2019 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.

There’s a variety of ways a turbocharged engine can lose boost. You might have a problem with the intercooler or even something simple like a dirty air filter. Don’t rule out a fuel supply problem which is causing the computer to reduce boost to account for a lack of fuel.

But one thing that has been noted in these cars is a cracked or broken boost pipe. If that happens, the boost will be lost to the atmosphere before it can get to the engine. Black smoke from the exhaust is a common accompaniment to this problem.

Holden’s own service schedule for this model Captiva doesn’t specify a change interval for the differential oil. Instead, it recommends the oil be changed when required according to how the car is behaving. Which would suggest that your car is, indeed, ready for new differential oil.

As far as the scan goes, be sure not to confuse a sticking or non-engaging rear differential with the same behaviour from the centre differential. These are both technically differentials, but have vastly different roles to play. In the case of an electronically operated differential, the clutches can sometimes be replaced separately, but in any case, you need to go deep inside the differential, so while your mechanic is in there, have them check out the whole unit.