ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING SERVICE DEPARTMENT!!!!!! JOKE!!!!

Let me start by stating that the following review is about the Holden dealership in Essendon in Keilor road and only Essendon!!

I went to take my car to this dealership for the first time in May 2018, prior to that I had been taking my car to the Holden in Sydney Road Fawkner which unfortunately has now closed down, I took my Car in at 7:30am, had to wait a bit to get my car in and ready for service, as it was a service of 165,000 KM we were told the charge would be $345, it sounded to be a bit expensive but we still agreed to go ahead as I said to myself it’s a major service and it’s probably standard or near standard pricing.

I got home I rang the Holden dealership in Preston just out of curiosity and for comparison I guess, they then quoted me $299 for the same service, was a bit cheaper but a $46 difference although not ideal is something I could live with being only once a year or so, I got a call back later that morning and they said they had completed the service on my car and began to go through the list with me of what needed repaired which included headlight covers, sump gaskets, a radiator, new tyres, AC compressor, brake light.

The amount of items they claim to have found seemed extremely excessive, after they went through the whole list they said the total including the service would be $4769!!!!!!!! Never in the 9 years I have owned the car have I ever payed or been asked to pay anything even close to it, the previous most was around $1500 and that was considered a lot and unusual, this was completely unexpected.

The guy on the phone proceeded to explain that with all the work needing done that it wasn’t worth putting all this money into the car and within the same breath commenced to give me reasons as to why I should NOT fix it and look to trade it in and put the money towards a new car, I then politely questioned if all these items are actually necessary, he explained that if I am not to get it done then the dealership would be forced to declare the car as un roadworthy as they could be held liable if anything was to happen as it’s all legal now, that was an attempt at an intimidation tactic in my opinion and what I deemed to be somewhat of a threat to attempt to coerce me into agreeing to the fixing costs as their second preference or foremost purchase a new car off them.

I ended up not agreeing to get any of the work done and drove the car out just paying the service fee of $345, once I was there in person they didn’t mention anything in regards to declaring it un roadworthy. I then had my Car independently serviced the next day by my local mechanic who would have only charged me $220 - $250 for the 165,000 service.

My headlights were a bit dirty and foggy but NOT un road worthy, I cleaned those myself after conducting research, my local mechanic told me that most of the other things were fine and that the radiator had a leak in it and that the rear tyres need replaced, all up the costs including labour were $660, that’s $4169 less than Essendon Holden!!!! What an absolute joke and attempt to rip off!!!!!

The whole thing was an absolute attempt to try sell me a new car or to get me to spend excessive on parts which I am taking my best educated guess and say that they had to hit a certain budget or had to clear some extra parts that were getting long in the tooth.

The incident was disgusting and illustrates disrespect to customers, my first time there and this is what I get, absolute joke, way to attempt to make money, ripping people off by claiming there are problems that don’t exist, THIS IS NOT HOW PEOPLES BUSINESS IS EARNED!!!!! HAVE COMPLETELY LOST TRUST IN THAT DEALER AND HAVE LOST A FAIR BIT IN HOLDEN IN GENERAL!!!!, FIRST AND LAST TIME THEY WILL SEE ME THERE, ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING WHAT THEY THINK THEY CAN DO AND GET AWAY WITH!!!! PLEASE DO NOT TAKE CAR THERE MY FELLOW WORD OF MOUTH MEMBERS!