Holden Problems

The Brumby would have been a good choice 10 years ago, but finding one now that hasn’t been driven into the ground, beaten to death, or rusted away is nigh on impossible. Instead of buying a dodgy old your son a favour and buy him a decent car, one that doesn’t belong in a scrap yard, and will serve him well for some time into the future. I would go for a Hilux, Triton, or Bravo 2600.

It would just be guessing to try and diagnose it from what you have told us, so I would suggest you have an auto electrician check the trailer wiring, and once that’s eliminated, which I’m sure it will be, run another diagnostic check. It’s more likely to be a faulty sensor sending an erroneous message to the car’s computer.

As a private sale it would be worth $2000-$3000, but the trade would value it at $500-$2000.

First, pull the radiator overflow hose out of the side of the coolant reservoir fill neck and turn the steering wheel to the hard left to get room to get tools in. Laying on the ground undo the two screws on the front of the reservoir and screw on the frame rail, and you can then remove the reservoir.

You seem to have kept good records of the problems with your car, which will help when it comes to the crunch. It’s also good that you are pursuing Holden through VCAT. If you bought it new in 2015 the warranty must have only just expired, which should help you claim against Holden for the cost of repairs. I would pursue Holden to replace the transmission; the car has a long history of trouble with the transmission, which you can verify with the records you have kept. If that fails to move Holden I would again go to VCAT to get some satisfaction.

The dual-clutch so-called ‘sports automatic’ transmission in the Cruze has a long and miserable history if trouble. From what you describe it seems trouble is coming your way.

The Holden Colorado, and the final series of the Holden Rodeo before it, have been built in Thailand by Isuzu since 2002. Sharing a platform with the Isuzu D-Max the Colorado is built under licence in Isuzu's Samut Prakan factory.

Yes, no, and maybe. If you are after a mid-sized family SUV that doesn't need to go off-road, then a Captiva will likely do all you need and be a good car. If you are after a sporty machine to take to the track or cruise up and down the cafe strip impressing pedestrians, then the Captiva is definitely not what you'd want in a car. If you're interested in buying a Captiva, also look at Toyota's Kluger, Subaru's Forester, or even Jeep's Cherokee to benchmark the field.

Removing the grille from an RG-series Holden Colorado is fairly simple. First, get hold of a T20 Torx bit and a 10mm socket. There are seven fasteners on top of the grille, which you can remove by opening the bonnet. To remove the entire front bumper assembly, you need to remove the T20 Torx bits holding the bumper to the inner guards on the left and right (in front of the wheels). There are also three 10mm bolts holding the bottom of the bumper to the undertray which need to be removed, before slowly prying the bumper away from the car. Take note of a clip under the outside edge of each headlight, prying those clips away slowly.

I’d say you have a turbo problem. Get it to a dealer and have it checked out. Wit the problem you describe you should be able to clearly show the dealer what you are concerned about.