2000 Holden Commodore VT II 'S' from Australia and New Zealand - Comments

I own a 99 VT executive series 2 and it has just started running rough like it is missing or something. i have just had the leads changed and it is still doing it. i also have added some injector cleaner in the petrol to see if that will work.

Can anyone suggest any other reason why the motor would be missing like it is?

Comments would be appreciated thank you.

My sympathies to all Commodore owners.

I have wondered for years why so many people are swayed by marketing hype to buy so many of these cars. The 47 previous reviews only confirm the fact that many of Holden's products have been second rate and behind the competition for years.

My family still owns 2 Commodores for the moment, a VX 'S', & a 2000 5.7 V8 Caprice. We have put up with quality control issues, mechanical failures, poor N.V.H, etc. etc. with both models.

After previously owning a VT series 1 myself, I purchased a 2000 model 3.5L Magna Sports manual after test driving one to compare it to the VT. I kid you not this car is twice as good as the Commodores. After 93,000 k's it purrs along with a velvety smoothness the others couldn't dream of. NVH is in another league, reliability has been faultless and it's performance in both the handling and engine departments are superior. It runs away from the 6 cylinders and is only marginally slower than the V8 Caprice while sucking down a whole lot less fuel. The Caprice has 94,500k's on the clock and it is starting to squeak, rattle and groan much more than the Magna.

Moral to the story? Both the Holden's are now for sale with another Magna & a Subaru on the shopping list. How much longer can Holden keep fooling the public now that even Ford's BA Falcon is a far superior car than the current VY?

Hello everyone

You have my sympathies.

I own a vh sle. it is a 4.2 with a trimatic gearbox. I have owned it for 10 years, and it was a one owner before me. I have had the motor re ringed and some new gaskets and done the basic maintenance. That's all. Alas, it is getting old and tired, and needs some money spending on it, so we get the great idea of Loaning against our house and buying a 2000 onwards v8 calais.

I have now test driven two models. The international, which I think was a vt, but not positive. Not a bad car to drive, leather trim etc, but the outer body had been given a rough life, and the klms were in the 140 range, so we decided against that for 24,000. Today I drove the v8, vx calais, a 2001 model, with 70000 k on it. Nice car. But tell me, what is that noise that comes from the motor at about 70 kms an hour? I thought it was a plane overhead. Like a loud, whining noise almost? I noticed a clunking noise from the backend, and when moving off from a rolling start, the silly thing didn't know what gear to choose, and sort of hesitated a bit. Bits were missing off the backwindscreen, little plastic squares. The cup holder wouldn't open, but luckily my partner fixed it, pity the dealer couldnt take the ten minutes to do so. Leather interior, even though the car looks fairly well looked after, is badly worn on the drivers side where someone has got in and out of the car. The car had some kind of vibration or something everynow and then. Dealer says oh it just needs a run.

Volume adjuster on steering wheel doesn't work down volume.

So I have come home to do some research on the net. And guess what, driving home in my old vh sle, I was just as comfortable, and I OWN THAT! After reading all your comments, I think I will stick to classic, not plastic and just put some money into old faithful. I thank you all very much. x.

I have a VT II Supercharged V6 that has now traveled 70000 k's and thankfully none of the problems that I have been reading about, I have found it to be an excellent vehicle although I don't punt it around town, it does get a stab from time to time. I unfortunately have had a recent problem on three occasions now very intermittent, the car won't open with the key button, I can gain access because I am not deadlocking it on the second lock. When the key is in the ignition and start position the dash warning lights on as per normal in pre start; the key turned and nothing happens I get a (serv error) message on the screen.

Now I have found that if I persist long enough and turn the key fast I can get a turn on the motor, but this has to be done about 20 times to get a start, it is almost like it is out of fuel, but when it does fire up it runs as smooth as silk, like nothing was ever wrong. On the other occasions I have just left it for 24 hours and come back to the car, pressed the key, got in and have driven off.

I have replaced the battery, obtained another new key thinking that this may solve the problem, unfortunately not. The car has been at home on 2 occasions when this has happened, but yesterday I got stuck in a carp park, and finally got it going although the (serv error) was still showing. On the way home the air wouldn't work, the windows wouldn't work, arriving home I turned it off and restarted it and once again everything was back to normal.

Now before I run off to Holden with cheque book in hand I am trying to get a handle on the possible problem. Can anyone help; I haven't yet found anyone to give me an idea.

Thanks Bill. Email (gabsends@ozemail.com.au)

Wow, Some of you have had some real bad luck! But I see about 50 or so people that have had trouble's with their Holden's on here and think to myself that Holden must be doing something right because there are tens of thousands of these cars on the road.

I myself have had a pretty good run. I purchased a 98 VT S V6 Supercharged model and have now done 320 000km in it. Granted there have been a few minor issues such as the braking vibrations, the window seals squeaking and a few blown brake globes, but other than that I can't complain. I serviced that car every 12 000km's or so and have had to replace the bearing on one of the supercharger pulley's. Not much expense for 320 000k's if you ask me. I owned a 98 Honda Accord and spent ten times as much on that in a quarter of the k's I done in the holden.

I'm now driving a VT Supercharged Calais and I love it. Made a couple of suspension adjustment's (FE 2) put some nice wheels on it and its great. The only complaint that I have with this car is that the airbag light came on and I had to have the clock-spring behind the steering wheel replaced at about 115 000km's. But at least I know now that the fault warning system works and I would rather spend $150 fixing that, than thousands on new airbags. I mean look at the Subaru recall... Their airbags were going off when you tooted the horn.

Anyways, Thanks Holden -I think I'm getting my money's worth!

There's no doubt about it the statesman is a comfortable car especially on the occasional long trips we make around the North Of Australia. The fuel efficient on a country road is exceptional for such a roomy vehicle and I guess that's the reason why I have persevered through problems in each of the 3 updates. However my current statesman a VH 2000 is causing me to wonder why I bother. I bought it new in late 2000 and has just reached 50,000 ks. Here's a list of some of the work carried out.

Ignition switch replaced (under warranty)

alternator replaced (under warranty) (the rest out of warranty)

left window switch replaced

ignition switch replaced - again

stabilizer repaired

fuel pump replaced (does it take 5 hours labor to change a fuel pump?)

And now I am informed that

The seals to the power steering is leaking

and similarly the seals on the shock absorbers are leaking and need replacing.

I have taken notes on your writers suggestions for my next vehicle.

After reading all the previous reports of problems with Commodores, I kind of wonder. However, as I am still owning my first VT Commodore Exec (1999 series 1) I would have to mention about couple of issues that I think one would need to be aware of. The VT's unprotected sump is not exactly a visionary thing especially after having to fork out 4 grand for a new V6 engine due to my small, but nasty encounter with a curb (and yep that sure hurt!). So for a small layout of around 100 bucks I have protected my investment with a steel stone plate fitted to protect the sump and engine. (they fixed this on later models) I have just run the new motor in and had an excellent job done with no complications.

Generally speaking, the performance and handling of this car is addictive and fun to drive, but I consider it an

absolute must to get some 17 inch wheels with low profile tyres as the stock wheels and tyres are far too bouncy

and appear to reduce the ABS in its overall effectiveness. The turning radius takes a little getting used at first

especially if you come from an older type of car and its easy to over-steer with the power assisted steering, but the

above comment on wheels and tyres still hold. They make a huge difference in the vehicles handling and stopping power.

Another issue is with the electronic key. If it plays up, you might have to lock and unlock the car a couple of times

to get mobile, but change to using the second key if this happens and don't automatically assume the problem

necessarily to be the car itself. (unless of course you know otherwise). So I'm using the second key with absolutely no problem, but having to spend close to 90 bucks just for another key is a pain I could do without. Apart from the dud key (probably battery), everything else works just fine as it is for all intents and purposes a new car with good market value and something I intend to keep for a bit.

Don't know if anyone still reads this page or whatnot, but I recently bought a 1998 VT Acclaim, and have only had the one problem since purchasing it.

The problem is water in the front and rear passenger side floor wells.

It only happens when it rains or its been washed. Its as if it isn't draining. Does anyone know how it can be fixed without taking it back to holden or to a car repairer.

If you know, drop us a line at kevinjgray (at) gmail (dot) com (obviously you would replace the (at) with @ and (dot) with.

Cheers!

To the guy above, if your vt is an ex police car, check behind the roof strips where they drilled a hole for the rooflight harness, they usually welded these up, but seen some poor jobs and rusted out. Or the door rubbers could be dodgy. Get someone to sit in the car while you hose the outside and find the leak that way.

On an other note anyone here tell me how hard it is to change a clock spring on a VX to fix the airbag light? and possible GMH part #

thanks in advance.

Please mail me at cdmacomm (@) bigpond (.) net (.) au.

It's not an ex police car.

I hosed the car down, but no water leaked in, until I went for a drive the following day and water leaked into the driver side footwell like a tap that had been left on.

Door seals are all good.

Its quite frustrating.

And we can't find where the water is building up or getting in from.

I own a VT SS 5.0ltr and while I love my car I do have a problem with water pouring into the the boot when I wash it. It seems to be coming in over the top of the rubber, almost dead center of the rear window, I've tried adjusting the boot, inserting a rubber hose into the boot seal to make it sit higher, but nothing has worked and as I'm about to have a couple of amps and subbies installed I want to get this fixed before I do anything. CAN ANYONE HELP ME PLEASE?

My email address is: patrickbourke@optusnet.com.au.

I still own a VS 1995 V6 I bought brand new, but wish I hadn't. It has only done 78000kms, but the car leaks oil from every spot imaginable with monotonous regularity. Rear main replaced twice, sump once, tail shaft once, inlet manifold leak once, but now it is BOTH cylinder heads with blown gaskets. Drivers power window system collapsed recently. Windscreen washer pump/motor also replaced.

First and last Commodore for this guy. It is just worth almost nothing now so fixing is still better than $30 - 40000 for another brand but it is very tempting.

Hi, I currently own a VT series 1 97 model. I have had nothing, but problems with my car. So far I have had the following issues. My accelerator makes a hissing sound when I step on it, my power steering pump doesn't work well. I lost three bearings in the engine and a fan belt. My handbrake snapped inside. My seats are falling apart my automatic gear shift broke. It has a funny sound in the engine when cold. It runs really heavily and now my alternator stopped working. I am consider buying a VY commodore hoping that must has been improved we will see how long it lasts.

Hi all.

I have purchased a 2000 VT series II wagon with 290,000 klms on the clock. I got it fairly cheap, but after three months of owning it I started the car one afternoon and found the power steering fluid leaking out like water from a tap!!! reservoir emptied in a matter of minutes & now no steering at all. Does anyone know if this is common and what it could be before I get under the car and start pulling the rack out???

Yes this is a very common problem for commodores, you can buy seal kits for the power steering pump and recondition them your self. I own a vs 1995 exec I have replaced the fuel pump 3 times within 30,000 kms. The original died after about 150,000 ks (which is almost normal for a commodore) the next died after just 5000 ks and the last after 25,000 ks. I was told by the last tow truck driver that after market pumps are cheap Thai imports and to use a genuine delphi one so far it has been OK. Can someone please tell me why my vs is using oil? its not leaking into the coolant, and the plugs are dry. I only drive short distances though, the oil I use is GTX2.