Holden Captiva 2008 Problems

HOLDEN contacted us and advised us that they have not been reflashing Captivas to improve the fuel economy. There are a lot of people disappointed with the economy of the diesel Captiva, but I'm sure their expectations were a little too high -- 10 litres/100km isn't too bad.

FIRST, the fuel consumption is clearly good, so that's a plus. Your gripes are typical of what you can experience with a smallish outfit that doesn't have the clout, and sometimes the willingness, to press the factory to get things fixed. Adding to your possible woes is the change in local distributors to Sime Darby, the Peugeot distributors for Australia. I'd guess the old distributors have little interest in fixing problems like yours and the incoming distributor may have little more interest in fixing problems left over from the old people.

YOU'RE not alone in your concerns about the Captiva's fuel economy. We're getting lots of complaints from owners of diesel Captivas. We recently received a letter from an owner who claimed his Holden dealer had reflashed the memory in his car as a factory-endorsed fix for the problem, but that seems to be a little off the mark. Holden doesn't have a fix for the fuel consumption problem and hasn't been reflashing memories.

THE clunk could be in the driveline, but I suspect that's what the dealer has tried. Go back and ask them what they actually did, and what they next plan to do to fix it. I take it you mean an aftermarket chip when you say a "DB'' chip, but it sounds like there is something amiss with your car that needs to be sorted before resorting to the chip. If there is a problem, the chip won't fix it. You should be happy with the fuel economy -- it's within a bull's roar of the Holden claim. The Holden figure is derived from a non-real-world lab test and is done so people thinking of buying a car can compare its fuel economy with other makes and models.

MODERN diesels perform on a par with petrol engines now so you won't lose performance. When looking at economy, it's important to consider the higher purchase price of the diesel model and the higher fuel price.