2001 Holden Utility VU review from Australia and New Zealand

Noticed a rattle in the front end at 49000 km. It was found to be a worn stabilizer bar and was replaced at the 50000 km service.

The seats are very comfortable on long trips.

The air con is the best out of any car I have ever been in.

Magnificent fuel economy from the cast iron overhead valve engine which first appeared in the 1988 VN Commodore.

Hasn't used a drop of oil.

Handles extremely well for an Aussie car, even with it's standard Bridgestone RE88 tyres.

The automatic transmission is fairly good, but changes when you least expect it to.

At 110 km/h in 4th gear, the engine is doing only 1900 RPM, which explains why the trip computer reads 800 km to empty when the tank is full.

If the whole Commodore range is anything like my ute, it's not hard to work out why Commodore has been Australia's best selling car every month since September 1997, except for September 2003, where it was beaten by the Ford BA Falcon.

The VR ute I had before my VU never had any problems in the 112000 kilometres I had it, so for my next car, I wouldn't consider anything, but a Holden Commodore.