Car Servicing

Like a number of Nissan Navara owners I have the same shift shudder since new in July 2012. When I contacted Nissan I was first told that they had only had one complaint, and they said that it was tuned to international specs. But I'm driving in Melbourne. Can you help me?

I read with interest David McKillop's complaint in your column about a grinding noise in the steering of his VW Touareg as my car has the same problem. I would like to know how David got on when dealing with Volkswagen.

I recently purchased a six-cylinder Falcon XR6 ute with the ZF trans auto and so far I have been happy with it except for a loud thumping when it downshifts. At the same time there's a sensation of the car being pushed forward. When recently overtaking, it loudly changed down a gear and the next change was even louder. It thumped on both changes and it felt like it was pushing the ute forward. I have not approached the dealer yet because it's difficult to describe, intermittent, and I've tried to replicate the thumping but couldn't. Have you heard of this before and is there a fix?

I would like to know where I stand with an issue my husband and I have with our local Nissan dealership, where the service, or should I say the lack of service, is a disgrace. My husband purchased a brand new Nissan Navara STX 550 last year. We live in Ballarat, but at the time my husband was working near Warrnambool and had the first few services done there and they were brilliant. When his work at Warrnambool ended he began having the car serviced at our local dealer, the one we bought the car from. After one service my husband was advised that the intercooler was leaking and would need replacing under warranty, but they were not able to do it at the time, as they did not have the replacement part. After some weeks had passed without any contact from the dealer my husband contacted them and was given a time and date to bring in the ute to have intercooler rep laced. The day before the ute was due to go in my husband called the dealership to make sure all was ok and was told that the part was not there, so they would not be able to fix it, and they couldn't say when it would be to do the work. My husband explained that he had taken time off work and as he was self-employed so he was now losing money, but the guy did not seem concerned. My husband called again and was told the same thing and that nothing could be done. Eventually it was rescheduled for a later date and again he took half a day off work again to take the ute in for the repair. Several hours later he received a call stating that they would not have time to do it that day and asked if they could keep it overnight and work on it the following day. My husband held his cool and told them to put it all back together and he would be there to collect it unfixed, as he could not afford more time off work. So far around $2500 dollars had been lost through not being able to work. I contacted Nissan's Customer Service and lodged a complaint. The man I spoke to advised me he would filter our complaint through to the dealership. I asked what we could do about the lost wages because of their negligence and was advised we would need to take that up with the dealership directly. At this point I didn't think we would get anywhere and my husband did calm down eventually. In the end the intercooler was replaced, but we were never offered any formal apology or offered any sort of compensation. Anyway, the ute came due for its 80,000km service six weeks ago and my husband booked it in and reminded them that as per their last service records they said the brakes would need to be done. He dropped his ute off yesterday and got a text message to say it was ready and the bill was just under $1000. When he picked it up he noticed there was no mention of the brakes on the account and questioned the service manager who said there was no mention of brakes in the service request. My husband then pointed to the previous service history where it was advised that the brakes needed doing. The guy just stood there with a silly smirk on his face and said that they wouldn't have been able to do them anyway as they don't keep those brake pads in stock and they have to be ordered from Japan. My husband then asked him if they were able to order them in and he was told no they would not order them in until he booked his ute in again. My husband tried to explain he could not there and then as he had to find out when his next RDO was, but he was simply told they would not order anything in. Anyway my husband told them what he thought of him and how he ran his service department and what he thought of his customer service, which you can imagine was not good. On the way to work this morning my husband's ute had no cruise control and had an engine warning light flashing in the dash. Of course, he went straight onto the dealership and spoke to the manager. He explained his whole dealings with them. The manager firstly asked if he could return the ute for them to look at, but my husband explained he was working in Werribee and would be back in Ballarat around 6.30 pm. The manager was quick to advise no one would be around at that time to look at it, but suggested that he could take it to the dealership in Werribee and that he would call and organise it. My husband now needs to take more time off to get there before they close to have it looked at. The manager then advised he knew nothing of any complaint we had made to Nissan earlier and new nothing about the brake debacle the day before and admitted that that was not good enough and would look into it. I rang Nissan again to lodge a second complaint. The guy I spoke to saw the earlier complaint and noted that it had not been filtered through to the dealership and apologised. I lodged my complaint and he advised he would contact them and discuss. He asked what we wanted and I advised compensation from lost wages and feedback to the dealership so maybe they would change the way they treat people in the future. He made no comment about my husband's cost to deal with them. After the appalling service from the dealer my husband wanted to compliment the Warrnambool for their previous good service, and when he called he explained what had happened with the brakes and that he was told they didn't have any. He was told that they did have some brake pads at Warrnambool and would be prepared to send them to Ballarat to have a competent local mechanic fit them if that was ok with us. My husband said that he was not going to deal with Nissan again, but was worried about his warranty and was advised that as long as the vehicle was fitted with genuine Nissan parts the warranty would be fine. Can you advise us on the validity of the warranty if we go elsewhere for any future work? We will not be back to our local dealership again and am wondering what we could do about the lost income?

My 2009 Toyota RAV4 V6 auto has a whine in the transmission final drive that is evident between 40 and 100km/h, but loudest at lower speeds and under light load. Two auto trans specialists, a Toyota dealer Master Technician and three independent automotive technicians have diagnosed it and all consider it unacceptable. A Toyota Australia representative who drove the vehicle stated that the whine was a normal operational noise; even though other qualified people recommended that the source of the noise should be rectified. Toyota stands behind it representative and will not do anything. Do you have any suggestions?

Each time I after starting my new Subaru Liberty I hear a clunking sound when the speedo reaches about 20 km/h. Following my second visit to the dealer I was told that it was caused by the ABS module priming and it is quite common with Subaru vehicles. I have also contacted Subaru who directed me back to the dealer. I find the noise disconcerting, as I have never experienced it in any of the numerous cars I have driven. Is this noise acceptable or can it be rectified?

My 2007 Holden Astra CDTI was flawless until it reached 90,000km. Firstly the EGR valve failed, now the swirl flap guide rod has broken off, which requires a whole new inlet manifold. As they have dismantled the car they have found that the water pump is leaking and the high-pressure injector pump is leaking as well, and with a new manifold the car also requires a new swirl flap actuator. The prices of some of these items are staggering and now the extended warranty company is beginning to become difficult. I have approached Holden Customer Care seeking some assistance, but I'm not sure where that will lead. Holden is saying that it's outside of the warranty period, but my argument is it's only done 90,000km and has not missed a service at a Holden dealer. I cannot believe the misfortune that I'm having and have serious doubts of whether I would ever buy a diesel vehicle car again. Am I the only one with these problems?

I've just bought a 2008 Toyota Prado diesel auto that has done 100,000km. It's great, except for the first five minutes or so after I start driving in the morning when I'm at traffic lights and the car is stationary and the bonnet really shakes and rattles. Once it's warmed up there is no issue. Your thoughts please?

I used to own a 2003 VY Holden Crewman that had a water problem similar to Graham Hoffman's (Carsguide 23/08/13). After replacing the door seals etc. it was found to be lack of sealant in the seam below the windscreen under the bonnet. Apparently the robotic caulking guns in the factory would run out of sealant and continue to pump nothing into a car before it was noticed in the factory.

I recently had my VW Amarok in for a 45,000 km service. Prior to the service I inspected my front brakes just to check on pad wear etc. and noticed that my disc rotors seemed noticeably worn, but my brake pads had around 50 percent wear. I asked the dealer to check the rotors as I felt the wear was excessive. After the service the report stated that my disc rotors were only just legally over the maximum wear tolerance. I discussed the issue with VW and explained if the vehicle had travelled over 45,000 km and the brake pads were only half worn that I am clearly not a heavy braker. I reckon if I can get close to 90,000 km out of a set of pads it shows I am not a heavy braker and there must be a fault with the disc rotors. I was told that as far as VW were concerned this is not a valid warranty issue and brake pads or rotors are not covered by the warranty. Disappointed with this response I rang VW customer care and was again told that VW did not permit warranty on brake issues. Does VW expect Amarok drivers to replace two sets of disc rotors with each set of brake pads? I feel it is extremely unsafe for a disc rotor to wear out at twice the rate of a pad. Can you please help?