't follow their severe service schedule crap if the servie dealer never mentioned anyting (being the experts). Eitehr it's crap or they are negligent in law, they can choose how to handle it

** I've had one dealer trot out the crap about needing fibres within my transmission oil when enquiring about transmission service schedule. He was trying to convince me the trans doesn't need a fluid flush and that I may be left stranded (excuse the pun) if I flush the old transmission fluid... in a car that has travelled 100,000 kms (so not flogged to near death)... These service experts really need to listen to themselves and understand the planned obsolescence they are preaching....

 

[Ron Burgundy]

Couple weeks ago I called Mazda dealership to quote me transmission fluid and filter change for 2016 Mazda 3 with 65 000km.

They basically refused to provide quote and said it was not in the service schedule. Their words were; "it can do more damage than good". Unreal.

Luckily the car has drain plug so I will just dump the fluid, measure drained fluid precisely and then fill with exact amount of genuine Mazda fluid. This should do it...
Can't be stuffed taking the pan off to change the filter as this is not the car we are keeping for too long.
It even has a dipstick for transmission fluid...

 

[J_D 2.0]

Couple weeks ago I called Mazda dealership to quote me transition fluid and filter change for 2016 Mazda 3 with 65 000km.

They basically refused to provide quote and said it was not in the service schedule. Their words were; "it can do more damage than good". Unreal.

Luckily the car has drain plug so I will just dump the fluid, measure drained fluid precisely and then fill with exact amount of genuine Mazda fluid. This should do it...
Can't be stuffed taking the pan off to change the filter as this is not the car we are keeping for too long.
It even has a dipstick for transmission fluid...

At least it has a drain plug and a dipstick unlike the VE(VF transmissions!

 

[Forg]

No... Though I can imagine that they have terrible dynamics, similar to crossovers...

They’re worse than pretty much everything … unsure what exactly what sort of vehicle you mean by crossover (eg. RAV4 or Adventra) but they’re worse than that, they’re worse than a 4WD like a Landcruiser, they’re really-obviously worse than a sedan or wagon … about the only things they’re not worse than are commercial vans & trucks like Hiaces or Canters. Actually I’ve not been in a recent Renault or Benz van, those may be better than a Japanese ute …

 

[Frank500]

Is it $3300 for a reco + labour or including labour? If its plus labour, I’d defiantly quote around.

Even though you may not know much about cars. Don’t be afraid to go direct to automotive stores to get your own quotes and supply your own box to your mechanic. All you need is your rego number. In most cases its all I need from my customers and its all the guys that do the actual rebuild want to hear when I call them. The days of needing to reel of a bunch of information about your car is over. (Commodores are fine but for some makes and models it can actually be annoying to have to much details blurted out by the customer)

In both parts stores and workshops. As a general rule the bigger and less often the part is sold, the greater the variance between price for each business, branch and sometimes between staff members.
The downside of going to a parts store for your reco is that you will have to pay a deposit until you get your old one back to them. Plus needing to transport the box to the mechanic. But if you get the right person on the right day go a little easy on their figures. You can save a lot on these things

This is a dangerous strategy because if something happens within the warranty period of the transmission, even if you can get it replaced by the parts store that won't cover labour, so then you're up for another huge bill. If the repairer supplies the part then he is responsible for everything should something go wrong.

 

[Z31na]

This is a dangerous strategy because if something happens within the warranty period of the transmission, even if you can get it replaced by the parts store that won't cover labour, so then you're up for another huge bill.

Not entirely true. Obviously I can’t talk for every automotive store. But for case of who I work for: Every customer, trade or not, gets the same warranty terms set out by the supplier. The difference is that the compensation can be credited straight off of a trade customers account.

Also it depends on how good a relationship the workshop has with that parts store. Most workshops would be happy to work together with me to get the customer sorted. But I can also think of a few tradies in my area where it would wise for the customer to ask me who would work with me. Or if they want to use their original mechanic, be more beneficial for the customer to pay the workshop again then bring me in the invoice.

The above also isn't based solely on who spends the most money. One of my regular top 5 customers is defiantly a “give me your invoice with the faulty goods” situation.

 

[K0tt0n]

So I talked to a nice guy at Holden who advised me that it could be a statuary warranty claim. It would have to be inspected by a Holden service centre mechanic to verify the the issue and then a claim lodged. It'd be a **** fight that could take who knows how long. Couldn't be fucked to be honest. Its a lesson learnt and one that I'll be spreading the word about.

I've had dealings with Eagers service department at Windsor before. I tried to talk to the manager for 4 weeks, emails, phone calls to them where he was always busy and would call me back and never did. They just don't give a ****.

I've also got a 2014 Colorado I bought 6 months ago. just over 100000km on the clock. It's got a full log book service history and also says the transmission isn't due for 150000km. Needless to say I've booked it in at a specialist transmission place with a good reputation next week to have a full flush done.

In regards to the 'Zooper" service. I can only assume that the previous owner bought the car through their network and the car rego is linked to it. So when I took it to Holden for the service that showed up on their system and they just did the 'Zooper' service. They never mentioned it to me or asked me anything about it. I just called and booked it in for a services, stupidly assuming that it was the standard logbook service as the km on the car coincided with what the logbook said.

I've owned 8 or 9 Holdens in my life and I've loved them all, but I'll never, ever, take it to a Holden service centre for anything again.

 

[Forg]

In regards to the 'Zooper" service. I can only assume that the previous owner bought the car through their network and the car rego is linked to it. So when I took it to Holden for the service that showed up on their system and they just did the 'Zooper' service.

Dooper!!

 

[krusing]

Depending where you go, and if they are a registered automatic transmission specialist,
and if they know the transmissions.
I had a fully reconditioned unit installed inc the torque converter just before Christmas to the cost of $5,600, unfortunately it had a noise with the down shift from 4th to 3rd within 1,500 k/s,
So I took it back to the auto trans place in Early March
Being the car is not being driven much at the moment, as I have my Adventra as my daily. To keep the k/s down on the VE.

He didn’t stuff around, he pulled it out and replaced with another fully reconditioned unit,
And it drives like new, smooth up shifts and down shifts, as it’s going back shortly for its first 1,500 k/m service again.
Other than the minor issue with the first reco’d trans, it’s so smooth to drive now, like a new again.

 

[greenacc]

At least it has a drain plug and a dipstick unlike the VE(VF transmissions!

The best transmission in the VE line up has a dipstick. The tried and proven 4 speed 4L65e. Now that thing is a true champion!