Isuzu D-MAX and MU-X: DON'T BUY in 2023

Seems if you have a legitimate problem which Isuzu Ute Australia can weasel out of, they’re likely to throw your consumer rights under the bus. This is exactly why I do not recommend you buy an Isuzu D-Max or an MU-X…

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We’re not just going to speculate on this Isuzu Ute Australia conduct towards one of its customers, I am going to show you an actual example that lobbed, unsolicited, in my inbox recently.

I received this recently from a guy named Daryll Imray, and this is just emblematic of the way Isuzu rolls in Australia. Essentially, Daryll has got a problem, the dealership seems it is trying to help, IUA throws him under the bus.

A ute and 4WD wagon are Isuzu Ute’s only vehicles on-sale; customer care should be priority #1.

Let's look at the anatomy of that dissertation.

We recently had a 120k major service completed at the dealership for 1600 bucks, as we have all our services with no issues.

Then just recently a warning light would appear intermittently, putting the car into limp mode. The dealership discovered a faulty injector pump and electrical fault.

The price quoted to repair this, as the car is now outside of warranty by 13 months, is $4000 for the part, plus $850 labour. I found that excessive and contacted Isuzu head office; as a two-parent working class family coughing up five grand to keep our family going was very disappointing.

The Ford dealership at Kingswood [assuming is also the Isuzu dealer] advised us that even though our service history with them, and the car, was exemplary, the dealership said that Isuzu were “difficult to deal" with” and gave very little due to the size of the company.

I will forward you their emailed response, but I am not surprised these days.

Kind regards,

Daryll

So in summary, this is a 2016 vehicle, it was purchased new by Daryl, it's gone in for a 120,000km service, it's six years old so therefore out of warranty, but that's not the end of the story.

The whole car was only $40K-$50K brand-new, so how can a single pump be worth $4000? You've got to be kidding. But the labour is a reasonable charge there.

But let's think about ‘good faith’ for a minute. See, on the 1st of January 2011, consumer law in Australia changed. It was no longer the case that manufacturers, importers, retailers etc. had the sole discretion of helping you out in ‘good faith’. That disappeared roughly 12 years ago now. So there's simply no excuse for anyone in this country not knowing exactly how consumer law works - because warranty is not the end of the story.

Consumer law protects you irrespective of the vehicle's warranty status.

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THE CAR INDUSTRY’S BIG BAG OF EXCUSES

Daryll has done everything right here: he's had the car serviced on time, “exemplary service history”, the dealer has gone in to bat for him with Isuzu Ute Australia, and here's what they said:

Dear Daryll,

Thank you for contacting Isuzu Ute Australia (IUA), and for your time on the phone as well.

We first clarify the Isuzu new vehicle warranty covers repairs to correct any malfunctions occurring during the warranty period resulting from defects in material or workmanship of the vehicle to be considered under the warranty policy.

Isuzu Ute Australia must be put on notice by a consumer whilst it is within the new vehicle warranty period.

Your vehicle VIN code [blah blah blah] came with Manufacturer's Warranty of five years/130,000 kilometers (whichever occurs first) - expiry date 24th of August 2021.

As you are aware, by the time your vehicle was presented to Sinclair Isuzu Ute for the fuel pump concern the warranty period had already elapsed by over 12 months.

You [sic] request for assistance with the required repair has been discussed with Management, however Isuzu Ute Australia are [sic] unable to facilitate your request.

IUA acknowledges your disappointment that this concern has arisen outside of the manufacturer’s warranty period and with the decision that has been made - we are sorry we have been unable to deliver your desired outcome.

Kind regards,

They're not unable to deliver this - they could deliver that at the drop of a hat. They've taken the decision not to. This is how relationships with brands get broken.

What is so disgusting, unethical and immoral is that they're pretending consumer law doesn't exist, and they're hoping nobody notices - in my view.

Under Australian Consumer Law, it doesn't matter what the warranty is; there is a legislated requirement of reasonable durability, and “reasonable” is up to the court to decide - not Isuzu Ute Australia. Take the case of LDV in Australia losing in court >>

There's different durability expectations in the mind of a reasonable consumer for a $5 rubber ball or a $50,000 machine that is advertised to you as having truck-like dependability that fails catastrophically at 126,000kms in six years with a massive repair bill.

In the current environment of cost pressures and family life, this is serious for ordinary people owning cars. Customer care is becoming a joke >>

I'm sure that's something that the senior executive management of every car company cannot comprehend because those faceless suits never buy a car. They haven't bought a car for years; they don't understand the breadth of financial commitment that it takes to put $50,000 down for a car hoping and praying you’ll be looked after.

To these executive management wonks, a car is just something that the parking lot is full of and which they take home on a company-paid full tank of fuel, at any time. Senior management of all car companies cannot appreciate what you're going through with car ownership because they don't own a car.

Why Bad customer service is the worst thing about owning a modern car >>

Under the legislation reasonable durability for a car is probably 10 years and something between 160- and 200,000 kilometres and of course it requires you not to abuse the vehicle or neglect it by failing to get it serviced. If you do that then, no - you don’t get support.

But there is a legislated requirement of all car makers and the manufacturers of everything else to provide you with warranty like support if the failure happens unreasonably prematurely and that in my estimation is what happens here.

CUSTOMER CARE IS CHEAP PUBLIC RELATIONS

If you put a four inch lift and dirty big 35-inch tires on your ute and then something breaks, like a drive shaft or the ball joints, that's on you - because you have modified the vehicle and in the manufacturer’s mind, that's abuse. Abuse is not covered under warranty.

But I cannot see a single way that the user of a vehicle can impact the durability of the fuel pump, and certainly nothing of that nature has been presented in Isuzu's response or Daryl's claim. Nor from what the dealer has said to him - he’s got a reasonable claim which they agreed to take up with Isuzu Ute Australia which has very politely said no.

I call on the senior management of Isuzu Australia to wake up and acknowledge the existence of consumer law and support customers within a reasonable durability envelope with warranty-like support.

In fact, you should be gagging to do this because it's such cheap marketing. Instead of reaching out to AutoExpert and have this dirty laundry broadcast across YouTube, Daryl would instead be the world's biggest unpaid ambassador for Isuzu Ute if he just got looked after.

Remember, it doesn't cost $4000 for the part for Isuzu; they can stump up the part for what it really costs which is probably less than a thousand bucks and they don't even have to pay the full cost for the labour to get the dealership to fit it, because all carmakers have this discount labour rate arrangement with all dealers for warranty and consumer law kind of repairs.

Plenty of people are sucked into the myth of marketing: Toyota talks about it's unbreakable ute, Isuzu talks about its truck-like dependability, Ford’s ute with ‘car-like ride and handling’ - but you have to focus on the cold hard reality.

If you had a truck, reaching 120,000 kilometres happens pretty quick and if the injector pump failed - you'd be cranky. But you would also be politely demanding the brand supports you under Australian Consumer Law.

How a car company treats it customers is everything - especially in 2022 and beyond. It’s all that matters.

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