Car Servicing

Our 2011 Holden Cruze CD suffered a major transmission failure while we were travelling at 110 km/h on the freeway, causing it to pull up extremely rapidly, changing gears and over-revving the engine in the process. It all happened very quickly and was a terrifying experience; we were lucky no vehicles were behind us at the time as the situation could have resulted in a major accident. The dealer diagnosed transmission and oil cooler failures. Holden Customer Care has agreed to replace the transmission, but insist that we are responsible for replacing the oil cooler at around $1600. We indicated that we are not happy with that and asked for review with their mechanics, which they did, but still insist that the oil cooler failure could not be due to the transmission failure. We disagreed. This has dragged on since late May, and we feel the response and lack of follow though by Holden is unsatisfactory. We have been without a car since then, have had limited communication from them, and would appreciate your opinion to assist us in reaching a resolution. This car has been ours since new; it has been serviced as per the book, and has had a relatively easy operating life.

I just purchased a Mazda BT-50 3.2-litre diesel auto with less than 100,000 km and the auto gearbox is occasionally making a hard, loud clunk going from 1st to 2nd using sequential function and slips going through gears. Then today I started it and put it in reverse after a 1-minute warm-up and the gearbox made a loud grinding sound followed by a severe clunk when it finally went into reverse. I took it to the dealer and because the scan for error codes and software were ok they said just monitor it. Any ideas? I think damage has been done and it's not going to last?

I own a 2013 Mazda 6 diesel and have the same issues with the dpf as others have described in CarsGuide. Mazda has failed us all in terms of addressing this issue and have basically fobbed us off each time, denying there is a major problem.

I have recently purchased a 2017 VW Jetta and when driven at very slow speed it creeps and surges, for example when parking in a car park or similar. Is this a problem due to new technologies — gearbox or turbocharger?

I bought a 2012 Ford Mondeo TDCI just last month. It had travelled 104,000 km and came with a three-year warranty. Two times since then I’ve heard it make some sounds in the engine, but I couldn’t figure it out, as it’s a very low noise. The frequency depends on my accelerator, and when I stop and start again after few min it’s gone. Is the Mondeo a good long-term choice?

When should the first timing belt be changed on a 2004 Holden Astra?

I bought a Tidal Blue 2009 Kluger KX-S in 2010 from a dealer and have looked after it since. It now has less than 100,000 km on the clock. A few months ago I noticed paint peeling from the roof and then the bonnet – both are now completely bubbling and the clear coat is flaking off. It looks terrible and has totally devalued the car. The dealer and Toyota don't want to help, saying that it is normal wear and tear. I'm devastated as the cost of a re-spray is around $6000, but I will have no choice but to go ahead. Any comments or anyone else experienced issues with blue Toyota cars?

I have recently had a problem with my 2002 Toyota LandCruiser Prado. After having stopped at a set of lights, as I was proceeding to go, the engine symbol came on and the VCS turned off, and my Prado went into limp mode. I got to a safe spot, turned the engine off and waited a few seconds, turned it on again and the system seemed fine. However, this was repeated again a little while later at some roadworks, again after having to stop. Any clues as to what the problem may be so I can get the problem sorted before going on a trip up to Broome?

We purchased a 2015-plated Ford Everest in mid-2016. It's a beautiful car around town, however, when we set off on a 12 months trip around Australia at Christmas 2016, we started to have issues. We were towing 2.85-tonne with a GCM (as per weighbridge) of just over 5.7-tonne, so we were within the advertised specs (3-tonne towing, 6-tonne GCM). When we left Adelaide and the temperature reached 40 degrees, the Ford packed up with a turbo error message, which was claimed to be a glitch. From then on, we received ‘spanner' errors and the car would go in limp mode whenever under load. Time would vary from one to seven hours, driven by outside temperature and totally random. Ironically, the car would not log the errors in the on-board computer, so between Adelaide and Perth we were stuck three times and always got the same answer from dealers and Ford: "No log entry, nothing we can do. Drive to a dealer with the error active". Easy said, but hard to do when you're in the middle of the Nullarbor and your next dealership is 20 hours drive away in limp mode. This was escalated with Ford Australia, but we were told to simply “try a fourth time”, on the way to Broome. With three kids in the back, we took a rain check. Ford advised it would take them five to 10 working days to come back "with a solution, or an offer". It took a Toyota dealer 10 minutes to make an offer and we switched to a LandCruiser in Perth. Based on my experience and those of other caravaners we've met along the way, the Everest is not suited for towing at or near the advertised capacity of 3-tonne over extended periods of time in the harsh Australian climate. Full stop. Half of Everest owners we met on this trip either had issues with the turbo, or else the transmission. Ford has its head in the sand and will try to blame the issues on your wiring harness or bull bar, as they tend to be third party items. What can a consumer do in this situation? We lost a lot of money on a car in 12 months of ownership because it's not capable of doing what it's advertised for?