2003 Holden Commodore SS from Australia and New Zealand - Comments

Blown plugs on cylinders 6 through 8 at 1400km's.

Interior trim does not align properly.

Cracked plastic parts on center console.

Piston slap from day 1.

Excessive oil consumption.

Burning oil.

This car is fast in a straight line which is about all this car is good for.

However, the engine feels like its about to tear its mounts when you are on the limit. Too loud and brash to be anything more than a car for a die hard Holden fan that will stomach the latest Holden gimmick.

Engine is unrefined. In the pursuit of big horsepower, Holden has neglected to even give this engine the slightest touch of class. Engine feels sub-standard.

Cornering is poor, handling is poor. A "sports sedan" this is not.

Poor interior trim and tacky cheap plastic is a trademark of Holden, and this car is no exception.

Too many problems, especially engine related, bring this car to its knees against other cheaper Japanese alternatives.

C'mon, it can't be that bad can it. It's a new car!

Must admit, I recently went to a (used) car dealer that specialised in High performance (ie V8) Falcodores.

One of the vehicles I looked at was a great looking HSV of 1997/98 vintage apparently with less than 20,000km on the clock. The vehicle looked great, but tired. The tyres were worn. It had stopped raining, and I asked the sales person to show me the car. He opened the boot and it was leaking! He didn't bother trying to sell me the car.

I've heard lots about the later Chevy based V8's burning oil and piston slap problems. But surely these must have been fixed by now!

I notice that the reviewer of this vehicle previously owned a Nissan Skyline and wonder how genuine he is (or is he merely trying to bag the good old Aussie cars).

As poor as the Commodores seem, its still hard to believe that all these problems have presented themselves in a current year model at less than 10,000km.

I would appreciate the truth about the new models as I have been looking for a new car. Should I really be buying a Jap or European car and forgetting all about V8 grunt?

I purchased a new car in Feb this year after many months of research into the local products. Holden appear unable to provide the truth about the Gen3 engine problems. Yes, I have spoken to at least 6 people who have had piston slap and oil consumption problems from new. All of these have been rebuilt under warranty, One has been rebuilt twice & another 3 times. Contact service at Paul Wakeling Motors and ask if they are tired of fixing them. The HSV product is very stylish and hard to go past, but I decided to go for the Ford XR6 Turbo. The XR has had some minor problems (brake shudder, Electrical switch) but you would think they could all get it together with today's technology.

I have purchased a new VX SS in October 2002. It has now 10, 000 kilometres on the clock and it is starting to show problems.

I never rave it hard or put any unnecessary stress on the car and still it is already developing tappets noise.

I also can feel a sort of a vibrating noise from underneath the automatic gear selector.

The drivers seat-cover is wearing through and the whole seat is rocking back and forth, I only weight about 70 kilograms and only wear a suite driving to the office and back.

The next issue is the back lights are filling up with water every time I wash the car.

Every time I speak to the service people about these issues they try to get rid of me.

Last month (November 2003) I purchased a new VY series 1 SS Commodore sedan - manual.

From the time I collected it I noticed a 'tappet' or 'fluttering' noise from the engine during constant light acceleration (between 2000 and 3000 rpm). I informed my dealer of this at its 1500km service, but they have found nothing wrong.

This problem has not gone away. I have had it back twice since and was told it was just a bit of engine noise. So I had Holden put on their 'sporty muffler' which they use on the Monaro at a cost of $550. It made no difference.

I have also tried synthetic engine oil, premium unleaded & replaced the air filter. Nothing makes any difference.

I will not rest until this matter is resolved and for those interested, I will update on my progress.

At this stage, I would not recommend a friend of mine to buy a SS Commodore.

Hi everyone it is interesting to read these reviews on the gen 3 engine I am so excited as I am looking for a new holden I was looking for maybe a VX SS or a s v 8 I don't know now after reading the above. any ideas as to which is the better vehicle please help thank you holden lover NSW.

To the comment from 10th December 03, I must ask if you've considered whether the noise is actually coming from the gear box. These gear boxes are notorious for this, but are neither damaging, nor a problem in the long run.

I've had my VY II SS for several months with only one complaint; traction control should stay off all the time if I turn it off (it defaults to on every restart of the car). :-)

Other than that, the price tag may be high, but when purchased 2nd hand at a much lower price, it can't be beaten for looks and when lowered is a real stunner.

I've had a VY series 1 (2003) SV8 since new and have NEVER had oil usage or pistol slap. It seems to me that if people would run these (LS1) engines in properly then they wouldn't have these problems. Runin should be done with mineral oils for the first 1500k and drive it like you stole it to bed in the rings. Then change the oil to synthetic and you will not have any problems.

The "slapping" problem that most report is probably just normal engine noise - "flutter" that most report is due to several idiosyncrasies of the desgin, being the short piston coupled with the harmonics of the alloy block coupled with the cast exhaust manifold seem to amplify the flutter from the piston 'flipping' at the bottom of the stroke.

Firstly there should not need to be a special way of running in the engine as it should be able to be done by anyone. Especially when you are paying the price tag for one of these. Secondly just because one person owned one with no problems does not mean someone else has not had problems or doesn't know how to run it in properly. I have had friends who have purchased the Ls1 engines & some have had up to 3 engine rebuilds & the others have been fine. they all pretty much did the same things when first driving. The real problem is you cannot tell this from just inspecting the vehicle you unfortunately only find out once you have taken purchase & drive for a while. At the price you pay it is a big gamble to get the problems that can come with this car & believe me I have been a holden fan all my life, but I would not take the chance. There will be a lot of people buying junk when they all have come of their warranty & all repairs are out of the customers pocket.

I bought my 03 SV8 in March 06. It had only minor problems with the t/c and the ABS, which was due to a faulty relay switch.

Also had problems with the ignition; it wouldn't turn over for some reason, but was soon rectified.

Other than that, it's very happy; a very quick car, 6 speed, cruise control beast.