Something I only discovered last week when my 5 year old Vectra went for it's test.The tester noticed that the panel which the rear door catches are attached to,started showing signs of corrosion around the spot weld.It's not an MOT issue,but I decided to look into it further.
It seems that Vauxhall know about this problem,(surprise surprise)and you can have it sorted under the 6 year anti-corrosion warranty.I have already had my local dealer take a look at mine,and he has confirmed that Vauxhall do,indeed,know of this problem.Mine will be sorted within 7-10 days.
What happens is,the backing plate,which I presume is in the rear wheel arches,become detatched,meaning you can move the catches by hand with not a lot of force.Water gets in,and rust starts.
A friend of mine has a 2 year old Vectra which has started to go.Needless to say,I've told him what to do.
One final thing.Some dealers will insist on seeing your service history.Why,I don't know,because thats got nothing to do with body corrosion.
Your comments please,Ladies and Gentlemen.
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They want to see your service history because IF the bodywork inspection isnt carried out as part of the annual service, you have to pay separately for the bodywork check.
Therefore, if there is no record in the service history of bodywork checks, you could have invalidated the bodywork warranty unless you can show a record of the paid, separate body check. (Hope that all makes sense!)
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Interesting. Mine has small areas of rust adjacent to the outer corners of the right hand side lock plate and on one corner on the nearside one. Gradually been getting worse over the past couple of years, but still only 10mm diameter at most. I can't see any spot welds in the area, but is yours corroded in the same place.
Mine hasn't seen the inside of a Vauxhall workshop for the past 90,000 miles. I have just read my owners manual and the wording used could be open to some interpretation. The Watcher may be correct. Has yours had it's annual inspections?
Chris M
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My car has had it's last 2 services carried out by my local garage,a non Vauxhall garage,and it's now showing 86.000 miles.All the dealer seemed interested in,was the fact the record was up to date.But even though my local is in no way related to Vauxhall,he does us genuine parts,it's just his labour is cheaper.And no,he's not an independent Vauxhall garage.
I do know of other people on another website that have taken their cars and service books in,and the dealer hasn't even looked at the book,and they've had the work done.Don't forget,the dealer just back claims it to Vauxhall,so it's probably no skin off their nose.
Got to be worth a try if your car is going this way.
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Dropped into a VX dealer this morning (not my local one). Service reception were aware of the problem and directed me to their bodyshop down the road who would take details and contact Vauxhall. I didn't go there as I want to use the local dealer. Service man said it's nothing to do with the anti-perforation warranty as it's the metal spliting. I told him the car hadn't been dealer serviced, to which he didn't comment either way. I'll see what happens - as you say, it's worth a try.
Chris M
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Nice one Chris.I think the level of knowledge on the problem varies from dealer to dealer.All I can tell you is what my dealer told me.
One thing I personally loathe is when a manufacturer knows about a problem but fails to make it public,hence the reason for starting this thread.A friend of mine had a Vauxhall problem with a Frontera a few years ago,and again the same happened where he only found out by word of mouth.
Let me know how you get on.E.Mail me on kenquinn@ntlworld.com just in case I forget to look at the forum.
Ken.
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I noticed the paint (metallic)starting to bubble round the release button of the tailgate on my 1996 Vectra.Asked my local dealer to touch in for me,instead of that they replaced the complete tailgate under warranty,was most impressed and it has meant in spite of the bad press Vauxhall get that because of the service Rowcliffes of Taunton have given me I will undoubtably buy my third new car from them.Hope it is permitted to mention their name but I feel they deserve it.
NDBW
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And the good news is,mine is booked in on Monday at my dealer in Wakefield to have the work done on Tuesday.A letter came through yesterday stating that it would be done FOC.How pleased am I?
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Cheers for this, My 98R has this problem, I bodged the job with a bit of touch up paint and never thought any more about it. After reading this I dropped in to my local Dealer incorperating a bodyshop, armed only with the print out from the leasing company detailing servicing (no named dealer / garage). I have just recieved a phone call from the bodyshop manager to tell me they will sort it out under the six year anti perforation warrenty. I am a very happy customer.
Thanks Quinney & Vauxhall!
A bit more of this good customer service and I may even nominate them for a mention in the good garages....
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Problem now sorted.My car was done by my dealer on Tuesday,and I must say,I'm very pleased.
For anyone else who has this problem,I would say it's definately worth going to their dealer,and if they are half as good as mine,then you'll be as pleased as I am.
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Is this problem common with post 1999 facelift models (at the time Vauxhall claimed that additional measures to increase the corrosion resistance of the car had been made and increased the warranty to ten years)? I assume that the two year old car that Quinny referred to is a facelifted model.
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I have a 2001 51 reg estate and there's corrosion around the rear door catches, it's going to be quite a mess if it isn't sorted soon.
Took it to the dealer and Vauxhall have initially refused to fix it stating that because I bought the car second hand I will have 'paid a price based on it's condition'..
Told the poor unfortuante at the dealer that I'm not buying it and Vauxhall's 6 year warranty clearly states it's transferable without notifying vauxhall.
Anyone got any tips about how to deal with this if they carry on refusing to fix it?
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mr fish...i work at a vx dealer, we remove the loc striker drill out the welds that are cracked ,then plug weld it all up and fill to make it smooth..prime and paint
doesnt seem to last , weve had a few repeat customers
the way i see it , the body flexes and craces this weak spot..just a bad design. they dont rust beacuse of bad underseal/wax etc....just the metal cracks then the bare edges corrode
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Mr Fish, if they carry on refusing to do it then try a different Vauxhall dealer.
Stevo30, when you have repaired these cracks do you strip out the interior trim from the rear quarter and rustproof the rear of the repair? If all you do with the problem is drill out the weld, mig-plug it back up then fill, prime and paint without rustproofing the back then where it has been migged, it will leave the area around the weld bare and with no rust protection. Hence it will immediately start to rust around the new weld. I'm not knocking what you do, just commenting on what could be happening.
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mr fish...i work at a vx dealer, we remove the loc striker drill out the welds that are cracked ,then plug weld it all up and fill to make it smooth..prime and paint doesnt seem to last , weve had a few repeat customers the way i see it , the body flexes and craces this weak spot..just a bad design. they dont rust beacuse of bad underseal/wax etc....just the metal cracks then the bare edges corrode
With reference to my post in this thread dated November 2002 I can state that with just over 2 years of service post repair which I can guarantee has flexed the body work, my repair still looks good today 31/1/2005 with no new rust.
I park my car on street and am not too fussed about getting scratches etc touched up. Only 1 particularly bad stone chip on the bonnet has any signs of rust. So I am happy with how the body work holds up on 98 (pre-facelift) Vectras.
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Told the poor unfortuante at the dealer that I'm not buying it and Vauxhall's 6 year warranty clearly states it's transferable without notifying vauxhall.
From HJ's Car By Car Breakdown
"Now suffering corrosion of area around rear door latches. Franchises will repair under 6 year no perforation warranty, but only if service history is stamped up with corrosion inspections by Vauxhall franchises."
Has your book been stamped to say it's been inspected?
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we spray waxoil into the cavity, like i said they rust becuase they crack, theyre not rotten from inside out
our dealer usually gets the warrenty work done on cars with patchy history on the condition that they have a service done at our dealer first
id suggest getting it repaired and buying something else ..you should see how rusty the last shape astras are getting
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Awh damn it... I've only just bought this car.
The corrosion inspections are not stamped.... But, this was a Vauxhall Masterhire car so has always been serviced by main dealers.
Interestingly CD Brammall in York, who have just done the latest service, didn't stamp the corrosion inspection either. Even though I specifically asked them to carry it out.
To be fair it isn't the dealer refusing to do the work, it's Vauxhall refusing to pay them to do it on warranty. I'm going to chase them on this!
I'm surprised by what you say about the Astras Steveo30, my dad has a 98 R reg and it seems rust free. It hasn't even rusted where he scraped the rear wheelarch down a wall. Where do they start to go in your experience?
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My 2001 Vectra has a very small spot on the off-side rear lock catch. It was there when I bought the car in July 2002 but I did not notice it at the time. I would take it back to the supplying dealer but that is a good 160 mile drive there and back! I had the car serviced at a Vauxhall dealer in year two to maintain the warranty and breakdown cover but last year I went independent so it didn't get the book stamped for the inspection - local Vx wanted £25 for a 10 minute job (according to the TIS information)
Looking at the corrosion inspection stamp it did not pick up the corrosion (if they did it) even though I knew it was there. I would hope that Vauxhall will correct the problem as they know about it and it has been well documented here and on other websites. I will probably see about getting mine done when the weather is a bit warmer.
I must say that Vauxhall always seemd quite helpful with my old Cavalier even though one dealer tutted a bit when I took the car back for about the third time to sort out the rusty wheel arch seam! I even got a ne bonnet when rust appeared along the front inside seam.
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mr fish...astras seem to rust on the inside of the outer arch skin(the bit inside the cavity) you some times see small perfectly round dots on the paintwork of the arch, not usual looking scabs/bubbles
anyway at first we thought it was a paint adhesion problem, we bare metaled the area and re did it, only for the spots to come back
so next time we fitted a new quarter panel(rear wing) and the inside of the arch was rotten as hell..i mean really awfull and it was tiny pin holes making the dots in the paint work
astras will be bad in a few year
deryck....any vx should repair it
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Hmmm.. bad news about the astras. I spent a bit of time on the phone to Vauxhall customer services yesterday. No progress. They're still sticking to the line of 'I paid a price that reflected the condition of the car' which is complete rubbish.
The other issue is the inspection stamps, although I've spoken to the two dealers who have serviced this car and they have both told me that the corrosion inspection is 'part of the service' and they routinely 'forget' to stamp the corrosion inspection.
I rather foolishly thought that ,since every other manufacturer seems to be able to make cars that stay rust free for at least 5 years (even Ford!), Vauxhall might have kept up on the game... but no. Gonna have to keep fighting them on this one though.
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Hmmm.. bad news about the astras. I spent a bit of time on the phone to Vauxhall customer services yesterday. No progress.
Was this the local dealership, or Vauxhall themselves?
vauxhall.co.uk/companyInformation/contPage.jhtml?s...t
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Vauxhall>> >> Hmmm.. bad news about the astras. I spent a bitof >> time on the phone to Vauxhall customer services yesterday. No progress. Was this the local dealership, or Vauxhall themselves? vauxhall.co.uk/companyInformation/contPage.jhtml?s...t
Vauxhall themselves. Apparently they have regional reps that are the point of contact for the dealers. It's the guy in this area (York) that's come up with the line they're giving me.
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deryck....any vx should repair it
That's good news - I might quote you on that! Apart from that small patch it is an excellent car for the money paid!
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Update......
2 years and 4 months after having the work done,my 97 2.0 diesel is now showing just over 114.000 miles,and the doors are still rust free.
I must say my local dealer,(or their bodywork sub contractor) seems to have done their stuff on my car.Hopefully soon,I will be getting a company car due to a possible promotion at work,and my wife will be getting rid of her Nissan Micra 1.3SR,and taking posession of my Vectra,and I have no doubt that she will have hassle free motoring,in much the same way I have.
This is my 2nd Vauxhall,and while I don't exactly love the car,I can't fault it's reliability in the 3 years I've had it,the only problem being seals on the injector pump going about 18 months ago.
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