1995 Holden Commodore VS from Australia and New Zealand - All Comments

Seats look fine, but are quite uncomfortable now.

Cooling system failed once (causing the engine to overheat, it's been fine since replaced however).

Power Steering has a slight leak (this was visible when I changed the oil). The steering wheel also has a slight rattle.

Standard shock absorbers failed and were replaced with a new pedders set.

Seat belts were loose and required replacing.

It's got a lot of grunt for a naturally aspirated 6 cylinder and has a nice note with 2.5" exhaust system straight through from the manifold.

The fuel consumption is approximately 400-450KM for a full tank of petrol (57 Liters I believe)

Gees mate you must have skipped a few grammar classes at school. Your sentencing is atrocious!

VS Commodore Acclaim delivered December 1995.

I have owned this vehicle since new, it currently has 137,000 km.

Problems encountered.

Failed power steering pump, replaced by GMH.

Misfiring, coil pack replaced by GMH.

Temperature gauge wanders (considerably) after initial engine warm-up dependant on ambient air temperature, GMH unable to fix, told me it was normal.

Pinging in hot weather, EMC programme modified by GMH.

Front seats loose, GMH unable to fix.

Auto gear change slow.

Slight shudder in drivetrain at low road speed under acceleration.

I am on my second set of front disks and will need a third set when the disks next need skimming, ie; three sets in less than 150,000 km.

I am on my second set of front end bushes (bush kit) and will need another kit before 150,000 km.

Fuel gauge sticks.

Steering rack rebuilt, oil leaks.

Shocks are leaking at the moment and will probably need replacement soon.

I get over 40,000 km out of a set of tyres.

60 litre fuel tank is a bit on the small side for my needs.

Oil leaks from the engine, a recent development.

General comments:

As a package I feel the VS has a good combination of comfort, safety, performance and fuel economy and the car performs very well on the highway however, I feel the front end is under specified, particularly the front suspension and disk breaks.

I am disappointed at the high maintenance cost of this vehicle and have spoken to other VS owners who have similar experience of high maintenance costs, again in regard to the front-end components. I do not think I am hard on the brakes, the car is used as a family hack and I have better things to spend my money on so I try to limit the wear and tear on the car as much as possible.

A good car let down by a weak front end.

I have the exact same model, 95 vs aclaim, and have had 0 problems, not one, no leaks, nothing, it has done 180,000 k's and aside from the general maintence, new oil etc I've spent nothing on it, holden have done a good job with this, car, I think you may of gotten a lemon.

I have had similar problems with my VS, I have a VS Berlina (V6). It's a nice car and all (looks are deceiving), but it has way too many problems. You see I had a VL Berlina from brand-new for 12 years! And it was stolen and damaged very badly. Because of this we decided to look for another car. We shopped around and finally found a nice one. A Burgundy colour VS Berlina. Beautiful inside and out. Everything was working perfectly.

This was all until a week later, the air-con needed to be re-gassed (not covered under warranty). 2 days after that the front passenger window would not go down or up and the drivers window would go down, but wouldn't go up (and it started raining!). I was really disappointed with this. 6 months down the track (after the 3 month car-yard warranty), the radiator got really really hot, and I had to get it replaced. 2 months later, the car will not reverse out of my drive way! (help). I had to get RAA to come and get it : (It was the gearbox, I got a whole new gearbox installed, ($1800).

That's all the major problems under 1 year of owning the car!

Eventually I found that the car sought of lost the comfort it used to have in the seats. My children first noticed this. Then there is a vehicle re-call 3 months later.

There was also problems with the CLIMATE CONTROL LED DISPLAY (replacement $380), and the Electric Mirrors are another useless thing they put in the car.

In future I think Holden should add Time and Quality into there cars.

Because of this experience I have had, I will NEVER buy a Holden again. And I do not recommend them to anyone.

I will move on to Magnas! and get back to you on them!.

G'day all. I think I must be one of the lucky / fortunate owners of a VS Acclaim. I bought it for $14,000 about 2 years ago, have spent ZILCH besides normal maintenance costs. When I bought (Charles, as the kid's call it) it, the vehicle had traveled 56,000 Kms. Now I have just passed the 150,000Kms mark. No complaints EXCEPT FOR, the door locks rattle, I get a rattling noise near my right ear from something near the centre pillar. I also find that the other members of my family, Female aged 41, male, aged 9 and other female aged 6 (Lord of the household, NOT REALLY) do not seem to be able to wind up the windows properly. Anyway, cannot complain, best car I have ever owned. One day (probably the next mellinium (can't spell to save my life) I am hoping to buy a 2002 - 03 Statesman. Take care all, drive safely. Bill FAZ.

Well mate, if you buy a magna I guarantee you will have far more problems with it than a commodore. My girlfriend own a magna, it's a 1996 TS has only done 140,000k's always serviced and well maintained, but all magnas of this year have a common problem of blowing blue smoke. The car was recently serviced and I was told buy a mechanic that mitsubishi may produce cars that have nice interiors, and nicer body styling. But the mechanical quality just isn't there. I have heard not even the new magnas are worth a crumpet. I would say that maybe you got a dud vs commodore, the one that I own has had a few small problems as does any car. But there is no way that I would ever change to a magna.

Oh god mate do not move on to a magna, they have weak mechanicals. As for the vs, Holden is prone to having monday and friday cars, but get a good one and you will happy.

I bought a 1995 vs a month ago. It wasn't noticeable at the time I bought it, but there was a leak in the auto transmition. I took it to to be fixed and the mechanic told me it was leaking from the pump seal. he said it was a common problem with these cars and I would need a reconditioned gear box. it cost $2000 to be replaced. That was an expencive leak. two days after getting it back it was leaking again, this time it was from the point where the oil hose attaches to the gear box. It was fixed free of charge because the reconditioned gear box came with one year warranty. Now I'm just waiting for it to start leaking again. I hope it doesn't, but I have a feeling it will. I should have just got a manual.

I bought a 1997 VS 2 commodore a few years back, which has now covered some 225,000km. Trouble free motoring. Just now there is a slight leak in the rocker cover gaskets. No other major mechanical problems since new (I bought it from original owner). All the car has ever needed besides its regular maintanence is the rear main oil seal, at a cost of $250. All in all, a great, reliable, comfortable car. As to be expected from Holden.

I own two Commodores, one a VT2 and the other a VS2 Acclaim wagon.

We bought the Commodores after many years of owning imported (mainly Japanese) vehicles.

I find the VS2 very reliable, and while it has had a problem with the air conditioning condenser, there have been no other vehicle attributable problems with the car. It is still very comfortable, runs perfectly, and the general condition has not deteriorated.

Fuel consumption is also very surprising for what is perceived to be a large car, average in the 10-11 litres/100km range, like clockwork.

I have replaced the front discs with slotted discs, as the only real complaint I had with the car is the brakes were not excessive, but there was plenty of meat left on the discs, and it was more a wish for better stopping power. The car has done 130,000 odd Km.

In my humble opinion, it's a great car, has outlasted any imported vehicle I have ever had, is cheap to service, and not only that, but it does the job of a family vehicle far better than any car we have owned.

A bargain these days, if you can find a well looked after example, but I'm not parting with either of mine.

We looked into "small cars" when the price of fuel went up. Look at their weights, and compare to that of the VS. Unless their engines have an incredible efficiency advantage, you won't be saving much fuel, because they have to move almost as much weight. Add the extra cost of servicing, and it makes the VS a bargain.

Happy owner? Absolutely.

Hello I have a 96 vs commodore executive and has 153000kms have not had it for long and have had to replace the radiator $300 and generator and battery and my battery warning light is still on what can it be.

Hey guys, just thought id add mine too, i own a vs ser 1 s pac 5 speed, it has 165kms on it, I've had one or two problems with it in the 5 months that I've owned the car, firstly id have to say, it proberly due to me thrashing it, but it gearbox (t5) is making a bad noise during 1st,2nd and 3rd, I'm thinkin it the throw out bearing, but I'm not a mech, the power steering pump died about 5oooks ago, but you get that, other than that it has been a great car, so grweat that I'm wealkin for 6nths due to the performance, even in stock form, I've bought the car to personalize it, and as I'm in beleif that it the best model of the range, but if there any like minded guys out there that think a standrad s/c motor, stroked to 4.2,would go really well, I think anyway, lol

beside, things could be worse, u could b driving a camria, so be happy with ur commodore, lol I am.

In October one writer commented on the VS commodore and said cost of replacement for rear engine oil seal was $250! I have just been quoted $700+ by a Holden dealer for replacing this on a VT V6 commodore (done 110,000 km)?

Are the engines that much different?

VT series one has the same engine as VS 147 KW,VT series two has bigger motor 152 KW.

Hi all I have a vs series 1 with 230000ks on it, yes I know that's a lot!! had bugger all problems with it till now, I have gone through 3 radiators in 18 months only to now find out it's an electrolysis prob eating out my radiator from the inside what could be causing this apart from bad earthing no auto electrician wants to touch it!!