In late February, Holden, or General Motors (who own Holden) announced that when 2020 ended, so would the Holden brand.
Yep, that’s right. Holden would no longer be selling cars in Australia, or anywhere, after 72 years.
At the same time, GM made a few announcements to try and ease the shock this undoubtedly caused customers who had purchased a new Holden vehicle in the last few years.
One of these announcements was that GM would continue to keep some Holden Service Centres around for the next 10 years, to ensure servicing, repairs and warranty services could continue uninterrupted for Holden owners.
But now, this 10-year promise looks to have been reduced to just five.
It has been revealed that GM will only offer existing Holden dealers five-year car servicing contracts once 2020 comes to a close.
This unexpected change comes not long after thousands of car buyers flocked to Holden dealerships throughout March to take advantage of various ‘closing down’ sales that dealerships were running.
Currently, Holden offers a five-year unlimited-kilometre warranty on brand new vehicles. It looks like they are setting themselves up to only offer technical after-sales support for as long as manufacturer warranties require them to.
However, Holden has also recently been offering a seven-year free servicing deal in an effort to move cars. A representative from Holden has stated that whilst the initial contract will end in 2025, dealerships will be given the opportunity to extend for another five years until 2030, should they wish to.
So what does this mean for Holden owners? Where will you get your servicing and repairs done when these Holden Service Centres are no more?
Well, quite frankly, if you’re getting your car serviced through dealer service centres now, you might not be getting the best value anyway, and you should consider making an early swap.
Aftermarket service centres, such as your local mechanic Airlie Auto, are able to service and repair your car whilst still maintaining its factory warranty! They’re also able to provide great value, generally due to having lower overhead costs than a dealer service centre.
That means you can maintain your car through a local mechanic, and should any major problems arise that would require a warranty claim, you can then engage with one of GM’s Holden Service Centres, although, how motivated they’ll be to help you out remains to be seen.
If you’ve recently purchased a new Holden vehicle, now might be the best time to strike up a friendly relationship with an awesome local mechanic, considering Holden servicing support will disappear for good in 2025. #Airlieauto #Whitsundays #Holden #Airliebeach #Cannonvale #AirlieBeachMechanic
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