Commodore battery problem

...that is leaving some Holden Commodore owners stranded. Even GM-Holden is stumped by what's causing batteries in late-model VE Commodores to run flat. The company's product communications manager, Kate Lonsdale, says the battery bugbear is now being treated as a priority.

However, GM-Holden is unsure how many cars are affected, or which models. "We need to see if there is a pattern or a common link," she says. Lonsdale says the electrical problem was proving difficult to pinpoint. "There are so many reasons why a battery can go flat," she says. "What we're hearing is that it is not the battery so much as something draining the battery."

Nationally several dealers have experienced intermittent battery problems with customer cars but they say these have largely been fixed. South Gippsland oil rig worker, Rob Flannigan, says his $55,000 Calais wagon has left his family stranded five times since he bought the car new last year. "I'm fed up," he says.

Flannigan says he is so worried the 2008 luxury wagon will not start he now carries a recharge pack in the car. "When you spend that amount of money on a car you don't expect 1950s levels of reliability," he says.

Despite his local dealer admitting there was a problem, Flannigan says has had little luck with Holden's customer assistance centre. "I really would like it fixed," he says.

The battery problem became critical when Flannigan's 17-year-old son needed urgent medical help earlier this year because of a broken hand. "My wife Julie tried to start the car and the battery was flat," he says.

They phoned Holden roadside assist to jump start the car but then had to borrow a car to rush his son to hospital. Various state-based motoring organisations say the problem is an old one. The NRMA, which handles Holden's premium roadside assist, says there has been a small increase in flat batteries in the VE ‘but nothing that would be categorised as a major issue’.

One popular theory on the cause is a software problem with the alternator, which is not providing enough charge to the battery on short journeys, causing the battery to run down.

Lonsdale urges worried owners to contact their dealers or Holden's customer assistance centre.