Holden Problems

The Alloytec V6 was known to have problems with the timing chain. There is no warranty on repairs as such, and with four years having lapsed since the work was done any warranty that might have existed has long since passed. You could contact Holden’s customer service (1800 033 349) and lodge your concerns with them.

It needs to be fixed, it’s worth very little if you don’t repair it. There’s no reason to believe that you won’t get many more years out of it if you do have it repaired.

Water shouldn’t get into the diff by merely driving in the rain; the seals should be good enough to keep water from getting into the diff even when driving through creeks and water crossings. Something more than a dud seal is at play here. Have the dealer make a more thorough check of the diff, and don’t pay for a replacement until the cause of the leakage is established.

Make sure the camera lens is clean and there’s nothing obstructing its field of view. If all is well there have a dealer check it.

I assume it won’t unlock using the remote, but guessing it probably would with the key. It could be an issue with the key, perhaps replace the battery, or with the sensor on the boot release.

Yes, I would suspect that there is an underlying issue that hasn’t been addressed. I would be having a compression test done on the engine to see if it could be a blown head gasket or something similar.

The private price guide is $23,500-$26,000, but that’s with average kilometres of 30,000-50,000. With 10,000 km the value would be towards the top end of the range.

Water vapour from the exhaust is common during the warm-up phase. It should stop after a short time of driving, but I wouldn’t be concerned about it.

The engine oil should be a 10W-40, the auto transmission fluid and power steering fluid should be from a quality brand, and the brake fluid should be a DOT 4 spec. Go to an automotive supplies shop and they should be able to advise you.

It’s common practice to replace the water pump at the same time the timing belt is changed because they usually need it. It doesn’t appear to be overheating, i.e. the gauge is not going off the scale, so I would just keep an eye on it and if it does show signs of overheating get it checked out.