2015 Holden Captiva Pricing and Specs

Let’s get something straight right from the off: The Holden Calais and Holden Captiva are not close family members. While the Calais was an Australian-engineered and built car, the Captiva is a rebadged Daewoo and not a very good one at that. So don’t be tricked into thinking that because they both have a Holden badge and a V6 engine, that they’re peas from a pod.

The reality is the Captiva has an absolutely dreadful reputation in the trade for poor build quality and sketchy reliability. Most mechanics wouldn’t travel 500 metres to look at one, let alone 500 kilometres. I’d take a 231,000km Calais over any Captiva, old or new, any day.

Holden actually sold a lot of Captivas back in the day, mainly on price alone. But many who bought them then stood and watched as they things fell apart and soon began to cost plenty in repair bills. Doubtless there will be some out there who own and love their Captiva, but the reality is that these cars are best left well alone.

No, it shouldn’t be difficult at all. Plenty of online advertisers list the ABS module for this vehicle, including second-hand, reconditioned and brand new examples. Prices range from a few hundred dollars for a second-hand unit (that might have the same problems as the one you already have) to about $1300 for a reconditioned unit and up to $3000 for a brand new module.

Despite its patchy reputation, the Captiva sold well for holden (mainly on price) so there’s plenty of knowledge and spare parts out there for them in the repair industry. Don’t forget to try traditional auto parts stores, either, as these can sometimes be a better bet than an online seller, particularly if you need the part in a hurry.

What you haven’t told me is whether your car is a petrol or diesel Captiva. The two engines have very different ways of operating and both can make very different noises depending on what’s going on with them.

Diesel engines often have a fair bit of fuel pump noise which can increase as the car travels more kilometres and the pump develops a bit of wear. But whichever engine we’re dealing with, if the noise is at idle, then you’d really want to check the engine’s oil pressure. Oil pressure is lowest at idle, and low oil pressure can cause noises from the hydraulic lifters and even the engine’s crankshaft and pistons. Neither of those are what you want to hear, though, as they suggests some fairly major internal wear or damage.