Holden Calais Problems

You don't say by how much it has crept up and whether it's been a gradual increase or a sudden jump, but Holden's claim for town running was 15.0 L/100 km for a 1999 VT V8 and 13.5 L/100 km for a later VX V8. If it's running well and still packs a powerful punch you should look at those items that might affect the tuning of the engine. Replace the spark plugs, the plug leads, the air filter, perhaps clean the throttle body and give it a good run to blow out any carbon build-up.

Yes it is possible. LPG converters are regularly doing VE Commodores and Calais like yours and owners are not reporting any problems. The system you should use is a vapour-injection one and you should choose a recognized brand and a reputable converter.

Your complaint is a common one with people who have bought the factory options, but my investigations suggest you can’t update the maps without buying the factory disc. You’re right, it isn’t good enough, and anyone thinking of buying the factory GPS should consider this cost before they do.

If the transmission is performing as it should then it could just be a dodgy wiring connection, but having the transmission checked and serviced is a wise course of action.

If it is a problem with the paint protection you could use a paint cleaner, which should clean it off, and then polish the car. But I suspect it could be a delaminating clear coat that's your problem and not the protection coat at all. I would suggest you take it to a body shop and have them cast their expert eye over it.

It's a moulded headlining panel and the backing foam is probably crumbling, which makes it hard to fix. The way out is to replace it.

IT TOOK Holden some time to find out what was causing the batteries to flatten, but someone on the inside has assured us the problem has been fixed. We have a copy of a letter DL 63/09 sent to dealers on November 30 that sets out a checklist, which dealers can use when assessing a problem car, and revised software for instrument-panel cluster. That leads us to believe Holden is on top of the issue. It's hard to comment on why the airbags failed to deploy in your crash, but airbags generally deploy only in a very serious crash and the impact of yours might not have been enough to trigger them. You don't mention if you were injured, which suggests you were not.

HOLDEN tells us it is taking this problem seriously and looking into every complaint, but so far we haven't had any meaningful explanation.The problem seems to affect cars with lots of electrical features -- such as your Calais. Keep the pressure on the dealer and in turn on Holden to come up with a solution.

I THINK your dad is on the money. The crank angle sensors are notorious for giving trouble in these older Commodores.

BLACK cars tend to absorb heat more and get hotter in the sun. They can take more work to keep clean and scratches and scuffmarks show up more. For those reasons the resale value of black cars can be lower. Other than that, there are no specific problems with them.