[JeremyOfPerth]

Hello All.

I'm a new i30 Owner from Perth Australia. I got mine at a hail auction, fully drivable, all glass good, just a few hundred smallish dents and 5K on the clock.

It's a late '09 model. Manual Diesel. 1.6 litre, Electronic Stability Control, but only front airbags. Mostly my daughter drives it to work, and as she is 19 and impetuous it's already showing a few signs of wear and tear (sigh!).

My wife drives an Astra 1.9 Diesel manual rocket car. Very safe, very very quick, all mod cons, but lacking some of the smaller creature comforts like cup holders. Spares are horrific - new alternator is A$1500 + labour!. Windscreen washer pump A$180 etc. I've now started to buy all my spares from Europe where they are something like 1/2 or 1/3 the Australian price, so including air-freight I save a bomb. Actual consumption in combined local/highway use is 6.0l/100km. Country use drops to low 5's. It helps that it has 6 gears.

I drive a (hail damaged) Holden Cruze 2.0 litre diesel manual (nee Kia Cerato). Got it brand new at a hail auction with 17km on the clock. I did my own dealer delivery and am slowly removing dents with ingenious dent removal tools. Holden plans to build local models next year but I'm guessing the Korean quality is likely better. It has 5 gears that don't work well at 60 km/h. Should it be third or should it be fourth? The answer changes as the engine wears in.

With the I30, what I have discovered:

If some of your daughter's friends kick a football into a side panel and leave a dent, then a $3 kitchen sink rubber plunger will pull it out with no sign it was ever there.

Accellerating round a narrow bend (part of a cloverleaf onto a freeway)  from standstill in the wet causes the inside front wheel to slip. As I have Electronic Stability Control I start to wonder if it works in general or is faulty on my vehicle.

5 gears is not quite enough. 6 would be better. However it works well in residential activities (60/70 km/h)

Hyundai/Kia seem to be the most secretive car manufacturer out (I expect to be corrected on  this but that is my experience). However, by using a lot of internet searches on related vehicles I've managed to find full workshop manuals that I converted to PDF form (not scanned ones). It's not for a Diesel i30, but close enough.

The immobilizer is Bosch SMARTRA. Again obscurity reigns. If anyone can tell me what the transponder chip is I'd appreciate it. I suspect a version of ID46

Hyundai sent me a letter confirming warranty - so long as I conformed to the 'passport' requirements. As I don't have a 'passport'  I have no idea what that means. If someone could send me a copy or a link to one I'd appreciate it.

The local dealer, when I said I had a hail damaged car, said that 'repairable writeoffs' did not have warranty. I suspect BS and I'm quite prepared to take it through the state consumer affairs department.

Overall - Cruze and i30. I've found dealers to be extremely unhelpful. In regards warranty the dealers seems to go to extreme lengths to avoid any requirement to fix faults. As this is paid for by Hyundai not them, i'm pretty surprised.

As regards my electronic skills, I'm working on on getting cheap transponder / remote keys. There are a lot for sale on the internet, but for the I30 so far there are no units with the correct radio frequency for Australia. I will keep this search up for as long as required.

Cheers

Jeremy

[bumpkin]

Welcome Jeremy

Great intro post, I have been getting a little bit excited about the UK Cruze CS limited edition of late, like Hyundai they look to be a lot of car for the money and now come with a 5 year warranty, servicing, MOT (roadworthy test) and roadside assistance.

Here is the one I am fighting the urge to go and actually look at properly

http://www.chevrolet.co.uk/offers-finance/offers/cruze-cs.html

[Dazzler]

Yeah, they are not a bad looker .. but I think they were a Daewoo  (Not a Kia Cerato as Jeremy suggested)

They feel a bit Claustraphobic inside (or so I've heard.. )

[bumpkin]

You are right Dazz, Daewoo were gobbled up by GM and rebadged Chevrolet.

Having said that the Cruze does look similar to the Kia Forte..............

[JeremyOfPerth]

Oops I screwed up. The Cruze is a Daewoo Lacetti. 

For what it's worth, the Cruze is uber-cool. I rate it way better than the i30 on every feature other than oomph and fuel economy. Economy is up in the high 6's at least. Real oomph has yet to materialise at 2300km.

In my version I get cruise control (actually a little-odd but no problem). Brake assist, ECS, Auto-lights, curtain air-bags.

Rear visibility is poor and there is what is called 'turbo lag' actually it's just a turbo that kicks in at a slightly higher rpm than normal. If you drive like a grannie (like me) it's no problem. Backseat leg room is great. The boot is a bit difficult to use. I'd wait for a hatch-back version.

Brand new at hail auction the Cruze cost A$12500. The i30 at 5000 km and hail auction cost A$9750 - probably a bit high. The Cruze is way better value at my prices, but retail they aren't that much different in price.

[Dazzler]

Now careful Jeremy this is an i30 Owners club.. I have to pretend my new Camry HYbrid isn't quite as good as my old i30 Crdi..

and in some ways it isn't.. If the Cruze was that good it would be outselling the i30 but think the i30 is still ahead YTD (in OZ)

[JeremyOfPerth]

One other issue with the Cruze is the 5 speed gearbox.

It works well at 50 km/h (30mph) in third. At 60km/h it's marginal whether to upshift to fourth. 70 km/h is fine in fourth.

I've done almost no travel in 5th, so I can't say how well it works. My missus in the i30 at 100km/h keeps wanting to upshift into 6th (due to her Astra experience). The i30 works at 100 and 110 but seems a bit high revved.

If you are trying the Cruze, check it out at various speeds and see how it feels.

[JeremyOfPerth]

I think the Cruze (Daewoo) was a market testing exercise. Wait till the local model turns up and the marketing in earnest begins.

I originally planned to buy two i30s but based on what was available and the current auction prices I chose a Cruze and an i30.

They are different vehicles aimed at different markets. The i30 is a small light, economical city car that can do a reasonable country trip. Interior and features are great, as is economy (Beats any hybrid)

The Cruze is heavier and is aimed at longer distance use with good economy (probably beating any hybrid as well).

The differentation at my purchase decision point was safety, cost and features.

I'm still not totally satisfied and if there was a slightly larger Astra replacement with 6 gears, good safety, better leg-room and better internals it would win. (so long as the spares were reasonable)

[Dazzler]

I think the Cruze (Daewoo) was a market testing exercise. Wait till the local model turns up and the marketing in earnest begins.

I originally planned to buy two i30s but based on what was available and the current auction prices I chose a Cruze and an i30.

They are different vehicles aimed at different markets. The i30 is a small light, economical city car that can do a reasonable country trip. Interior and features are great, as is economy (Beats any hybrid)

The Cruze is heavier and is aimed at longer distance use with good economy (probably beating any hybrid as well).

The differentation at my purchase decision point was safety, cost and features.

I'm still not totally satisfied and if there was a slightly larger Astra replacement with 6 gears, good safety, better leg-room and better internals it would win. (so long as the spares were reasonable)

Just a few comments Jeremy...

I actually ordered a Manual CDX Astra wagon back in late 2007 but when I couldn't get the colour I wanted without a 4 months wait I switched to the Manual i30 SLX hatch (and waited 3 months for my colour of choice)

As far as economy goes my Camry Hybrid is alternating between 6.1 and 6.2 LPH combined.. whereas with the same driving my i30 was averaging 5.4 - 5.5LPH  due to tassie's hilly terrain. Taking into account that Unleaded is usually a few cents cheaper than diesel down here the difference in my fuel bill is minimal and would be less if any with a Cruse.. 

[eye30]

Welcome  JeremyOfPerth

[snowcherry]

Hi jeremy and welcome  

I think the Cruze (Daewoo) was a market testing exercise. Wait till the local model turns up and the marketing in earnest begins.

They are different vehicles aimed at different markets. The i30 is a small light, economical city car that can do a reasonable country trip. Interior and features are great, as is economy (Beats any hybrid)

The Cruze is heavier and is aimed at longer distance use with good economy (probably beating any hybrid as well).

interesting you say this. to be honest i'm not sure the Cruze ever will be a major player but i'm looking at it from what i like to. i've only ever seen maybe one or two and i see heaps of i30's around.
i do a lengthy run (800ish km's) couple times year or so, and the i30 handles it very well, and i don't do 'heavy' cars well being a slighter person. the i30 is a good longer distance car. i bought it with that in mind.
the cruze probably better for familys or economy agreed.


and i dislike holdens  

edit: and amazingly i just saw that top 10 car list for november that say cruze is number 5. FIVE! i'm honestly flabbergasted.  ???

[Ozbrum]

Hi and Welcome Jeremy .... You live in the greatest city in the world 
You make some interesting comments and good posts.

Cheers 

[Myowni30]

Hi JeremyOfPerth,

Welcome to the i30 Owners Club 

[JeremyOfPerth]

and i dislike holdens

edit: and amazingly i just saw that top 10 car list for november that say cruze is number 5. FIVE! i'm honestly flabbergasted.

I dislike Holdens too. The Australian built commodores are very low level cars. Not nice to drive.

I dislike Holden the company even more. Are they the only assholes in the industry or are all car manufacturers and dealers like that?

The two Holdens I have are not Holdens. The Astra is an Opel built in Germany. The Cruze is a Daewoo Lacetti built in Korea. All Holden does is import them and sell them on through an incompetent dealer network. They are both good cars. Seriously, take a ride in the Cruze. Even in the base model it's very highly specced. However I think Holden may just have been 'influencing' the poll in the run-up top the Australian produced release.

What Holden does is very simple. It ships the cars to dealers off the ship and then does everything possible to avoid any further involvement or liability, especially warranty.

With the Astra, it was blowing huge plumes of black smoke when pushed hard. When I bought it the website said it had a particulate filter, so I took it in to the dealer and said there was a problem. The dealer then did a particulate filter burn-out and told me problem had been fixed. Not so. I took it back again and complained. I went to the Holden customer help line and complained.

The guy at Holden assigned to my case arranged yet another fix - no result.  Finally I take into the dealer and they confessed that the manual model didn't have a particulate filter and that all the burnout procedures had been done, but didn't work because there was no filter!! Amazingly at the exact same time the website changed to say 'has particulate filter * (not on manual)'.

So I find myself in the situation that one of the main reasons I bought the car - no particulate emissions - was unfounded. The dealers I was paying big bucks to for servicing were incompetent. The Holden 'help' guy disavowed any knowledge or liability. (They call it customer assistance, I found it to be customer resistance)

I then tried to get the vehicle checked to see if the emissions were within manufacturers specs (it was a pretty big cloud it blew). The dealer said they didn't know what the specs were or how to do it (liars - it's all in the TIS-2000 system). The Holden help people refused to give me the specifications and procedure, so I got the Vauxhall Astra workshop manuals off the internet and located the specifications and test procedure.

Then I discovered that unlike the UK where every time you get an MOT check, they stick a probe up the tail pipe and make sure you are compliant, the dealer didn't have a probe, nor it seems do any other dealers in Perth. They had never ever checked smoke emissions. The dealer simply said that the car would only be shipped by the manufacturer if it was compliant.

At that stage I uncharacteristically gave up. But I learned a few good lessons. The first is that Holden is not your friend. Neither is your dealer. I also discovered that the exorbitant amount of money you pay for dealer servicing is in fact almost entirely wasted. Basically several hundred bucks to change the oil and filter. The dealers charge so much money because they make you believe they are doing far more that what they actually do. - and that they are way more competent than the K-mart mechanic down the road. 

[Surferdude]

I'm not likely to buy a Cruze anytime soon but I have to admit they were surprisingly common in the UK and across North America when we were there recently.

And is it just my old age or wasn't there a "Cruze" a few years ago in a little 4WD shape?

[Bel680]

There was one my MIL drives one... got sooooo many issues, none of which Holden would fix under waranty, said it would cost $4K to fix to shudder it had when you brake, Automaster fixed for $400...

[JeremyOfPerth]

Bekl680,

There's Cruze and Cruze. The one you showed is a totally different car to the new Cruze. For one thing it's a SUV while the new Cruze is a sedan.

Holden craftily used the same name for two completely different cars

P.S. Your photo of your i30 is what I want my one to look like after I get rid of the dents. Same colour etc.

[2i30s]

welcome aboard Jeremy.   

[Surferdude]

Bekl680,

There's Cruze and Cruze. The one you showed is a totally different car to the new Cruze. For one thing it's a SUV while the new Cruze is a sedan.

Holden craftily used the same name for two completely different cars

P.S. Your photo of your i30 is what I want my one to look like after I get rid of the dents. Same colour etc.

Bel680 was just responding to my post above.
Which leads to my confusion. Why on earth would you release a new car with the name of a dud?

[rustynutz]

The original Holden Cruze was a AWD version of the Suzuki Ignis...

[SRT Metro]

Hi Jeremy,
Welcome to the club! 

[snowcherry]

The two Holdens I have are not Holdens. The Astra is an Opel built in Germany. The Cruze is a Daewoo Lacetti built in Korea. All Holden does is import them and sell them on through an incompetent dealer network. They are both good cars. Seriously, take a ride in the Cruze. Even in the base model it's very highly specced. However I think Holden may just have been 'influencing' the poll in the run-up top the Australian produced release.

i haven't been in a daewoo, i'm certainly not anti rebadging. my ford festiva was a rebadged Kia..? i think.
but i've actually been in a few Astra's and i can't stand them 
it started as indifference with an old friend who had two of them and loved them, but i thought the second was worse than the first and felt claustraphobic in it. then another friend had one of the latish astras as a work car [2008 maybe?], and i'm not sure it even qualified as a car, he hated it to. it drove like a metal box and sounded like it, so that pretty much cemented my distaste for that brand.  :-\

[eyecon]

Welcome m8.

[babis_xo]

Welcome Jeremy of Perth (is it a royal title like... Duke of Burgundy?)
I think many potential buyers choose between i30 and Cruze (including myself). So far here in Greece i30 wins clearly.

[de Bounce]

  to the   forum JeremyofPerth

[Tullybanana1]

Hi, I'm a new member and haven't posted as yet, but when i saw this onslaught about Holden dealers i just had to reply. I worked at a Holden dealership for about 4 years and totally agree with what you're saying. They charge big bucks for servicing stating that they're the "Holden Experts," throwing their 16yo apprentice on the job and paying him 2 bucks an hour! I remember a common job replacing front & rear brake pads on say VN to VS Commodores in the 90's (fairly new cars when i worked there). The dealer would charge 2 hours labour (1hour front - 1 hour rear) at about $70 per hour if my memory serves me correctly. The cars would have (as mentioned) an apprentice working on them and front & rear pads would be done in half an hour! Now don't forget there's also the cost of the genuine pads on top of the labour costs.
The dealership i actually worked for also did Mazda, Hyundai & Audi at the time and it was all the same RIPOFF!!
The cars would also be test driven after any work was completed and had the absolute crap thrashed out of them, and to make matters worse, the engines were completely cold and taken to their redline.
So I'd just like to say that if anyone thinks it's better to take their car to a dealer for servicing because they're the supposed "experts," think again!
PS: I've also worked at a VW dealership, same shit different make!

[Shambles]

Yes, very good, but this is an "introduce yourself" thread, not a mudslinging thread.



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