Holden Captiva Problems

I would also urge owners who have the same problem with their Captivas to contact Holden and register their concerns. There is little doubt that the Captiva has a problem with wheel alignment that results in rapid and uneven tyre wear.

In a sense the dealer was correct, that is the way the Captiva comes from the factory. If I was to guess I would reckon he knew that the wheel alignment would show the car was correctly aligned as per the factory specs and he would also know that there was little he could do to correct the situation. There is no doubt that the Captiva wears out tyres at a rather rapid rate, we have had plenty of owners complaining about it. Our checks with suspension specialists in the aftermarket suggest the wear rate is caused by incorrect camber and there’s not enough adjustment to correct it. These same specialists have camber pins they can install to fix the problem at around $250. At this point Holden would appear to be in denial as you suggest.

Yours is not the first report we've had of Captivas pulling to the   left, and so far we know of no fix for the problem. We referred your   complaint to Holden who have checked their complaint system, but they   tell us that there are no reports relating to your car in their   system. They have asked us to supply the dealer's name so they can   follow it up further. If you supply us with the name we will pass it on.

When you are deciding on a car to use for towing you need to be conscious of the weight you plan to tow, and that must be the total weight and not just the weight of the caravan or trailer, the sort of terrain you will be traveling over, and the ambient temperature you are likely to experience. The Captiva diesel is rated to tow 2000 kg if it’s a manual and 1700 kg if it’s an auto. Make sure your caravan/trailer is within that weight limit, if it is you could consult an offroad vehicle specialist about increasing the cooling capacity of your car.

You need to be able to demonstrate that the wear is not normal fair wear-and-tear, and that of course is always very hard to do. There is no benchmark for wear of this type. Perhaps you could check other similar Captivas for the same wear pattern and develop a case you could present to Holden. Other readers might like to tell us of their experience with the Captiva.

The Captiva doesn’t actually have a four-wheel drive mode in the conventional sense. It employs an all-wheel drive system with all the drive going through the front wheels in normal conditions, but when conditions dictate the drive is redirected to the rear axle as required for maximum traction. I’m not sure what difference having a light on the dash would make, the system would still be working out the best distribution of the drive for best traction, all you would have is a light flashing on the dash. I would find that distracting.

The Captiva V6 doesn’t reach its peak torque until 3200 revs so it’s hard to know why you feel it dropping off after just 2000 revs. The exhaust system was primarily designed as a fuel economy improver; the engine also has constantly variable cam phasing and that’s the main system that allows good low down torque as well as good top end performance.

No, there isn't once you've exhausted all other avenues as you appear to have done. It's now your word against theirs. The problem you have is to convince VCAT that the crack occurred in the normal course of events and not through any abuse on your part. What Holden has done in offering you part compensation is regular industry practice and I would be tempted to accept it.