VF HVAC design fault. Put up with it?

[cdr8]

Obviously the HVAC is a major stuff up on the VF that can't be fixed easily? The HVAC on the VF seems to have a mind of its own. The dialled settings seem to have no relation to what comes out of the vents. Sometimes I have to turn mine up to 27 to get some heat to come out of it and other times it pumps out cold air for no reason. I can't understand how Holden went backwards on the VF. The VE HVAC worked well without the problems that the VF has. I can't understand why they didn't use the VE system that worked well and carry that over.
Obviously there is no easy fix on the VF, the car was released in 2013 and to date according to my dealer there is mountains of complaints about the HVAC. Even in car magazines they even write how it is a crap set up. I was talking to a member of the Highway patrol in my area and asked him what he thought of the VF and he said it was a great car except for the heating and air. Obviously it is a major design that can't be fixed easily otherwise you would have thought they would have solved it by at least the release of series 2.
I am of the opinion now that maybe Holden won't do anything now on it and we will just have to live with it. 3 years since release and no real fixes? Dealers just seem to do computer updates on the HVAC which don't do much.
Does anybody know anything else?

 

[MarcoVFRedline]

I had mine in at dealer the other day 13 Redline and basically told them this not acceptable for a $60000 car! They said they have no fix and that's about it

 

[bigjim92]

I don't seem to have any HVAC issues with my VF2, not that I've noticed anyway. However there are so many issues with the system, each vent has a temp sensor, and the system monitors more than it probably should.
I think Holden tried to be to smart with the system and its been a bit of a fail.
There's been a few software updates, but apart from that Holden hasn't given us any other options. So there isn't anything dealers can do.

 

[pebbs]

Yes Im having another go at the dealers.
Its up to them to do something they represent Holden as the franchisee and if all dealers got up in arms about the situation maybe something will get done but while they sit back and say "sorry there doesnt appear to be a fix" nothing will happen.
Perhaps it time for owners to get together on this issue and take it up with the right government body to talk to Holden.
60 plus thousand dollars for a car is not cheap despite to have this type of problem especially in Australia's climate.

The theory that you bought a car under $100,000 dollars and its not a Mercedes and you should expect problem does not hold water.

 

[bigjim92]

Yes Im having another go at the dealers.
Its up to them to do something they represent Holden as the franchisee and if all dealers got up in arms about the situation maybe something will get done but while they sit back and say "sorry there doesnt appear to be a fix" nothing will happen.
Perhaps it time for owners to get together on this issue and take it up with the right government body to talk to Holden.
60 plus thousand dollars for a car is not cheap despite to have this type of problem especially in Australia's climate.

The theory that you bought a car under $100,000 dollars and its not a Mercedes and you should expect problem does not hold water.

While vehicle price has an impact on the customers perception of what is or isn't acceptable.
Having worked for multiple manufacturers, including Mercedes, which you mentioned. All manufacturers have their problems, and Merc have had some big ones with their HVAC systems.
All dealers can do, regardless of brand, is pass on complaint info to the manufacturer. If the manufacturer doesn't offer or have a fix, dealers hands are tied.
With Holden manufacturing closing soon the chances of VF issues being rectified probably aren't very high on the agenda.

 

[MarcoVFRedline]

GM stopped caring the minute they made the decision to close OZ production. All future R and D from that moment on was post VF

 

[VFSV6FORME]

And this is the reason why most will never buy another Holden again. Myself, the older family have been loyal to Holden since 1962 and since then the complete family that is still alive have purchased over 40 Holden but after a good BBQ 2 weeks ago and a good feed the lot of us that are remaining on this Earth will never buy another Holden again, mainly because of Holden Going overseas. Holden must understand that us loyal customers have been insulted by this.

 

[cdr8]

Like I thought Holden aren't going to anything about the HVAC on VF's, going on what I read.
It is a very sad day for Australia, Ford, Holden and Toyota closing manufacturing. But the public have only themselves to blame, they would rather buy an imported car than support the local industry. We can build world class products here but we can't compete with countries that have low labour rates. So basically Australia will just be an importer.

Looks like Holden have also dropped the ball also on a performance RWD product to replace the Commodore. Ford with the Mustang have been caught short with the demand on the Mustang and are selling three times more of them than forecast with a minimum 12 month wait for the V8 orders. I guess it will be HSV that might do something. I am sure they will have something to offer, after all Walkinshaw/HSV are doing Dodge Ram trucks now.

 

[villn808]

Yea mine is crap too, 24 blows cold, 25 blows hot. So to keep it comfortable (apart from summer) I have to keep switching between 24 and 25.

 

[Forg]

But the public have only themselves to blame, they would rather buy an imported car than support the local industry. We can build world class products here but we can't compete with countries that have low labour rates. So basically Australia will just be an importer.

No, that's not quite right. The truth is actually less damning of the Australian people & the people doing the building here.
The reality is that people are buying a vast range of types of vehicle now, a range that Holden couldn't build here unless it were allowed to sell elsewhere (which it's not, becuase it's an American company and America comes first). Have a look at the top selling cars; Commodore is still up there with the best sellers, despite the fact they're building 1/4 as many as they did 10 years ago ... and it's because no one vehicle has really stolen Commodore sales, sales are spread across heaps of different vehicle types.
Australians have never had as wide a choice, nor as cheaply ... eg. new MX5 costs the same here now as in the USA, but it also costs the same here as the 1989 model when it was first released here (which was half as much in the USA as the current model).

The reality is that there's been no Australian manufacturer since GM bought Holden's in ... 1938 was it? And so if the choice is between manufacture here or some other country, it's going to be some other country.

As for buyers not choosing Australian; would you really spend $20k+ on a car which was poor in it's market-segment (Cruze) or which didn't suit your needs (eg. 6/8 cyl full-size sedan is overkill for most people)? I'm willing to pay food money, clothes money etc on local product, but $55k was a fairly large amount for us ...

Looks like Holden have also dropped the ball also on a performance RWD product to replace the Commodore. Ford with the Mustang have been caught short with the demand on the Mustang and are selling three times more of them than forecast with a minimum 12 month wait for the V8 orders. I guess it will be HSV that might do something. I am sure they will have something to offer, after all Walkinshaw/HSV are doing Dodge Ram trucks now.

Problem is GM didn't care. I'll bet Holden had people over in Detroit outside all the Camaro planning meetings, begging on their knees for anyone to listen to their pleas for RHD to be part of the Camaro design; but GM were all 'meh'.
Pretty much all other GM passenger-car product worldwide is too expensive to be Commodore-affordable (Cadillac & Corvette) or it's FWD biased.
There really isn't much else around, though; Chrysler has a bunch of ageing product based on mid 90's Benz platforms, but Ford only has Mustang. And that's about it, short of BMW money ...


Anyway, enough of that ranting.
Our HVAC isn't great, but it seems OK once it warms up. So yeah, it's 5 degrees outside & I get in the car which is set to 21 ... and it blows cold. Aaargh! But turn it up to 23 & it blows warm ... a bit warm after a while. But once it's warmed up, I can set it back to 21 and it doesn't blast cold air at me; just topping-up the heat a bit once the car's cooled back down again.