32 replies to this topic

[SSH1]

07/09/2002 I bought a brand new VX220 one week later I took the car to my local dealer (not the supplying dealer) to report a problem with water leaking in through the roof. Service Dept told me to see the bodyshop, bodyshop told me there was nothing they could do and to ring Vauxhall (all without looking at the car). Rang Vxl Customer services and 10 days later met their area rep. at local dealer, agreed to get water seal replaced to cure leaking & to get dealer to look at problems with alarm going off,damaged interior door trim, boot catch sticking open & poor quality of dashboard fit. 2 weeks later car taken to dealer to fix above problems & also reported problem with the wiper fouling the bonnet when lifted (I actually chipped some paint off). 8 days later car collected from dealer, from their report they replaced water seal,alarm ECU and damaged door trim,also dashboard removed and refitted. They could not find any fault with the boot catch & advised parking wiper in middle of windscreen if I wanted to lift it! 23/10 I then sent a letter to Vxl customer services stating I would like to reject the car as I was unhappy about the quality of it and the dealer listing the following issues: Alarm still going off repeatedly Wiper fouling bonnet (paint chipped). Drivers side seat belt stalk rubbing on centre console (scratching off silver paint). Doors rattling (and stating the know issue of incorrect door pin sizes). Boot lock still sticking open (my girlfriend had to call out the AA when it got stuck in the middle of South London). Steering wheel now rubbing against column cowling when turning (since dealer refitted dashboard). Something sliding about under passenger seat (since dealer had it). Radio fascia trim broken (my own radio,not vauxhall supplied, since dealer refitted dashboard, I know they removed it as they rang me up to ask where removal keys where). Dashboard fit still very poor. Car still leaking. 15/11 Received a reply from Vxl Customer services stating that having reviewed my letter that it did not provide any evidence to suggest a manufacturing or material defect, therfore they did not think there was justification to exchange the car, and wanted to take the car to their technical centre in Luton to address issues. 20/11 Agreed to let them take car to technical centre. 24/11 Sent another letter to Customer services manager reiterating my dissatisfation with the car and the whole ownership experience,and telling them I still wanted to reject it, but agreeing for them to take it to their technical centre. 25/11 Car dropped off at local dealer for return to technical centre in Luton (6mth old Aastra Coupe 1.8 supplied as loan car from Vxl). Waiting.............. 17/12 Call received from Customer Service manager

[Purebob]

That is a sad catalogue of problems and poor service you have there. What a pity that the problems and Vauxhall's apparently poor customer care have spoiled your joy at owning this lovely car. While most owners who post here do not seem to have suffered neither your large number of problems nor your awful service, some certainly have, and it is clear that Vauxhall have only themselves to blame for their poor reputation for customer care and reliability. C'mon Vauxhall, make people buy your products BECAUSE of the customer care care, not DESPITE it.

[SSH1]

Sorry some how posted this before finishing this... To continue: 17/12 Received call from Customer Service manager stating car almost done,but waiting for modified header seal. 20-27/01 called several times to speak to manager, was promised call back eacj time but never received one. 28/01 received call saying car was almost ready, just waiting for 'VX220' expert to road test it. Asked for Technical report of what had been done & reply to my letter of 24/11 30/01-07/02 Called several times, was again promised repy to letter & Technical report. 10/02 received voice mail for Cust. Services manager listing faults addressed and that car was ready, called him back as he didn't mention half of the faults, agreed to look into this for me & reply to letter. 14/02 Received call from local dealer saying car was back with them and I should come and collect it! 17/02 Heated discussion with Vauxhall Customer Service Manager, in which he told me as far as he was concerned all issues had been addressed and offering me free servicing and a meal out at Vauxhalls expense as a gesture of goodwill. Told him what do do with meal & said I didn't want the car back at all as I didn't believe thay had fully addressed all the issues with the car, and I wasn't prepared to put up with the shoddy service I was getting from them and the local dealer. 21/02 Finally received reply to letter of 24/11 and a list of what has been done to car. No mention of alarm,boot lock, badly fitting dashboard or radio fascia. He does say 'unfortunately I am unable to comply with your request to reject the vehicle. We do not make provision for this under the terms of our warranty ,where our responsibility is to effect repair.' He goes on to offer as a gesture of goodwill £500 of VX220 accessories, and is supposed to be arranging a meeting with the Dealer Principle & a Vauxhall Customer Care Service Manager. Iam so angry at the shabby way that Vauxhall & their Dealers think they can treat people, I have no faith in their ability to resolve issues that my arise, or in the level of their quality control. I can't believe the car could leave the factory, where presumeably there is a level of quality control,go through a pre delivery inspection at the dealer, and none of these faults be picked up. I also can't believe that the dealer can give me back the car after attempting a repair where the steering wheel is so obviously rubbing on the column cowling (you can hear the plastic grinding), and whare something is left rattling about in the back that you can hear going from side to side when cornering. I can't believe that Vauxhall can then, after having my car for over 2 months, for repairs at their technical centre, think that they can offer me £500 of accessories, which in all reality costs them about half that, and still boosts their sales of parts. I feel now that the whole ownership experience is ruined, I have now in effect got a 5 month old car for which I have been paying monthly finance for which has had a series of faults, that I still don't believe are fully rectified. I bought a brand new car so that I would have trouble free motoring for the next 3 years, but all I can see is more misery & frustration. Sorry to go on. Regards Chris

[Thorney]

Chris, I've got to say this is certainly a sorry story of Vauxhalls customer service failing miserably. However, the faults you list, in my opinion would not warrant a complete rejection of the car. However I also agree that your shoddy treatment deserves more than £500.

[P11 COV]

Chris Most of these problems have been experienced by various VX owners though probably not all by one owner. I myself have experienced the scratched center console, badly fitted door and a small water leak. And yes a lot of us have noticed that the wiper blade can foul the bonnet but are just careful not to let it do so. Fortunatly I was warned of the problem by someone on this forum before doing it. I think the problem is very much Vauxhalls attitude and some of thier dealers. My, what I feel are minor, problems have be compouded by slow service by the dealer and Vauxhall themselves, silly mistakes in the ordering of parts and by a dealerdhip who do not give me the professional sevice I feel I should recieve having spent 24K on a car. I am astounded by the time they have taken to fix your car. That cannot be acceptable and surely you are entitled to a good rate of interest on the money you have paid out whilst not having use of the car. You should not have to be inconvienenced by problrems not caused by yourself. I had this argument when my dealer didn't want to provide a coutesy car but give me a lift in their mini bus!! They can hand build a car in a week, why can they not give this some priority and fix it properly as a matter of urgency. I'd write to a consumer complaints organisation/newspaper/tv prog and give Vauxhall some bad publicity. (Or at least threaten to)

[Ricky2772]

Alarm still going off repeatedly
Wiper fouling bonnet (paint chipped).
Drivers side seat belt stalk rubbing on centre console (scratching off silver paint).
Doors rattling (and stating the know issue of incorrect door pin sizes).
Boot lock still sticking open (my girlfriend had to call out the AA when it got stuck in the middle of South London).
Steering wheel now rubbing against column cowling when turning (since dealer refitted dashboard).
Something sliding about under passenger seat (since dealer had it).
Radio fascia trim broken (my own radio,not vauxhall supplied, since dealer refitted dashboard, I know they removed it as they rang me up to ask where removal keys where).
Dashboard fit still very poor.
Car still leaking.

....other than "dashboard fitting" (?!?) and "broken fascia",
I had'em all....
...fixed'em all by myself, not even remotely hoping that the dealer could actually address'em succesfully, being a fully unknown car to them.

IMO if you choose to go for a niche-car like the VX you should not expect the fit and finish of any other mass-production car, regardless how much you paid.
Elises cost way more, and are plagued by an even bigger list of problems.....

those are all very minor flaws, and with a decent DIY skills you can sort'em out.
if you are not DIY-gifted ,then I'm afraid you may be heading for a nasty ownership experience....

sure enough, Vaux customer service is the icing on the cake...

[SSH1]

Rickky If I wanted a car that I would have to maintain myself I would have bought an old MGB or a Kit car, I do not expect a major manufacturer to market a car which has many stupid faults. They know about the seatbelt stalk scratching the centre centre console, and have a fix for it, I also believe there is a different wiper arm that can only be lifted a certain amount so that it doesn't foul the bonnet, I think all these should have been picked up in the quality checks that a manufacturer & dealer should be making before passing the car on to the general public. It's not as if I bought one of the first ones off of the production line, the car has been out for almost 2 years now, these sort of issues should have been ironed out! What really annoys me is that I don't believe that anyone at Vauxhall technical centre or their so called specialist dealers (I believe that only 75 or so UK dealers can sell the VX) seem to have any expert knowledge, and don't deal with my issues efficiently. I just think they give very poor customer service, this is the year 2003 not 1973, manufacturing processes and techniques have moved on considerably,it seems to me that Vauxhalls attitude to customers hasn't. Chris

[garyk220]

Sorry to hear you have had such a hard time with your VX Chris. The biggest issue with your car is the length of time they've had to sort out some fairly minor issues. That is inexcusable. A competent mechanic should be able to sort most of those in a couple of days. Like Ricky and a few others, my car has experienced most of the problems on your list. Just part of the ownership experience in my view. Anyone expecting BMW build quality will be sadly disappointed. But on the plus side, with the roof off and driving on a quiet country road, there's nothing to beat it - except maybe the VX Turbo

[minime]

me thinks you need to find a good vx dealer......i have a very good one picador in southampton....the owner has a vx as his personal car!!! he now has a vxt too!!

[Purebob]

I think this thread is more about 'choice of car' rather than 'car'.
The VX is a Lotus, in a niche end of a niche market. It is hand-built like a Caterham or Morgan meaning that every car is unique and it can never match the quality or consistency of a Vectra. Vauxhall have moved Lotus forward but they are still miles away from mass-produced cars.

UFOpilot while I agree with some of what you say, Vauxhall doesn't have a disclaimer on their brochures that says 'low volume handbuilt car, expect it to be sh*t' so telling people they should expect a Vauxhall to be as shoddy as a Lotus gets GM off the hook too easily IMO.

They offer the same warranty as they do with their monster-selling Corsa.

I'm really nervous about the reliability of my VX when it arrives, but as its a company car I am luxuriously protected from financial loss, if not inconvenience.

The VX is the best affordable drive I've ever tried in 21 years of having a license but would I be happy at the problems listed here if £24k of my own hard earned had gone into it ? No way.

[P11 COV]

I'm really nervous about the reliability of my VX when it arrives, but as its a company car I am luxuriously protected from financial loss, if not inconvenience.

You really don't have to be worried about reliabilty with the VX. Most of the problems (and I've had my fair share) are superficial build quality type snags. If you can put up with them until it's convienent to take the car to a dealer, and if you get a good dealer then you really won't have a problem.

Please lets not get too negative here. The majority of people on the site are positive about the ownership experience. We need to be talking up residuals not shooting ourselves in the feet!!!

[SSH1]

I anticipated that I would probably have a few minor issues with the car, I appreciate that it is a low volume car built in a shed with chewing gum & bits of string, but what I don't expect is the inability of a major manufacturer to offer the support that they should when selling this type of car, we are promoting their image no end by driving this car about! I think that to offer me £500 of VX220 accessories after they have taken more than 2 months to fix my car (or say they have fixed it, this remains to be seen), is a bit of an insult. The way I feel, the last think I want to do is spend any more money with them. I also don't have any confidence in the dealer, the quality of their workmanship seems very low, not really befitting of the attention they should give to their top attention grabber! I would like to have the car fixed and keep it, but I don't feel I can rely on the support this type of vehicle requires from the dealers or manufacturer. Chris

[Purebob]

paulh its really strange isn't it ? I know what you mean. I've driven a few cars that are quicker against the stop watch but just weren't the 'event' the VX is to drive. It just makes you smile to sit in traffic in, and when you attack a great piece of road you whoop like a nutter !. It really is a very special car.

[Beergut]

I think that to offer me £500 of VX220 accessories after they have taken more than 2 months to fix my car (or say they have fixed it, this remains to be seen), is a bit of an insult.

500 for 2 months is rubbish. They had mine back for about 3 months and I managed a new drivers seat gratis ( it got ripped by the seat belt ) , a Sat Nav unit , they didn't charge me for crashing their courtesy car and I also got 2000 cash back. Yes, they did only offer me 500 quids worth of extras at first and I told them to stuff it

Nigel