Getting VX to do warranty work like blood out of a stone?
Discussion
baccalad said:
Thanks Papa and I do get what you're saying Crafty but if I could go direct to Vauxhall themselves I would and I really wish I could because I think I would get better treatment, the way it is now Vauxhall customer services are referring me back to the dealer because they're saying that's the way it works, but I just think the dealers really don't care.
Unfortunately there is an element of truth in that the dealers DON'T care. They haven't had anything out of you or your vehicle, you aren't "Their" customer and rightly or wrongly that is what you are up against.
papa3 said:
Unfortunately there is an element of truth in that the dealers DON'T care. They haven't had anything out of you or your vehicle, you aren't "Their" customer and rightly or wrongly that is what you are up against.
Which is sad because it puts myself and others around me off from buying a car from any of those dealers in the future, and at that another Vauxhall at all.baccalad said:
papa3 said:
Unfortunately there is an element of truth in that the dealers DON'T care. They haven't had anything out of you or your vehicle, you aren't "Their" customer and rightly or wrongly that is what you are up against.
Which is sad because it puts myself and others around me off from buying a car from any of those dealers in the future, and at that another Vauxhall at all.Where in the country are you?
papa3 is right and unfortunately it isn't unique to Vauxhall.
I guess its probably industry wide, but I know for sure that Audi dealers get a reduced labour rate for warranty work. You're a service manager and have a target to meet, you've got a car you haven't earned a penny from with (at least according to your tech) a minor fault that is going to be hassle to sort out.
Do you try and upsell "winter checks" or aircon services at full labour rate or take on a "problem" car that may tie up a ramp for a few days and take your time to claim warranty etc at a lower rate ? You might not even break even on the job.
Rightly or wrongly thats the situation - fixing your problem isn't earning them any money.
Audi are getting sniffy about warranty claims, I was told of a situation where they refused to pay for a new battery on an in warranty car for example.
The next thing to come will be manufacturers will stop paying out for something like a failed DPF if the owner has not driven the car in a way to force a regen.
Basically, once you buy a car neither the manufacturer or the dealer network care, the only thing you can hope for is goodwill from the dealer you purchase the car from.
I guess its probably industry wide, but I know for sure that Audi dealers get a reduced labour rate for warranty work. You're a service manager and have a target to meet, you've got a car you haven't earned a penny from with (at least according to your tech) a minor fault that is going to be hassle to sort out.
Do you try and upsell "winter checks" or aircon services at full labour rate or take on a "problem" car that may tie up a ramp for a few days and take your time to claim warranty etc at a lower rate ? You might not even break even on the job.
Rightly or wrongly thats the situation - fixing your problem isn't earning them any money.
Audi are getting sniffy about warranty claims, I was told of a situation where they refused to pay for a new battery on an in warranty car for example.
The next thing to come will be manufacturers will stop paying out for something like a failed DPF if the owner has not driven the car in a way to force a regen.
Basically, once you buy a car neither the manufacturer or the dealer network care, the only thing you can hope for is goodwill from the dealer you purchase the car from.
Crafty_ said:
Audi dealers get a reduced labour rate for warranty work.
All franchised networks receive a significantly reduced rate for warranty work and often the pre set number of hours claimable are unrealistic to complete the work.
Crafty_ said:
Audi are getting sniffy about warranty claims, I was told of a situation where they refused to pay for a new battery on an in warranty car for example.
I'd be amazed at a new battery being paid much after the first year of warranty. Crafty_ said:
The next thing to come will be manufacturers will stop paying out for something like a failed DPF if the owner has not driven the car in a way to force a regen.
This was happening even when I left the trade over 3 years ago. Small print in the manual say "blah blah and you should average over X km/h" Standard fix was a brick on the throttle and let it run in the car park.Crafty_ said:
Basically, once you buy a car neither the manufacturer or the dealer network care, the only thing you can hope for is goodwill from the dealer you purchase the car from.
Certainly the manufacturer isn't interested, some dealers still focus heavily on customer care, we worked hard to keep our customers, we didn't always get it right, but we did try.baccalad said:
I've just got back from the third Vauxhall dealership and they've also stated that they "can't fault the car" sadly. After one of technicians had first been out in the car by himself I asked if I would be able to go out in the car with one of the technicians; the technician drove, and the first thing that I'd like to say is that this guy almost wrote us off on a duel carriageway trying to move into the left lane without checking his blind spot resulting in a long resounding beep from the other car.
Anyhow, the technician admitted that there is a whining noise coming from "somewhere" according to him, but he isn't willing to do anything about it because he is saying that there is nothing wrong with the gearbox - this is really baffling me? He has also admitted that he can hear a clunking noise when he lets off the throttle but he thinks it's the clutch. I tried stating that I had been to an independent gearbox specialist and explained that he had driven the car and found the gearbox bearings to be whining and the shaft inside the gearbox to be moving, making a clunking noise when you let off the throttle. They're completely disregarding this, saying that they're not willing to accept any information/evidence/knowledge or anything at all from anybody other than from themselves. FWIW I stopped off at the gearbox specialist on the way home and asked if he'd be willing to write out a report for me which he is going to do and sign.
I've just now phoned Vauxhall customer services themselves and spoke to what I can only describe as a horrible woman. I was trying to be as polite to her as a I could when I was explaining everything but the way she spoke to me and her tone of voice was disgusting so I asked I could speak to someone higher up and so I got put on to her manager who was much nicer to speak with. After chatting with her, and as polite as she was, all she has basically recommended is for me to drop the car off and leave it at one of their dealerships for a couple of days. She has also said that the dealership can take the car apart but I have to approve for them to do so, to an end where, if they don't find a manufacturer's fault, I have to pay for the the costs of the labour, which even she admitted on the phone to me is a catch 22. I'm now thinking though that this is the only route that I have to go down. Surely with all the problems I'm having I can only be 99% sure that a fault's going to show up if they strip it apart. But it's absurd that I'm basically going to have to front the costs.
This is exactly why I gave up at the first hurdle with my car and concentrated my efforts on getting the car fixed myself. You are spending hours just wasting your time.Anyhow, the technician admitted that there is a whining noise coming from "somewhere" according to him, but he isn't willing to do anything about it because he is saying that there is nothing wrong with the gearbox - this is really baffling me? He has also admitted that he can hear a clunking noise when he lets off the throttle but he thinks it's the clutch. I tried stating that I had been to an independent gearbox specialist and explained that he had driven the car and found the gearbox bearings to be whining and the shaft inside the gearbox to be moving, making a clunking noise when you let off the throttle. They're completely disregarding this, saying that they're not willing to accept any information/evidence/knowledge or anything at all from anybody other than from themselves. FWIW I stopped off at the gearbox specialist on the way home and asked if he'd be willing to write out a report for me which he is going to do and sign.
I've just now phoned Vauxhall customer services themselves and spoke to what I can only describe as a horrible woman. I was trying to be as polite to her as a I could when I was explaining everything but the way she spoke to me and her tone of voice was disgusting so I asked I could speak to someone higher up and so I got put on to her manager who was much nicer to speak with. After chatting with her, and as polite as she was, all she has basically recommended is for me to drop the car off and leave it at one of their dealerships for a couple of days. She has also said that the dealership can take the car apart but I have to approve for them to do so, to an end where, if they don't find a manufacturer's fault, I have to pay for the the costs of the labour, which even she admitted on the phone to me is a catch 22. I'm now thinking though that this is the only route that I have to go down. Surely with all the problems I'm having I can only be 99% sure that a fault's going to show up if they strip it apart. But it's absurd that I'm basically going to have to front the costs.
mini1380cc said:
Given how little trust VX has raised for themselves in your experiences so far i would be tempted to swallow the pill and pay the £550 to have the independent specialist fix the problem. £550 seems quite reasonable to me, for what should be a proper solution without hassles.
This^^.I strongly suspect that if you let Vauxhall do the work they'll strip the box, find "Nothing wrong", charge you a lot of money and you'll still have a broken gearbox.
You're clearly wasting your time with Vauxhall.
This wont help at all but I feel your pain. I am having a similar issue with Jaguar on my XJR Gearbox. Dealer says its 'within expected parameters' , and Jaguar customer services basically told me to go away and stop bothering them.
The whole car vibrates badly at ~1600 RPM which equates to around 60MPH . It feels like a badly out of balance wheel , it makes a fair bit of noise too. But apparently this is ok and perfectly normal for a luxury barge.
I think all manufacturers are clamping down on warranty work now, but I think its pretty bad when you ring said manufacturer and they clearly couldnt give a rats arse about your problem. Customer service isnt what is used to be,
Maybe I'll try Mercedes for my next car as I wont be going for another Jag.
The whole car vibrates badly at ~1600 RPM which equates to around 60MPH . It feels like a badly out of balance wheel , it makes a fair bit of noise too. But apparently this is ok and perfectly normal for a luxury barge.
I think all manufacturers are clamping down on warranty work now, but I think its pretty bad when you ring said manufacturer and they clearly couldnt give a rats arse about your problem. Customer service isnt what is used to be,
Maybe I'll try Mercedes for my next car as I wont be going for another Jag.
Dodsy said:
This wont help at all but I feel your pain. I am having a similar issue with Jaguar on my XJR Gearbox. Dealer says its 'within expected parameters' , and Jaguar customer services basically told me to go away and stop bothering them.
The whole car vibrates badly at ~1600 RPM which equates to around 60MPH . It feels like a badly out of balance wheel , it makes a fair bit of noise too. But apparently this is ok and perfectly normal for a luxury barge.
I think all manufacturers are clamping down on warranty work now, but I think its pretty bad when you ring said manufacturer and they clearly couldnt give a rats arse about your problem. Customer service isnt what is used to be,
Maybe I'll try Mercedes for my next car as I wont be going for another Jag.
Definitely not at all what I'd expect from a company like Jaguar, it's disappointing more than anything.The whole car vibrates badly at ~1600 RPM which equates to around 60MPH . It feels like a badly out of balance wheel , it makes a fair bit of noise too. But apparently this is ok and perfectly normal for a luxury barge.
I think all manufacturers are clamping down on warranty work now, but I think its pretty bad when you ring said manufacturer and they clearly couldnt give a rats arse about your problem. Customer service isnt what is used to be,
Maybe I'll try Mercedes for my next car as I wont be going for another Jag.
On another note the clutch pedal on my car is really squeaky/creaky and when I was at the dealership yesterday I asked the technician if they'd be able to put a new pedal box in, he said that all it will need is grease spraying on it, and that he's "not going to put a £300 pedal box in for a squeak". I then asked him if he'd be able to spray some grease up there and his reply was "yeah ok, as long as I don't have to take apart the dash above the pedal to get at it and can just spray grease behind the pedal how it is", as presumably he couldn't be bothered? One day later and the squeak is still there.
These are the kind of people I'm dealing with.
These are the kind of people I'm dealing with.
baccalad said:
Definitely not at all what I'd expect from a company like Jaguar, it's disappointing more than anything.
I've recently bought a Mercedes for my Wife and I have to say the dealers are just as incompetent as Jaguar but their customer service is way way better and their computer systems are light years ahead. Made me realise that Jag is all front but behind it is a dinosaur of an organisation. Its also clear that the in car systems in the Merc are streets ahead of even the latest Jags.Earlier tonight I managed to record the whining noise the gearbox is making (with my friend holding the phone). I've just uploaded it on YouTube so you can all see. The noise in the video shows up at around 1750 rpm in third gear at 33mph (around 11 seconds) but it is not gear or speed specific, it also shows up at different speeds in different gears, and also disappears when I dip the clutch. Watch the whole video and you can tell straight away when the whine kicks in.
http://youtu.be/IZI5oDaPnPY
Please bear in mind that this is a mobile phone recording and the fact that there is road noise/tyre roar in the background just highlights how bad the whine is that you can hear it in the the video; in real life the whine is much more prominent and seems even louder.
http://youtu.be/IZI5oDaPnPY
Please bear in mind that this is a mobile phone recording and the fact that there is road noise/tyre roar in the background just highlights how bad the whine is that you can hear it in the the video; in real life the whine is much more prominent and seems even louder.
In the second dealership I've been to I went out in the car with the technician with me driving. Lo and behold the first thing that happened in the car park upon starting the engine up and attempting to pull out of the parking space is that the car wouldn't go into first (when it happens the stick only goes half way into the gate and then hits a wall). I demonstrated it to him straight away saying look I'm pushing on the stick and it just won't go in and I showed him me taking it out lifting the clutch up and successfully getting it into gear second time round. Throughout the whole time he sat there and didn't say a word but I was thinking yeah you know I'm right. I told the service manager at the dealership when we got back and she said it has to happen when one of them is driving it.
In the third dealership I've been to most recently the technician was saying that he wasn't experiencing any problems, and was generally trying to avoid/ignore my questions about it intermittently not going into first gear (it's pretty mutch happening a couple of times a day now), but I kept pressing him about it saying what am I supposed to do, am I supposed to just live with it and that more than anything it's dangerous and it can cause a crash. His answer was: "when it happens take it out of gear, lift the clutch up and try again".
In the third dealership I've been to most recently the technician was saying that he wasn't experiencing any problems, and was generally trying to avoid/ignore my questions about it intermittently not going into first gear (it's pretty mutch happening a couple of times a day now), but I kept pressing him about it saying what am I supposed to do, am I supposed to just live with it and that more than anything it's dangerous and it can cause a crash. His answer was: "when it happens take it out of gear, lift the clutch up and try again".
baccalad said:
Earlier tonight I managed to record the whining noise the gearbox is making (with my friend holding the phone). I've just uploaded it on YouTube so you can all see. The noise in the video shows up at around 1750 rpm in third gear at 33mph (around 11 seconds) but it is not gear or speed specific, it also shows up at different speeds in different gears, and also disappears when I dip the clutch. Watch the whole video and you can tell straight away when the whine kicks in.
Did you leave it in gear when you dipped the clutch or did you put it in neutral?Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff