Getting VX to do warranty work like blood out of a stone?

Getting VX to do warranty work like blood out of a stone?

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Discussion

baccalad

Original Poster:

220 posts

114 months

Friday 19th September 2014
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I bought a 61 reg Astra 2.0 CDTI in February and not long after getting it I noticed a problem with the gearbox: generally speaking gear changes are seriously notchy and a lot of the time, although not all of the time, the car almost feels like it's crunching/grinding into gear. There is also a whining noise that is clearly apparent in 3rd and 4th gears. As well as this the car will intermittently not go into first gear (which isn't fun when you're first in line at a set of traffic lights), the stick will go halfway into the gear and then you hit a wall, getting it into gear then involves going down into second and then back into first or taking it out, lifting the clutch and trying again.

The car has been to 2 Vauxhall dealerships under warranty (Evans Halshaw Vauxhall and Drive Vauxhall) and the service technicians at both dealerships have said that they can't fault the car although when speaking with them, both of them have, in words, acknowledged that the gearbox is notchy, and when commenting on the whining, one of them said that it "sounds just like a Vauxhall to me".

I have just booked it into a third dealership to be looked at next week (Sherwoods Vauxhall) and since booking it in I've been to a gearbox specialist to get their opinion and after a 5 minutes drive of the car the guy said straight away that there is definitely a bearing noise and that the bearings are basically shot, and that there is also a clicking/clunking noise when you let off the throttle (which I had noticed but didn't know what it was), which is the shaft moving inside the gearbox, which would also be the reason why I'm having problems engaging gear because the shaft won't be aligned properly. Apparently he's only just done the same job on a 60 reg Insignia last week with the same 6 speed gearbox at a cost of £550, he says they're known to have problems and the bearings generally start to go after 40,000 miles. He said he'd be willing to write and sign a report to show to Vauxhall himself. Do you reckon this'll be enough to get Vauxhall to change their tune?

Sir Fergie

795 posts

134 months

Friday 19th September 2014
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If it were me - id be taking it up with Vauxhall HQ.

Ive heard on another forum im on about issues with Vauxhall/Opel gearboxes - on Astras and Insignias - so id say your gearbox specialist is correct about gearboxes being an issue.

I think the gearbox code for the problematical gearboxes is M32 - but very much open to correction - apologies obviously in advance if im wrong frown

Crafty_

13,248 posts

199 months

Friday 19th September 2014
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Early M32s had poor diff bearings, there was a revised part. imho the problem is a bit overhyped.

Not sure if the OPs car even has an M32, even if it does it'd certainly have the revised parts.

The problem you will have is Vauxhall (like any other manufacturer) won't give a toss about a used car.

Did the car come from a main dealer ? If so get the report from the specialist and go back to them - if you don't get any joy from the desk monkeys go to the manager/owner direct. Set an expectation of a response from them. Copy Vauxhall in by all means, if you are not properly treated by the dealer take that up with Vauxhall.

The two guys that run the passenger cars sector for Vauxhall are both (infrequent) posters here, it'd be great if they could pay some attention to this if they see it, but unfortunately I doubt they will.

andymc

7,334 posts

206 months

Friday 19th September 2014
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its a common problem on them, usually rebuilding the box, ask any gearbox specialists

Chris Jay

243 posts

128 months

Friday 19th September 2014
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Have you tried contacting customer services? They can be helpful in situations like this and will speak to the dealerships for you.

As said above the M32 gearbox can be problematic, if you have one? I have one in my Corsa VXR which can be quite clunky when cold, sometimes first wont go in unless I go to neutral let the clutch up then try again.

Crafty_

13,248 posts

199 months

Friday 19th September 2014
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As the OP says the car is a 2.0 CDTI that makes it an astra J, according to this : http://www.opel-infos.de/modelle/astra_j5t.html (scroll down a bit) it has an F40 box, not an M32.

baccalad

Original Poster:

220 posts

114 months

Friday 19th September 2014
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As far as I'm aware mine's fitted with the f40 gearbox but from what I've heard there are problems with both of them.

baccalad

Original Poster:

220 posts

114 months

Friday 19th September 2014
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It didn't come from a main dealer but I'll take it up with Vauxhall themselves as you've all suggested if I don't have any luck at the dealership next week. I also know someone with a Corsa VXR which I think is fitted with the m32 gearbox and he's had problems with second gear. His is a 62 plate with 5,000 miles on the clock and the dealership has said there's nothing wrong with it.

ubbs

648 posts

216 months

Friday 19th September 2014
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Didn't have any problems them replacing the gearbox on mine twice! Although it was a h model which had a major design flaw in the box m32 I believe, no problems so far on the newer j model other than a new pedal box for a squeaky clutch pedal another common issue!

kuro

1,621 posts

118 months

Friday 19th September 2014
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I have a 13 plate 2 litre cdti sri on 26k as my daily driver. No problems so far but ill be keeping an eye out after reading this. Must admit, its actually quite a nice car.

baccalad

Original Poster:

220 posts

114 months

Friday 19th September 2014
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Mine has a squeaky clutch pedal too and they just sprayed grease behind the pedal yet the squeak is still there! And good luck Kuro hopefully you'll have no problems.

windy1

393 posts

250 months

Saturday 20th September 2014
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M32 box on my Astra got noisy out of warranty and I asked vauxhall to make a goodwill payment towards the labour cost to getting the thing in and out of the car. They declined. They also firmly stated that the gearbox could not be rebuilt as no service parts were available for them. This turned out to be, as expected, typical BS from Vauxhall.

I found plenty of stories on the forums about their weaknesses, so ended up tackling the job myself on my drive at home. Took the subframe out (what a sod of a job) and purchased a bearing kit from bearingkits to rebuild it.
It was apparent immediately taking it apart the the bearings are not up to the job, very narrow journals and the one most affected, next to 6th gear, seems to spend its life mixing with the ferrous swarf knocked off the dog rings on the synchro hubs, so an inherent design flaw. The cats piss watery oil they put in the boxes on production (helps for low CO2 rating don't ya know) is equally inept at doing what it should do - lubricating!
I ended up putting some proper Millers synthetic fluid in it and it was fine for another 60K miles until I sold the car. There were no more issues after that.

Good luck with Vauxhall. It is their standards of dealing with customers that always puts you off buying another - very poor!!!!

Crafty_

13,248 posts

199 months

Saturday 20th September 2014
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I wouldn't be surprised at all if there are no service parts available from Vauxhall, in general manufacturers don't like their dealer techs pulling things apart, its more cost efficient to replace a whole assembly.

OP: At the moment your issue is actually getting a dealer on your side - Vauxhall don't actually know about your issue yet and as far as I can tell you haven't had a warranty claim refused. I wouldn't mention its already been to a couple of other dealers.

baccalad

Original Poster:

220 posts

114 months

Saturday 20th September 2014
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Crafty you're right, if there's a fault with the gearbox the whole thing gets replaced, which means they have order in a replacement. The defective box then gets sent to VX themselves to be inspected, and I'm not quite sure but I think that might mean it gets sent to Germany? I don't understand why it wouldn't be easier for their technicians to strip the box down and send pictures of the faulty part to Vauxhall.

I wonder if this is part of the reason why dealerships are reluctant, because it's a drawn out hassle that's going to last over at least a few days.

Crafty_

13,248 posts

199 months

Saturday 20th September 2014
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Something like a gearbox is a proper piece of engineering, it takes time and care to put them together properly. If you need to fault find it can take even longer.

All this means its labour intensive. , they sometimes need extra tools (pullers, circlip pliers etc) and you need a clean area for disassembly and reassembly. Technicians need to be trained on each type of gearbox and be provided procedures for strip & rebuild.

Its all too complicated and expensive to do on the front line - you can build gearboxes on an assembly line much quicker and cheaper than you can on a workshop floor and you will have all the QA etc.

If the faulty gearboxes go back to the manufacturer they might learn something from them to make design changes for next time around. If each one is repaired on the workshop floor you can't do that.

Same with turbos - no main dealer will rebuild a turbo, they will just change it out as a unit for exactly the same reason.

mygoldfishbowl

3,691 posts

142 months

Saturday 20th September 2014
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baccalad said:
Crafty you're right, if there's a fault with the gearbox the whole thing gets replaced, which means they have order in a replacement. The defective box then gets sent to VX themselves to be inspected, and I'm not quite sure but I think that might mean it gets sent to Germany? I don't understand why it wouldn't be easier for their technicians to strip the box down and send pictures of the faulty part to Vauxhall.

I wonder if this is part of the reason why dealerships are reluctant, because it's a drawn out hassle that's going to last over at least a few days.
I believe the gearboxes are made by an Italian firm whose name eludes me so the boxes probably get sent to Italy for inspection.

Previously I had an Astra H with an M32 box & the usual problem with those was lower mainshaft bearing failure. The parts for the M32 are readily available although not from Vauxhall & the boxes themselves could be rebuilt by a competent home mechanic.

rigga

8,727 posts

200 months

Saturday 20th September 2014
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61 plate car, is it still under vauxhall warranty?

baccalad

Original Poster:

220 posts

114 months

Saturday 20th September 2014
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Yeah it's still under warranty, only just mind as it came with a 3 year warranty when new. But I did first complain about it at around March time.

dave_s13

13,813 posts

268 months

Saturday 20th September 2014
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rigga said:
61 plate car, is it still under vauxhall warranty?
And was it bought from a VX dealer or a random garage.

The VX lifetime warranty is non transferable so if you bought from the latter then it'll be a struggle...it'll be a struggle either way actually. There's been a few threads on here about VX being a pig to deal with.

baccalad

Original Poster:

220 posts

114 months

Saturday 20th September 2014
quotequote all
dave_s13 said:
And was it bought from a VX dealer or a random garage.

The VX lifetime warranty is non transferable so if you bought from the latter then it'll be a struggle...it'll be a struggle either way actually. There's been a few threads on here about VX being a pig to deal with.
I originally bought the car from a random garage (Stoneacre Fiat) and the car isn't still under the lifetime warranty with me not being the first owner, but it is still under Vauxhall's 3 year warranty.