Canberra network

[Machine111]

With the current ineos contract in Canberra coming to an end in the 18th October. Is there any news with respect to anyone taking up the contract to provide servicing and parts in Canberra?

If not what is our best option for servicing noting orange are shutting up too? Is there an option in Wagga or is Sydney the next closest option?

Cheers

 

[rob88]

No news on a replacement for Canberra yet. Contact Ineos Australia for the official update. Without a local dealer, Sydney is currently the nearest official service option.

 

[Woody]

I heard through the grapevine that the Nissan dealer on Melrose drive is taking over as a dealer and servicing. They have had a couple of Grenadiers in their showroom. Might stop by and ask next week as I will be down that way getting the Gren serviced.
The 4x4 Garage will still be operating as a workshop for the Audi dealer. If they still have the tooling and diagnostic computers from Ineos, then surely they can continue to service Grenadiers.
I just wish Ineos would open up their servicing network to independent garages such as the Series Workshop in Fyshwick as an example. Especially in markets where there are no formal service options.

 

[Ron50]

I was booked in for my 15,000 kilometre service for 30 October but get an email at lunchtime today saying the local dealer is closing today!

Very poor!

The Audi dealership that owned 4x4 Garage said Lennock had taken over servicing but Lennock assured me that's not the case.

I wanted to do my own servicing but the service light situation will have to be sorted.

 

[RedDirt]

I assume other ACT Region owners received the email Ron50 refers too, advising that the Audi Service Centre will no longer take service bookings as of today. Very disappointing. Even more disappointing is the silence from Ineos Australia, particularly as they have known this was going to happen for months.

I've used the contact us form on the Ineos WWW site to register my disappointment and ask (politely) what is happening about another Service Agent.

I'd suggest concerned ACT region owners do the same. They might get the message that the current situation is not acceptable, If the message comes from a number of voices!

Go here to contribute:

Contact Us

ineosgrenadier.com

 

[Ron50]

I assume other ACT Region owners received the email Ron50 refers too, advising that the Audi Service Centre will no longer take service bookings as of today. Very disappointing. Even more disappointing is the silence from Ineos Australia, particularly as they have known this was going to happen for months.

I've used the contact us form on the Ineos WWW site to register my disappointment and ask (politely) what is happening about another Service Agent.

I'd suggest concerned ACT region owners do the same. They might get the message that the current situation is not acceptable, If the message comes from a number of voices!

Go here to contribute:

Contact Us

ineosgrenadier.com

Yep, did that.

 

[NixGrenadier2023]

I didn't get the courtesy of any email from 4x4Garage even though I purchased and serviced through them for 30,000km...

 

[Ron50]

An email from Ineos Australia arrived today clarifying what probably caused 4x4 Garage to spit the dummy: Ineos is moving to an agency model rather than a dealership model - as Tesla, Honda and Mercedes already have.

 

[DenisM]

An email from Ineos Australia arrived today clarifying what probably caused 4x4 Garage to spit the dummy: Ineos is moving to an agency model rather than a dealership model - as Tesla, Honda and Mercedes already have.

Ineos has been using the agency model since inception in Australia. I suspect it's not cost effective (profitable) for workshops to fully invest in the Grenadier unless there's a reasonable customer base.... I have heard comment from Ineos connections that the lack of a cost effective local customer cohort has also contributed to the torpedoing of the original (Ineos) strategy to recruit Bosch service centres as Ineos service agencies....
Frankly, IMHO Ineos needs to improve access to tech data and trust owners who are able to look after their own investments. That will assist in building greater confidence in the product.
Mind you, my decades immersed in large organisations in the days long ago when "I had somewhere to be on Monday mornings" leads me to believe there are probably some political battles raging behind the scenes in Ineos upper management on this very issue!
" They also serve who sit.... and wait patiently!"

 

[RedDirt]

I assume other ACT Region owners received the email Ron50 refers too, advising that the Audi Service Centre will no longer take service bookings as of today. Very disappointing. Even more disappointing is the silence from Ineos Australia, particularly as they have known this was going to happen for months.

I've used the contact us form on the Ineos WWW site to register my disappointment and ask (politely) what is happening about another Service Agent.

I'd suggest concerned ACT region owners do the same. They might get the message that the current situation is not acceptable, If the message comes from a number of voices!

Go here to contribute:

Contact Us

ineosgrenadier.com

I received the following encouraging advice from Ineos in response to my query via the Ineos www site. I have also seen similar advice (from an Ineos Australia Rep.) on the Ineos Grenadier Owners Australia on Facebook:

We have been advised that INEOS Automotive Australia are in the process of appointing a new Dealer in Canberra.

The candidate is well advanced in the process, and we look forward to officially announcing their appointment in the coming weeks. That new dealer will represent INEOS Automotive Australia for both sales & service. They are excited by the opportunity to join the INEOS brand and looking forward to serving local customers.

INEOS Automotive Australia (IAA) is in the process of changing it’s business model in Australia, switching from an Agency to Dealer model.
This transition is taking place throughout the 4th quarter of 2025. The process of transitioning partners across onto new agreements is underway & in keeping with the requirements as laid out by the Franchising Code. Many of the existing Agents will make the change, some won’t. But IAA will also announce the appointment of some new Dealers, being for Sales & Service or Service Only.

 

[Ron50]

The advice from the Canberra Audi dealer last Friday was that "the Phillip Nissan dealer" (Lennock) would be taking over Ineos servicing. The advice from Lennock this morning was that the deal had fallen through and they did not know of anybody else picking up servicing.

I advised Ineos Australia that if no Ineos service provider had been appointed by the time my service was due I would perform a basic service (engine oil, filter, diffs) and the reply was:

You may elect to have your vehicle serviced by an accredited mechanic / auto service vendor. To avoid any compromise to the vehicles warranty, the use of the correct INEOS parts & servicing techniques is important. Failure to use the correct parts or follow the service & repair methods as defined by INEOS may result in a vehicle warranty claim being rejected. It’s also important to note, that only an INEOS Service Agent has access to a Vehicle Communication Interface (VCI) that can reset the vehicles service reminders.

My emphasis in bold. I've been servicing my own bikes and cars for over 60 years - first because I couldn't afford to pay someone else to do it and since 1977, when I bought my first new car, because I had marked nuts and washers with dots of black paint to make sure the work had been done and found that it wasn't. I was particularly concerned at the time about head torquing after a run of head gasket failures.

When I remonstrated with the service manager at Commonwealth Motors he claimed the job had definitely been done and that the mechanic had got the "special tool" (10mm allen key socket) from him to do the job. He claimed the nuts and washers must have, by coincidence, just happened to have lined up again after the job was done! When I invited him to try moving a nut on the cam cover the paint pinged off as soon as the nut moved. With me servicing that car I kept it until it hit a 'roo at 110kph in 2013, by which time it had clocked 1.3 million kilometres.

In 2006 my wife bought her first new car, unfortunately from the same dealer. This time they didn't even have the brains to keep the car for more than 15 or 20 minutes before claiming the first service was done. There was even a viewing window from which I could look down to see how little was done in the "service". With me servicing it that car has now done a trouble-free 260,000 kilometres.

When I had the 600km "check" on the Grenadier at 4x4 Garage I had noticed the left rear tyre pressure was low on the drive in so had pumped the tyre up before dropping the car off and asking that the tyre be checked as well. When I picked it up and asked what they found they said it checked out fine.

On checking as soon as I arrived home I found a three-inch masonry bolt poking out of the tread! You could say I'm slightly wary of dealers. I'd put it much more strongly than that!

 

[DenisM]

(Many) years ago (early 1970s) @Ron50, I had similar gaslighting from Commonwealth Motors . Other brand dealers of the time were of similar ilk.... this experience reinforced my life long DIY crusade....

 

[Clark Kent]

Here's an industry article about Ineos' switch from agency to franchised dealers in Australia. Commencing in 1Q2026.

https://www.theautoexec.com/autoexec-features/2025/10/09/ineos-scraps-agency-sales-model-a-bold-reset-in-australia/?