Comments on: 2007 Holden Captiva Diesel

By: c k

c k — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 04:55:14 +0000

Be warned do not buy one of these vehicles – 24 months i have been into the garage 15 times – different problems-

O2 sensors
ECU changed
stereo changed twice
bluetooth failure
ABS failed
Engine malfunction light to many times
Windows let in water
Lights let in water
Bonnet clasp broken
( due to the amount of times service had been in and out of the engine)
auto window not working- driver side
Reverses awfully

PLEASE DO NOT BUY ONE OF THESE CARS – HOLDEN HAS A PROBLEM WITH THEM , AND WILL NOT RECALL THEM…..

ps im not bitter, just angry – that i am putting my family in an unsafe car – as it powers down as well…

By: Get a manual

Get a manual — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 12:15:57 +0000

I love my Captiva manual diesel (except for the right leg shin splints and the tramlining on uneven surfaces). I get high 7s (litres/100 km)on a long country run and 9s commuting. If you want save fuel you need to do some work yourself and have the basic model with the manual. The Captiva auto is not much of a transmission in my book. Too bad they’ve killed off the manual. Great little torquey engine. Tows my 1 tonne boat fine once you’re moving but the turbo makes it hard on the clutch on takeoff.

By: LXDIESEL

LXDIESEL — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:33:50 +0000

I have an LX Captiva DIESEL BOUGHT 1/1/08 had done 55k was getting 10l/100 ok ,
PROBLEM on 24TH of June went to go to work, complete engine breakdown, car towed to local dealer been there ever since can not seem to fix it have cotacted HOLDEN HO for a new engine, awaiting there reply.

By: hooky

hooky — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 17:24:10 +0000

very interesting reading, i am a mechanic with 25yrs experience (worked on caterpillars for last few years.)
i have a diesel captiva LX auto 8500klms
have found the car to be a very good comfortable car , dynamically like a plush cruiser but corners relatively flat and steers well, seats are comfy, and love the flippy back window great for carring those longer bit of timber back from mill.
very happy overall with the car. tryed an xtrail but thought it was under equiped and rolled in cornering and missus thought it had the styling of a bread van.
sante fe was good , body roll was issue and seats are NOT comfy and tyre /rim package is very agricultural
thought about VW but was too small and fell over at price.

captive is a great car ……….. pity they didn’t finish it off for example.

i live in country and drive at night in area’s where there is no artifical light at all , complete darkness so i always dim the dash light right down so i can see properly, obviously holden didn’t drive the car at night as when you dim the dash lights the display with the odometer in it doesn’t dim!!! and when you go to highbeam the little blue light is far to bright!.

now this car (LX) is the calais model and it doesn’t have a lockable fuel cap?? and the fuel flap ISN’T opened remotely from inside the car but it has a thunb tab on the actual flap! anyone wanting some free diesel will see your car on the street and get straight to it!! NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

and get rid of the annoying bong when the keys are in the ignition etc…..

now to the big one FUEL ECONOMY
i have owned several cars since they introduced the combined fuel sticker for buyers. i have owned a calais, berlina, navara, susuki grand vitara etc…
we’ll use the calais for comparision( but all show the same result) i drive into town alot to shop , school , i work 35 klms away ( highway drive) my average speed is about 60 – 65klms i drove the car for 85000klms and averaged 10.2-10.4 l/100klm the sticker on the car when they were new was about 11 l/100 lkms. point being in every cars case (including the holdens) i was always able to beat the sticker economy by .5 to 1 l/100klm.
with the captiva the sticker says 8.7 l/100klm i get 10.2 -10.5 l/100klm ?????? same driving(i’m obviously a bit older now and drive more sedately).

to check how good the trip computor is i done some manual tanks for comparison and found that the trip computor is in error by approx 1.0 l/100klm ie. 1/ car said 10.5 actual was 9.6. this result was repeated with other checks , haven’t yet done a highway run to check that.

lets understand what the fuel sticker means on the car , it is mean’t to show a comparison from one manufacturer to another to inform the buyer. it represents a COMBINED figure of HIGHWAY and CITY driving, i think by memory 40% city cycle 60% highway cycle.

so by understanding this you can see that my fuel economy is NOT good enough, i should be getting 7.8 – 8.3 in my driving not 9.6. and i read some people are happy with 9.5 on highway……… thats rubbish should be low 7.0’s

also with the diesel if you persist while filling it after the first click you can get quite a few extra litres in the tank. when diesel pumped it gets airated ,so if you give it a few seconds to settle you can fit some more in, keep doing this a few times and you will fit more in.

By: Lawrence

Lawrence — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 03:31:07 +0000

I am considering buying a diesel Captiva, but after reading this I am very worried about the fuel consumption. It does not seem worth spending $50K on a car that returns crap ecconomy.

By: smitty

smitty — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 04:11:02 +0000

Brian – Did consider the Sanat Fe Elite but couldn’t afford the extra $10K. Centre seat in middle row also seemed a little on the hard side.

Has anyway tried fitting a chip to there cap at all? I was thinking of fitting a DP chip but they are around $1500.

By: Brian

Brian — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 12:44:12 +0000

Hmmm reading this just makes me glad i bought the Santa Fe.

Elite auto … about 30,000km now

low 9’s around town, low 7’s in the country, will easily do the ADR 8.7 with a combination of both.

Oh did i mention its a fantastic car… btw captiva owners don’t worry about looking for the airbags for your kids in the third row seats… they’re not there … lol

By: Dougo

Dougo — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 05:08:27 +0000

With deisels or petrol motors to some degree make sure they are getting plenty of air into motor some intakes do need holes drilled in them to make them breath better instead struggling to get a air fuel mix

By: Ken

Ken — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 23:56:57 +0000

Hi Geoff
My LX diesel has done 39,000 km and hasn’t used any oil. I don’t know what an oil consumption test would involve but it sounds like it is worth doing.

By: Geoff

Geoff — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 06:10:47 +0000

Can anyone tell me if their Diesel is consuming any oil?

I have a SX Captiva diesel which has just had its 15000km service. It has consumed almost three quarters of the level between the high and low mark on the dipstick since taking delivery of the new vehicle in October last year.

There are no external oil leaks and Holden said they would do an oil consumption test if requested.
Does anyone know what an oil consumption test is and how they measure?

By: Pete

Pete — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 08:05:05 +0000

I have just purchased a Petrol Captiva.

I have only filled it twice, and both times from nearly empty, and it has taken 10 minutes or more to fill. The bowser cut out every few seconds,

Is this a common problem with these cars?

By: No Name

No Name — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:32:18 +0000

Admittedly 15’s sound really high. I can only presume you may have a heavy right foot as they say. Try driving a tad less energetically

By: THOMAS

THOMAS — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:13:45 +0000

Further to my previous posts in this forum re Lx Captiva
Diesel having a thirst for diesel at a rate of 15 litres per 100 klm ,well the car has now done 5000 klm and is still consuming the diesel at the same rate.
Complained to Summit Holden again and they did an 100 klm test on the vehicle which consisted of practically having the car roll down every hill and not touching the accelerator pedal or the brake the only thing that was missing in the exercise was a attaching mast and sail and waiting for a breeze to roll in ,but surprisingly using these methods they concluded that the consumption was 9.6 litres per 100 klm hence there was nothing to worry about.
I was not happy with this situation as it did not mirror a normal method of driving any vehicle and I complained but they stated that the car is performing correctly.
I started emailing Holden customer assistant rep a man called Anthony Laras I emailed him every day for nine days
with no response getting frustrated from this lack of response I called there 1800 number only to be told by them they had not received my emails.
They stated that I should email them again and someone will respond within 24 hours .
The next day their state rep a person called Olga Katsifolis called back and rudely stated “just listen to me
Holden does not determine their fuel consumption figures,
the government does and their is nothing they can do. and Holden is not in the business of giving people back their money
So thats were I stand they sell me a car stating X litres per 100 klm take my money and when you challenge their claimed figures they say bad luck and blame someone else.
Buy a Captiva or any Holden product thats were you stand.

By: washington

washington — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:55:57 +0000

Got mine a month ago. An LTZ 2.0,from South Africa. Have done 900km, My first tank gave me 690km of city driving. I must say this car is a real looker. People stop me to find out more about it. Its comfortable but i am worried about the ESP. Both lights frequently come on and stay on. There is a noticeble loss of power when this happens. The passenger side speakers are not working either

By: Terry

Terry — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 23:19:32 +0000

As there seems to be a lot of debate in regards to available updates etc, is anyone aware of a central body for Holden to confirm what is available and what is not. Holden website only advises to contact local dealer and normally they just respond to queries like a bunch of trained monkeys.

By: Ken

Ken — Fri, 23 May 2008 04:21:09 +0000

Took my Sept 2007 LX diesel in for it’s 30K service. Specifically asked the dealer for the new fix to improve fuel consumption. He had never heard of it and said there was no such fix. My car is leased so I get accurate fuel consumption reports and overall since new my average consumption is 10.55 l/100 km. I typically do 70% highway driving so this is crap and with diesel now selling at close to 30 cents dearer than ULP I will be selling my Captiva next Sept. Pity really because otherwise it is a great car.

By: Jason

Jason — Fri, 23 May 2008 00:50:30 +0000

Doug, I seriously doubt it take an extra 10L after the fuel pump cuts off. Anyway, you shouldn’t fill it after that point, as that excess fuel is burnt off quicker.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Fri, 23 May 2008 00:10:10 +0000

I read the input from someone who said they get 15l per 100km! I think they just got a lemon somehow, I consistently get 10l normal round town travel. My question to others: do you have a problem of car veering to the right or left even after wheel alignments?

By: Doug

Doug — Wed, 21 May 2008 13:31:44 +0000

I’ve had a Captiva Diesel LX auto for 6 months and have done 10,000km. It feels solid and purposeful. I get around 11l/100km around town (Canberra)and 8.8l/100km on long trips, (travelled 750km on one tank). My wife had a Mazda Tribute 3 l petrol, it is smaller, lighter, and feels tinny, yet it gulps 15l/100km. I am very happy with the fuel economy and the quality of the Captiva. Furthermore, how many vehicle can sit 5 adults plus 2 teenagers and can still park in a spot reserved for “small car”? p.s. I fill my tank right up to the rim. When the fuel bowser stops automatically, you can still add (slowly) 10 litres before it is up to the rim. This may account for some of the irregular consumption figures that have been quoted.

By: Cabby

Cabby — Sun, 04 May 2008 00:51:53 +0000

A quick one this time!
Does any body know where the phone car kit harness is located in the captiva?