2004 Holden Calais VY Series 2 V8 from Australia and New Zealand - Comments

I agree with you there, Holden calais I still a nice luxury car for Australia. Good value for money and at a affordable price.

I use to work for a BMW dealership and to be very honest they are nice cars, but they are not all that great. Parts and servicing is a rip off. I have fixed plenty of BMW's that have come off the back of a truck because of electrical problems and mechanical problems. And the previous comment about the I-drive system is true it is a "balls up". I use to love BMW's, but after working with heaps of them for 15 years, I wouldn't want one. And no factory recalls? that's a load of bunk as well BMW has had factory recalls like any other motoring manufacturer.

BMW over priced over hyped and the badge for snobs.

Ex BMW Dealer ship mechanic in Melbourne.

Seems like a jealous person who can't afford them.

Yes Bmw do have a few problems, but no where as much as holden. parts and servicing are very expensive, but they are quality parts and you know you are getting good parts. BMW is not for snobs. They are great cars and are worth the extra $$$. Just because you exprienced a lot of faults with bmw, they arn'tcommon. By they way you have written the artical it seems you looked at the negatives of bmw and it tell us you're a holden person.

I'm not a Holden fan, I am not biased with any brand of cars. I'm not jealous at all I use to work with BMW's 5 days a week for 15 years. OK I might of been off the line calling BMW snob, but they have to be one of the most overated brands made. My current car is a Lexus GS430 its just as nice as a BMW and extreamly well built. The original poster should not even compare a BMW, but you can't buy a brand new BMW with a V8 and all the options for under $60,000 I think the point of the original poster on this topic is value for money and what he or she got for $60,000.

Oneof the funniest things I find about the car industry in general is that the level of buyer vanity is unequalled by almost any other industry on earth and the manufacturers just love it. I mean, some people will happily spend little time and many thousands of dollars on a particular car without knowing too much about what they're buying as long as the brand name is right.

I am the original writter for this review!

Wow I never seen so much hand bang whacking for such a topic!.

I have had no intentions of insulting the BMW brand what so ever!. I mean most of you act like I have insulted your mother or something.

I bought my Calais for reasons of my own I do NOT have to justify my purchases to anyone. I bought the Calais without any feeling of guilt at all!.

I've never said the Calais is better than a BMW in quality I know BMW has outstanding quality. I am happy with my Calais it has not had many problems at all.

I am happy with my Calais and that's it I don't need to be told what I should be owning or I don't have to justify myself about my original review.

I've owned many different cars over many years, including Jags, Benzs and BMWs, and I currently drive an HSV Senator which is of course based on the Calais. It is far and away the best car I've ever had and I really enjoy every moment of driving it. I have had no failures/warranty of any kind in nearly 3 yrs and 37,000km and apart from tyres and fuel there have also not been any expenses. Compared to the horrific cost of BMW servicing it has cost almost nothing, and I would buy another one without any hesitation. However, it's certainly not without its faults, and for example the automatic transmission is very agricultural, I hate the intrusion of the boot hinges into the boot space, and the standard head-lights are very average. But, as I said, I would and will buy another in the next 12-18 months. I also agree that that despite the much higher cost of the BMW or Benz, their extra cost is very hard to justify - unless you are someone who is would rather have their ego massaged by a supposedly prestige badge, but have to drive the poverty-pack version of the car in order to afford to do so. I have a friend who was so impressed with my car that he traded his Lexus IS300 which he bought after an XJS Jag, and has also bought an HSV. Another friend who currently drives a MB CLK 200 Kompressor and an Audi A4 Quattro TT is going to trade the Benz on one also.

So, I agree with the original post that the Calais is a very good car and is exceptional value.

We all know BMWs are very expensive to service, you pay the extra for a better car. Comments should be regarding the Holden Calais that was reviewed, not bagging out holden and comparing them to other car manufacturers.

I am an owner of a BMW M3 and a Holden Calais, and there is no way I'm going to compare two different class cars. My Holden Calais I bought is a very nice car for its price, it has everything I need in it, to get me around, I was quite surprised how good the car was. What are your opinions on the suspension? Too hard for a luxury car?

Whats the better thing about the VY Series 2 compared to the Series 1?

Do the Series 1 and 2 have different front and rear tail lights?

Well said. The Calais is a perfectly good car to get around in with all the extras you might need. Buy one instead of a BMW and use that money you saved for house renovations or buying shares... something you might get a return on. Don't forget the rate of depreciation that new Beemers suffer from!!! (a 10 year old BM 7 series from 1996 sold for about $150 000 new- they can be bought now for about $25 000. That is $125 000 lost over 10 years!).

You said about a BMW 7 Series 1996 was $150,000 new, and now it went for $25,000 after 10 years. Compare how much the Holden loses - after 10 years you will be luck to get just over $1000 dollars for the car. If you've got the money, you buy a BMW. You don't see wealthy people buying Holdens for pleasure cars or retirement cars, because they are cheap cars. The Calais may be good for the money, but if I had the money, I would go for a BMW.

I am the original writer for this review!

Wow I never seen so much hand bang whacking for such a topic!.

I have had no intentions of insulting the BMW brand what so ever!.Please stick to talking about the holden Calais.

This review is reviewing holden not BMW, so stick to the subject and don't get BMW involved in this, its got nothing to do with them.

Whats the better thing about the VY Series 2 compared to the Series 1?

Does the vy series 2 calais built in 2003 and 2004 have the same exterior lights and look the same??

Can someone help me please?

The difference between the series 1 and series 2 is mainly in the exterior. It looks much much better than the series 1. Holden decided to give the calais some character and gave it sports suspension and 17 inch alloys.

The Calais is a very nice car. Why on earth did my mother have to listen to her sister and buy a Baby Mercedes and put the livelihoods of her fellow Aussie Workers on the line I will never know. All to keep up with the Asian Doctors and for that extra ten grand she will get when it comes to trade up. If My Mother died suddenly I would trade in her C180 and buy a VE V6 CALAIS AND LIVE A HAPPY MAN. Rather feed and support a family in Elizabeth than one in Stuttgart, Germany.

A Calais VYII V8 would be probably one of the best Holdens you could get. The VY itself was only a minor update underneath from the successful VY/VX range, just mainly a styling update which means it isn't quite as dated. Why fix that isn't broken? This also means it uses a proven chassis and Engine/drivetrain layout (a whole load less things to go wrong).

The VZ had many new innovations and electronics, Holden innovations and electronics can you trust them?? Didn't think so. The VYII of course in turn would be even more refined then Series I with some new updates without also playing around too much with what can go wrong.

The VYII Calais of course has the middle FE1.5 suspension that seems like a good compromise between the ride of standard spec and sportiness of FE2. Also, I have read reviews before that suggest that a V8 works better with the old-school 4 speed auto and gear hunting I suppose would be less likely to occur as the torque would be there more often in a V8 when climbing hills etc.

Of course the big point is that Holdens are of course made here with a wide dealer network, not to mention no doubt plenty of familiarity among independent mechanics. It should not be taken for granted that all dealers/mechanics will be 100% co-operative no matter what car you have or you'll sue them. Fact of matter is simple/proven is best. Also of course it's best to drive sensibly and not allow things to wear too fast.