Holden Commodore 2009 Problems

It relates to the wheels. It’s E for E-Series, that’s the model, W for wheel, and C for 20-inch Supersports wheels with TPM (Tyre Pressure) monitors.

Holden does have a responsibility to support its products with parts and service for a reasonable time, particularly for a car like the VE, which is relatively new. Consult the people at Consumer Affairs about your concern and ask them to approach Holden on your behalf.

The problem with the timing chain is well documented, and would have come to your attention had you researched that model before you bought it. It's not a safety issue, hence no recall, but Holden did revise the timing chain in an attempt to fix it. Call Holden directly and lodge your complaint, but I doubt that you would have any success on a car that is now seven years old.

The VE sounds like a good car that's been well looked after and would be a good car for a growing family such as yours. I will assume it's a V6, in which case the main thing to be concerned about is wear to the camshaft timing chains. They're a known problem and cost $2000 or so to replace if they do wear. You can tell if they're worn as the engine runs poorly because the cam timing is thrown out. Other than that the VE is quite sound.

WA uses the national Written-Off Vehicle Register (WOVR) and requires all written-off vehicles to be registered by the assessor. There are two types of written-off vehicles, Statutory Written-Off vehicles that can't be re-registered, and Repairable Write-Offs, which can be re-registered. To re-register a repairable write-off the car must pass safety and identity checks. I don't believe there is any requirement for a dealer selling a repairable write-off to advise the buyer of its status, although I think it's a little mischievous for them not to do so. The responsibility for checking the status is with the buyer. There's nothing wrong with selling a repairable write-off, they're often written-off because the cost of repairs exceeds the value of the car, and in some cases that's easy to do. I doubt that you have a case, but seek legal advice if you feel you want to pursue a claim.

Stretched timing chains are a problem on the V6 engine. On early engines they were being replaced as low as 50,000km, until a change to the chain in 2007 supposedly fixed the problem. I would be trying to get Holden to come up with at least part of the cost of the repairs, and I would be reviewing the extended warranty to fully understand what it covers and what it doesn't.

The six-speed Commodore V8 has very tall gearing, which helps the economy on a trip. That's a good number for your car, but I've done the same run is smaller-capacity cars and returned 6.2L/100km.