Opel Reliabilty & Customer Service Issues

PaddyN

Hi all,

I’ve had a right run around with my Opel lately and I know that there is plenty more going on out there as my partner has an Opel too and has a lot of problems. I left my twintop Astra to Hinchy's garage in Garryspillane in Limerick for a routine service on December 8th. I also asked them to carry out the necessary update to the steering wheel column as per a letter I received from Opel in relation to a recall as this may have impacted the use of the horn.

The day after the service, my boot would not open and there was no sound from the mechanism when pressing the switch on the boot. I also noticed that my rear window heater had stopped working. This was very frustrating because the "door open" alarm was sounding as soon as I went over 30 kmph. The cars computer must have thought that the boot was open. This alarm sounded continuously for several minutes while driving and then switched off. As soon as I dropped below 30 kmph and then went over it again, the alarm would sound again. This is a major distraction for me while driving which is clearly unsafe.

I contacted Hinchy's garage to advise them of the problem and they asked me to bring the car back to be inspected. I returned with the car the following week as I do not live near the garage and was unable to get there before they closed as I work shifts. After 2 hours of waiting, the service manager informed me that there was an intermittent fault in the control module in the boot of the car and that this would need to be replaced. This would cost me just under €700 including labour. Reluctantly, I agreed to have this done as I didn't see any alternative. The part was not in stock so I asked if the “door open” alarm could be disabled at the very least as it is very annoying. I was informed that this could not be done as the entire control module would have to be disabled which would mean I would have no functioning tail lights. I was also advised that I would not be able to open the boot myself until the new control module was fitted and that the garage was only able to manually open the boot for inspection. As the part was not in stock and had to be ordered from Germany, I decided to leave it until after Christmas to have this fixed.

Shortly after leaving the garage I noticed that the "door open" alarm was not sounding. Worried that the module had been disabled and that my tail lights were not working, I pulled over to get out and check. The lights were working and I tried to open the boot. To my shock the boot opened fine but would not reopen once I closed it, however, there now was a sound coming from the mechanism when pressing the switch. I called the garage again and was advised that as the issue is intermittent, it would not work again for me. Over the Christmas period, the "door open" alarm never sounded again and my rear window heater had started working again.

I contacted Hinchy's in January when they reopened to have the part ordered and asked the service manager to call me when the part arrived. I called numerous times in January to enquire if the part had arrived and I received no follow up phone call at any stage from the service manager. I had to do all the work here! The part was finally delivered on Friday 28th of January.

I took some time off work to return to the garage on Thursday 3rd Feb to have this issue fixed. After another 2 hours I was informed that all is well and the issue had been fixed. The technician was able to fix the issue by reprogramming the control module that I already had, so there was no need to use the new one. I was happy with this as it only ended up costing me €206 instead of €700. I paid this gladly. I asked if the roof was working also and I was informed that it was. I was driving home when I thought that I should check it myself to be sure. I pulled in and opened the boot but to my disappointment it would not close. I had to drive back to the garage with the boot open. The car was inspected again and I was informed that it was ok and that the boot was probably just out of alignment and that they had opened and closed it about 20 times to make sure it was ok. I tried it once more also before leaving and it worked fine. I drove home and went to the supermarket. When I returned to my car and unlocked the doors with the key fob, my boot would not open again and like before, the mechanism was not making any sound. My rear window heater is not working again and the annoying "door open" alarm has returned.

I contacted the service manager immediately and he asked me to bring the car back again on Friday4th. Luckily I was off work that day. I returned to have the car inspected again and was told that they had discovered a loose connection in the roof that they believe is causing the problem. To fix this, the interior roof panels would have to be removed and I would need to leave the car with them as this would take longer than a day. The service manager was unable to provide me with a loan car as none were available. As I didn’t have another mid-week day off until Monday 14th, I was unable to return with the car.

I contacted Hinchy’s again to arrange a loan car on Monday 14th and again I was advised that there isn’t one available at the moment. Since my last visit I have noticed that there appears to be water trapped in the chassis of the car. When I accelerate I can hear the water whooshing from the front right of the car to the rear right and when I brake, I can hear it flowing from the back right to the front right. This does not appear to be in the door as I opened this and moved it back and forth but there was no sound so I believe it to be running in the beam below the car door. I can only assume that whatever work was carried out to realign the boot when it would not close, has caused a leak somewhere or disturbed a seal

Unhappy with the situation I decided to contact a Manager at Hinchy’s to escalate the issue. The manager said he would look into the matter and contact me back the next day (Tuesday 15th Feb). As usual, no follow up call was received. I called him again around 17:30 on Tuesday 15th to see if there had been an update and he said he would need to talk to the service manager who is out sick at the moment. I tried to express to him how I was unhappy with this treatment and to ask if a loan car could be reserved for me which is something that should have been done two weeks ago. The manager's attitude was poor to say the least asking questions such as “did you buy this car here?” I did not buy the car in Hinchy’s but I have been a customer of theirs for years and have always gotten my car serviced there since I purchased it. I have also paid them €206 to fix this problem and to date it has only gotten worse.

I work as a customer services manager myself and so believe in giving any company an opportunity to rectify an issue. I have been patient up to this point but I have lost all confidence in Opel as a reputable manufacturer and in their dealer network to carry out maintenance to the required standard. I have been inconvenienced by having to take numerous days off work and driving a considerable distance from my home to have this issue looked into 5 times so far.

I have sent a complaint to Opel so lets see what happens next!

jetsonx

PaddyN wrote: »

I did not buy the car in Hinchy’s

From an outsiders point-of-view, this line really stuck out and I'm asking myself why you did not take your car back to where you bought it? The folks at H***** garage are probably asking that question also and probably don't see you as a "proper" customer. (and yes I know what you've said about getting your car serviced there)

You seemed to have followed your complaints process quite well letting them know your concerns on a repeated basis. It would certainly put me off ever contemplating buying an Opel.

I would say let a fresh pair of eyes look at the issues in your car. Find another garage.

alexmcred

I'd send a letter of complaint to Opel Ireland and a registered letter to the owner of the garage out lining your complains and ask for a reply back in writing.

I'd also look for a new garage to work on the car in future

PaddyN

I bought the car in an Opel dealer in Dublin so its not practical to return to that dealer. I have had 4 services from Hinchy's so I am a customer of theirs also and as a main Opel dealer they have duty to maintain any Opel to the required specifications regardles of where it was purchased. The car is convertible and as such requires a main dealer who is qualified on the twin top version of the Astra to run the required diagnostics. Glad to hear that you have reconsidered Opel. My partner owns an identicle car to mine and also has had numerous issues and poor service from another Opel dealer in Limerick including an episode of speeding while the car was being serviced! Watch this space for more detail on that!!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

I don't use your garage but all I can say is that in 25 years of driving Opels (as does my wife and daughter) I have had very few car problems (just sevices and a couble of crashes) and have received service over and above the norm. So good in fact that I wrote to Opel Ireland complimenting the quality of service. I'll be interested in what Opel Ireland have to say to you.

sunnysoutheast

Have a look at Honest John:

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/vauxhall/astra-twintop-2006/?section=bad

Good luck getting it sorted.

SSE

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

sunnysoutheast wrote: »

Have a look at Honest John:

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/vauxhall/astra-twintop-2006/?section=bad

Good luck getting it sorted.

SSE

I don't mean to take from your link but you can't compare any Britsih built Vauxhall models with Opel builds from Germany or Belgium.

sunnysoutheast

Jakob Gifted Stratum wrote: »

I don't mean to take from your link but you can't compare any Britsih built Vauxhall models with Opel builds from Germany or Belgium.

You may know more than me but I'd be surprised if the low-volume twintop models, whether branded Vauxhall or Opel, weren't all built in the same factory with a different badge stuck on the grille and steering wheel.

SSE

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

sunnysoutheast wrote: »

You may know more than me but I'd be surprised if the low-volume twintop models, whether branded Vauxhall or Opel, weren't all built in the same factory with a different badge stuck on the grille and steering wheel.

SSE

They're not. Trust me.

sunnysoutheast

Jakob Gifted Stratum wrote: »

They're not. Trust me.

So RHD Vauxhall twintops for the UK market are built in one factory, whereas RHD Opel twintops for the miniscule Irish market are built in a different factory? Can't see the sense in that if so, but we're going off topic.

Good luck anyway OP, hope you get it fixed.

SSE

PaddyN

Ok so sent my complaint to Opel on Tuesday 15th.I got a voicemail from them on Wednesday morning to tell me that they had received my complaint and that they would be contacting the dealer to follow up and they would come back to me with an update either on Wednesday evening or Thursday at the latest. Guess what!! Its now Friday and I've heard nothing more from Opel.

The dealer called me on Wednesday. My partner answered the call and they asked to get me to call back on Thursday morning to organise a loan car. Called the dealer on Thursday morning and asked to speak to the service manager. He was busy so the other guy from service that answered the call took my number and told me he'd get the manager to call me back in the next 15 minutes. I waited an hour and surprise suprise, no phone call. I called them back again around 12:45 and the manager was still not available. The other guy who answered the phone told me that the manger was very busy and he'd make sure he called me back as soon as possible. Still no phone call hours later!! I called them again at 16:30 and finally got the manager. He told me that they had a loan car this morning but that its gone now. I was a bit furious with this because if he had called me back or instructed someone else what to do if I called, I could have gone to the dealer with my car, picked up the loan car and gotten the ball rolling. I asked him how come the car was gone and he said that they sold it! Now I have to wait until Monday 21st to get a loan car and bring mine in. Meanwhile the water is still sloshing around, the alarm is still going off constantly and I cant defog my rear window or open the boot! The saga continues... Wonder if Opel will bother contacting me at all???

PaddyN

After my 5th time back all is fixed. Kind of. They had my car for over a week and eventually called me to say it was ready and I collected the car on the 1st of March. The water traped in the chassis was fixed and the dodgy boot was linked to a break in the wiring that has now been resaldered and covered in insulating tape! Boot seems to work fine now (touch wood). A rattle in the roof that they were also fixing is a lot better but still not gone and the tweeter (small speaker at the front of the car) on the right hand side wasn't working when I got the car back!
What is really comical though is that the representative from Opel that left me a voicemail back in on the 16th of February, called me on the 18th of March to say that they had just received my email complaint and apologised for the delay in coming back to me as the email was not received until now. He could see it was sent back in February and asked me if the issues had been resolved yet. When I told him that he called me the day after I sent the email advising that he was going to contact the dealer on my behalf, he just stuttered saying "are you sure it was me?" I said "yes It was you St***t and you left me a vm". The guy had the same Welsh accent and everything! He said "oh thats strange, I have no notes of that on the case here" So I'm guessing the dealer was never contacted. When I told him that I was not hapy with the overall experience from Opel and their dealer network and that my partner had experienced multiple issues with the same model car, he didn't seem bothered and just said "oh well sorry about that". I advised him that I would not be choosing Opel again and he said "Oh well I'm glad everything is sorted anyway". At this point I couldn't be bothered anymore and just left it there. What a poor way to treat your customers Opel! Shame.

dazza27

As someone who works in the Opel network I feel compelled to comment on this issue. I do sympathize with the issues you have had but some of your facts are wrong which always makes me wonder about the rest of the details !! The "st***t " you refer to so precisely as welsh is from Newcastle and all vauxhall / Opel twin tops are built in the exact same factory and are identical cars apart from the badges!

concon26

Hi PaddyN. I had the same problem a couple of months back. The boot would open sometimes and not on others. I found a mechanic who was able to replace it for only €150. He said the motor had gone so I was really lucky. I am starting to think it is best to avoid Opel garages at this stage. I had my NCT last week and it failed because the steering rack is leaking. The annoying thing is I paid €685 two years ago to get this job fixed in JJ Flemmings in Galway. I rang up about it leaking again and they said that there is nothing they can do because the part only came with a 12 month warranty. I have tried to contact the Opel customer care team on 5 occasions to speak with a manager because there is less than 60,000 miles on the car. I got through to a care agent who said she would phone me back that day. I still haven't heard anything and anytime I ring and ask for her the receptionist is putting me through to a generic voicemail, saying they are really busy at the moment. By any chance has anyone else had this problem before?

slimjimmc

Really old thread! Closed.