Holden Captiva Problems

It's got nothing to do with the fuel you're using; the Captiva is fine to run on regular unleaded. You need to have a mechanic experienced in diagnosing problems with modern engines check it out for you. Clearly the dealer's mechanics are not up to the task.

The negatives are in comparison with its classy rivals, including the Kia Sportage and Hyundai ix35 that - as with the Captiva - come from Korea. I've had readers complaining about quality and mechanical problems but the main shortcoming is basically its performance against the rivals.

I wouldn't recommend the Captiva but the Dualis gets The Tick and is good value. 

I agree. While the advertised fuel consumption figure is the result of a lab test and is intended only for comparison purposes I think it's reasonable to expect that the real life figure should be close to that figure. Given the size and weight of the Captiva a number of 9 L/100 km seems quite low, lower than I would expect. Don't expect it to improve much as the car is "run-in", that's something dealers say to out you off.

Don't just sit back and wait, maintain the pressure on the dealer, and Holden, by regularly following it up so they know you're not going to go away. All car companies need to be reminded that they have a responsibility to fix faulty products.

It appears they haven't, but we will check. In the meantime religiously stick to the maintenance schedule and change oil and filters regularly.

It needs to go to a mechanic who can properly diagnose it. It sounds like it could be a sensor problem, which should show up on a diagnostic check.

We have heard of issues with diesel engines in recent weeks, which are thought to have been caused by contaminated diesel fuel. Insiders are saying the fuel has been contaminated by a fungus during shipping, but little more is known at this stage. We are attempting to find out more.

Some early Captivas fitted with the diesel engine may have experienced a condition whereby the camshaft rocker arm bearing could fail. In some instances this rocker arm failure was known to result in damage to the camshaft(s). A revised camshaft rocker arm assembly was released into vehicle/engine production to address this problem. These revised parts were also made available to service to replace any failed parts in the field. The service fix advice if presented with a 'Rocker arm failure', is to replace all the rocker arms with the revised parts.