33 replies to this topic

[TurboTomato]

Ok, I'll just put things down in the order that I remember them. This is not a good service post

From my old Lightning Yellow

1. I got a recall letter from Vauxhall saying that the airbag needed to be replaced. Booked the car in stating airbag recall. Drop the car off and phone back in the afternoon expecting the car to be ready, but no, they are 'waiting on a part sir'. Hmmmmmm, I wonder what part that could be? So despite having about 3 weeks notice that it is coming in for an airbag (they generally have 3 weeks at least between me booking and the car going in as I need a courtesy car as I live about 8 miles from the dealer) they failed to order one in. The car was off the road for 2 days because of that
2. During the summer I had 2 problems with the car - the heater not working and knocking coming from the steering. Parts were ordered in for both and my car was re-booked in. Come the day I drop the car off, pick up the courtesy car only to be rung at 10am at work to be told that actually the part isn't in, and there's nothing they can do to the car
3. The next time the car goes in a coupling in the steering is replaced and the heater was supposed to be fixed. Then they say the part needed for the heater has been 'sent back accidentally' so no fix again. This is approximately 2 months after they had ordered the part for the heater. The coupling doesn't fix the steering problem, but for once that isn't their fault
4. New steering rack ordered and car booked in. I drop it off and they warn me it will be a few days off the road. When I pick it up a few days later they have finally fixed the heater and done the steering rack. But in the process the instrument panel has been scratched and the stalks have not been put back on properly. Oh and the small matter of them not noticing that the steering wheel is on straight during the 13 miles they have put on the clock

That's all I can remember for the LY other than one case where they kept the car in longer than they originally said and I was going away for a long weekend and stated that I'd just have to keep their car. To which they got pretty arsey and demanded I return it. Frankly it's not my problem if they haven't got my car ready

Turbo:

1. When I got the car it had a seriously leaky boot. Leave it parked facing uphill in the rain and the boot would get soaked. The problem was very obvious - where the boot seal joined at the bottom end of the boot there was a hole and water was getting in there. Plain and simple it needed a boot seal. I booked it in and even got the guy to come out and have a look at the seal for himself (who incidentally was telling me how he was trying to 'do donuts' around a roundabout in one - not likely to be his car). Did the usual of dropping the car off and picking up a courtesy car. Rung back in the afternoon to be told (you've guessed it)....... waiting on a part. This was a Friday and they told me they could get it in for next morning and I could pick it up on Saturday. Funnily enough that didn't happen, and I kept getting the same until I eventually got it back on Tuesday. What really annoyed me was that they had asked me 'is there anything else we can have a look at' so I told them to check the stereo front that was not flipping properly, sagging hood that needed adjusting and most importantly dipped headlights that were so badly adjusted I could hardly see a thing and were bloody dangerous. The car was also filthy when I dropped it off. When I came to collect they had done nothing but the boot seal and blamed the computer system for the fact that nothing else was done. The car was also still filthy, which I would have no problem with had it been done same day but they'd had it in for 3 1/2 days and still not found 30 mins to clean it. Oh and another 10 miles on the clock

2. It went in again recently after the passenger window wouldn't go up properly. That was allegedly 'fixed' although the problem came back within about a week (or 3 winding downs of the window) but luckily freed itself again. The window still doesn't seal properly at the windscreen end though, which was fine before

3. The last time in went in was a couple of weeks ago for a new seatbelt. That seemed to go quite smoothly for a change but they mentioned something about needing the car back in for some trim clips they didn't have (I've heard nothing) and a few of the remaining trim clips have fallen off

4. Having washed the car at the weekend I noticed the boot seal had come apart again and I was getting a wet boot. This time I've sealed it myself as I'm fed up with them touching the car and making things worse

It has got to the point now that I would rather put up with a problem than have them try to fix it and cause a host of others. I absolutely hate using them but have no other choice due to practicalities of getting the car to and from dealers

And yes, if someone from Stevens is reading this you seriously need to get your act sorted out as this level of customer service is totally unacceptable. You can contact me if you need

Having spoken to other VX owners that have used Stevens Crawley it seems my experiences are unfortunately the norm rather than the exception

[benw]

Don't want to start the same argument again but I don't think the same can be said of both the Horsham and Crawley branches of Stevens. I know others had different views but my experience at Horsham has been nothing but perfect since buying the car there 2 years ago. I also know that their mechanics have all had the official VX220 training which is a step ahead of many bog standard dealers.

[TurboTomato]

This is why I have referred to them as Stevens Crawley rather than just Stevens. Horsham does getting better ratings from what I hear, however my only dealing with them, quite a while ago with my original 2.2, was not very good

[vee ex]

Yeah - I found Horsham Stevens OK - but with reservations... As I live so close to Dunsfold I'll be taking mine to Plans for it's next service - at least you get an exact price list and a courtesy car. I'm not advertising Plans BTW - I'll give you a full unbiased report on here afterwards....

[MartinS]

Below is part of a letter sent to Mr Stevens, of Stevens Vauxhall Take it as a warning. Initially in mid February, my car (VX220) went in to your Horsham branch for a simple service and passenger window adjustment, and, to have seat rails checked (The seat moves around) and to check the steering rack which was not working properly. I was told they had checked the seat rails, but glass from a headlight bulb, accidentally broken by the Stevens employee who picked up the car, was still under the seat in a pile, blatantly showing they had not taken the seat out as I was told. I was told nothing would be done about the seat rails whereas as other VX220 owners have had them replaced under warranty. The steering rack was agreed to be replaced under warranty, and the parts necessary were ordered. It came out of the garage later that day, dirty, oil marks over the interior, a damaged interior door panel, a damaged radiator and the oil had been overfilled noticeably. Not the best service I’ve had! The car went back in for the steering rack work, and later that day I got a phone call from the service department saying they have looked everywhere but could not find the locking wheel nut. I informed them, that it was in exactly the same place as in all VX 220’s. This was a bit worrying, as I had been told your garage were VX specialists! After 2 days, they called me and told me that though they had taken the car apart, they didn’t have all the correct parts to put it back together. The car was kept for that weekend, ruining my plans totally. The following week, I was informed the car would be kept for an unknown length of time, and told it could be weeks possibly even months as they’ve had these problems before with getting VX 220 parts. That is when I got in touch with your Peter Stevens, and afterwards, the far from perfect solution was found, where I could take the car home (it was the Easter bank holidays) if I basically signed a form saying that I understand Vauxhall don’t agree the work is correct yet (an original nut was used again)it’s , but I am willing to ignore that. (Interestingly, the car was driven for 20 miles while with the garage!) I assumed naturally, that this was for a short period only and that Stevens would do what they could to speed up the process. However, two weeks later I had still heard nothing, so I rang Horsham and found that the parts are in, but they hadn’t bothered to call me and, despite the situation, they could not lend me a car, so the work could still not be done for another two weeks when a loan car would be available. Finally the car went in for the steering rack completion, new radiator and new door panel. The work was done. I drove away from your garage, and within ten miles I had a coolant low, red warning light. It turns out, that when replacing the radiator, they had not put enough coolant back in the car, with it being over a litre short. I also discover that when doing the radiator they had not connected the blower pipe properly so no air, cold or warm can get in the car, and, that when doing the door passenger panel, they have put it back together in such a way that the window, will no longer wind up or down. The car went in again. By now it is April 25th. Over 2 months since I first brought the car to your garage. My concerns with your mechanics abilities meant that on return of the car, I had to check it over completely to make sure it was at least safe to drive. Dont go there. Their mechanics are totally incompetent. Martin S

[i need nos]

makes me sick hearing stuff like that... ive been doin alot of research into the vx and can probably do a better job than those guys myself... ive gone from not knowing how to change oil to a vx specialist so bring it to me if u want a full service lol....

[shavedsporty]

sorry about that fella ive had a similar experience with bellingers in oxford

[Smiler]

Martin have you sent this to Vaux as well ? I would. My steering rack needed replacing... i took it to a lotus specialist.. they had the parts within the week. As I recall the rack was on within 2 days. This level of service you have had is unacceptable!

[wrightster]

Smiler , i went to your mentioned specialist yesterday and saw your car, what a great bunch , Andy showed me round the workshop as well thanks for the reccomendation

[Smiler]

A good "find" I think!

[Ricardo]

It seems no Vauxhall dealer is capable of looking after these cars - I have had two nightmare episodes - one still ongoing. Why can't lotus dealers be included for warranty work?

[MartinS]

I had to go there as it was warranty stuff, but will be going to PLANS from now on. Its a shame, so many people have so many bad stories about Vauxhall dealers. Martin S

[benw]

Well, I can't argue with the facts of others experiences but it's only fair that I post details of my positive experiences. As I mentioned I bought my car from Horsham in April 2003 as an ex demo. I popped back a few weeks later to ask about whether it had the ABS upgrade and a couple of other questions (Prompted by reading this forum!) and whilst there the salesman (A member on this site no less!) noticed some stonechips and the chip of paint by the base of windscreen wiper arm and promised to get hold of a touch-up stick for me. Lo and behold I went by again a few weeks later and there it was waiting for me - free of charge. If that wasn't enough he then went and got one of their mechanics to come out and touch the paint up for me with his expert eye! Sadly my next visit was after the front clam got trashed in a collision with a motorbike. After being assessed the car was booked in for Thursday week and a courtesy car arranged. After dropping the car off on Thursday I headed off to Somerset for the weekend. I had the friday and Monday off work to make it a long weekend so imagine my surprise when I got the call to my mobile in Somerset on Monday to say the car was ready! They said it would be no problem to pick it up on the Tuesday instead as they'd taken the precaution of booking out the car for the rest of the week for me. The following day I picked up the car and it was absolutely gleaming. They did a much better job of the wheels than I ever have! All I had to do is sign and leave. A few people at the national meet mentioned that the gaps between the panels looked a bit too big and I'd noticed the bonnet was wabbling a bit so I booked the car back in for adjustments. When dropping the car off they put my car alongside a new VXT in the workshop to compare the gaps and we all agreed what direction the clam should move in. They offered me a courtesy car for the day so they could have some time to get it right. They did get it right and again it came back clean (Although perhaps not quite as clean as before!) and of course no charge. Next two visits were services. Nothing special to say. A little bit more expensive than others on here have reported but everything was fine and the car came back just as I'd left it with them. On one of the services I asked them to check the rocking seat and adjust the handbrake. They tightened up the seat a bit but refused to replace it on warrantee (TADS!) and adjusted the handbrake - again at no extra charge. Then the steering rack went. I took it for an assessment and they diagnosed the fault and promised a new rack on warrantee. They also agreed to put the turbo seals on under warrantee. There was no negotiation or persuasion required - they just did it. Before I had a chance to take it in the car overheated on the motorway. Vauxhall Assistance had it trailered to Horsham and they had a quick look around and found a disconnected pipe from the rad. It was Friday and unfortunately the weekend was fully booked so they couldn't offer me courtesy car. The service rep even went to ask the car hire division if they could give me one of the hire cars but there were none available. They apologised but promised I could pick up the courtesy car on Monday. In the meantime they offered me a lift to town so I could get the train to work and told me to give them a call on Monday morning and they'd come and pick me up from the station again. After getting picked up and taken to the dealer on Monday they told me they'd had a look at it and discovered the head gasket had failed and they'd have to replace it. Nothing to worry about though and it's all on warrantee again so they'd let me know when it's done. This time it took about 10 days to finish - the usual delay for parts to be delivered apparently - but once it was done I got the call and went to pick her up. Just a signature required and a friendly chat with the mechanic who said the loose radiator pipe obviously wasn't fitted properly since manufacture and he was surprised it held out this long! Everything had been done as promised including the steering rack and seals and again the car had been washed (Anyone who remembers my car gleaming at the Christmas meet last year will know the good job they did!) I've had another service since then but again nothing special to say. Everything was just tickety boo. So my extensive experience of Stevens Horsham has been great. I'm not sure what to say about others experiences because it honestly sounds like a different dealer to me.

[TurboTomato]

Maybe they just treat you like crap if you haven't bought a car off them? Why the massive inconsistencies in service?

[MartinS]

Interestingly. When I spoke to Peter Stevens about the problems I was having, he did ask me if I had bought the car from them. I did wonder what relevance that had at the time. Maybe a pattern is forming, though to be honest I think that a lot of the work, simply isnt being done by the VX220 mechanic, hence being asked questions like where is the unlocking wheel nut! Martin s

[Smiler]

Question.. "where is you locking wheel nut sir?" Answer " where they told you it was on your VX tech training course"!!!! as for.. "did you purchase from us" .. don't they have computers??? records? ffs... !

Edited by Smiler, 10 May 2005 - 07:36 AM.

[TurboTomato]

as for.. "did you purchase from us" .. don't they have computers??? records? ffs... !

But it should make no difference at all if the car was bought from them or not - the level of service should be good whichever

[monty77]

Well I'm going to give Horsham a chance to sort my leaky coolant bottle next week .. surely no one can screw that up ?!?! ...funny thing - when I called up bloke seemed very surprised when I said (tongue in cheek) that they were highly recommended for VX work - filled me with confidence that A

[monty77]

@TT - my boot seal is round the other way compared to yours, join is nearest the engine - may be worth a try for your leaky boot seeing as it would suit the incline of your driveway A

[TurboTomato]

Well I'm going to give Horsham a chance to sort my leaky coolant bottle next week .. surely no one can screw that up ?!?!

...funny thing - when I called up bloke seemed very surprised when I said (tongue in cheek) that they were highly recommended for VX work - filled me with confidence that 

A

Mine is booked in for its 20k service on the 13th at Horsham, let's see if they can do a good job this time

I hear if you name drop Stu Harris you get much better (and quicker) service!!

Edit: wtf is the 3th???

Edited by TurboTomato, 03 June 2005 - 01:48 PM.