Recalls

I am looking to buy a 2013 Holden Cruze CDX 1.8-litre sedan, but I have seen so many negative things about the Cruze.

Do I have to worry about them, or do the problems only affect the earlier models? I checked the service history, which showed me that its oil cooler had to be replaced six months ago. Do I have to be worried?

I'm in the market for a used van. I believe that the problem of turbochargers "blowing up" in the Hyundai iLoad was solved at some stage.

Could you tell me which year/MY's are "safe" to buy?

Problem with the carbon build up and turbo lag in an engine that’s done 200,000 km.

Three months ago whilst driving on a freeway I couldn’t get to top speed, the turbo didn’t want to kick in. It was sluggish and when it did boost there was a cloud of black smoke out the exhaust. On investigation it was found that the EGR valve was almost blocked with carbon. The management system was not registering any problem, then or since. The EGR was replaced and the addition of a carbon catch canister. Problem continued irregularly with the car not accelerating because the turbo was not boosting and black smoke continues under acceleration.

I have spent $2500 at this stage and the problem continues, though I have had some small improvement by going on a long drive and adding a fuel injector and carbon cleaner to two tanks of diesel. There is no loss of power when it is working and the black smoke didn’t exist before this current problem. I don’t know what to do next and I’m not getting much useful advice from anywhere. Every time I see someone it costs more money! I did find the following when asking about 2007/8 Prado Problems on the Internet.

Toyota has recalled diesel Prado’s in Europe and the Kiwis are replacing the seals every 45,000 km. It would be worth having the oil pickup in diesel engines inspected before purchase, which can be done by inserting a probe through the oil drain plug. If it has a build-up of carbon on the pickup the engine is suspect, if there is no carbon the engine is most likely in the clear.

I am really frustrated and disappointed to read on your site the number of car owners who have had problems with the auto transmission in their Holden Cruzes.

I am now dealing with the same issue and the customer 'care' has been extremely disappointing. How are Holden not accountable to fixing what appears to be a known, widespread fault with the transmission in the 2010 Cruze? How has there not been a recall on this, along with every other recall we have had on this model? I have only been offered a part compensation to replace the gearbox because apparently my service record is not logbook perfect by Holden's standards.

Should a transmission be failing in a vehicle that has not yet done 70,000 km, and should I continue to advocate for full compensation on the repair?

Firstly, my 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer is in perfect condition with only 130,000 km on the odometer.

Last year I took my car in for the airbag recall at the Mitsubishi service centre. After collecting my car it would not accelerate above 20 km/h and the engine light was on. I returned to the centre and complained. Mitsubishi washed its hands of the situation. Basically, they told me that since I had not serviced my car through them in three years they don’t know what had been to my car.

Mitsubishi blew the on-board computer system, which was costly to replace. I received another recall for the airbag this week, but I’m terrified the same thing will happen. My car is valued at $6000 est. I don’t want to pay another $2000 to fix their costly mistake. What should I do? I’m furious I have to go through this again.

The transmission in my 2010 Holden Cruze is faulting again. Holden replaced it under warranty three years ago. Since then it has only done 40,000 km. I've taken it to a dealer and they advised me that it would need to be replaced and would cost $5800. Holden declined my request for assistance. I escalated this and they asked that I complete a full diagnostic on the transmission at my expense (10 hours labour). Is this fair? They are looking for signs of manufacturing defects. Presumably if they don't find any, would that be case closed?