Buying a used Holden Commodore VZ (2004-2007)

The VZ was the last of a generation of Commodores that stretched almost 10 years, so Holden had plenty of practice building them by then. The generation also saw the biggest selling Commodores of all time -- with a peak of 94,500 sales in 1998 and mid to high 80,000s in the years that followed. Today the selling rate is less than 50,000 annually.

Pundits say that buying the last of the breed is best, because that usually means the bugs are ironed out of the car by then. And by the time the VZ Commodore was released in August/September 2004, Holden had been making that generation of Commodore since 1997.

Of course, there were a number of visual and mechanical changes to the car during the VT to VZ life.

The VZ was significant because it saw the introduction of the new 3.6-litre petrol V6 (175kW and 320Nm) that replaced the old 3.8-litre V6 (152kW and 305Nm) that had been powering the Commodore in one guise or another since the VN in 1989.

It also received a subtly tweaked nose, with a new bonnet pressing (an unusual and expensive exercise for a facelift) headlights and front bumper. The changes were designed to prepare us for the VE, and so the grille opening shared similar proportions to the VE if you see them side by side.

An all-new five-speed automatic transmission was fitted to the high grade and sports V6 models while the old four-speed auto came in for yet another software update.

The VZ also saw the introduction of stability control on the Acclaim and Calais V6 models only (not the Executive, Berlina, SV6 or V8 models, they would have to wait until VE), which also came with seat-mounted side airbags in the front seats. So if you can find a tidy Acclaim or Calais they would be the pick – but check they’ve had the recall work done (see below).

Generally speaking, the VZ should have been the highlight of that generation of Commodores. However, this era Commodore was the most recalled model of all time, with 20 official recalls in nine years and countless other internal recalls, or dealer service bulletins, of which the public was not notified.

Holden announced the 20th recall for Commodore in March 2006. More than 120,000 VZ era Commodores, Monaros and Statesmans were recalled after Holden discovered the seat-mounted side airbags in 13 customer cars activated "under circumstances which did not warrant inflation".

Holden suspected the problem was caused by a static electricity charge, "which stimulates the airbag inflator if an earthing wire under the seat has come loose".

"Electrostatic charge accumulation usually requires some sort of moving activity which is generated while swinging out of a seat," said the carmaker's chief engineer, Tony Hyde, at the time. Holden dealers were to fit a tiny spring under each front seat to rectify the problem.

It was the same problem that forced Ford to recall 2000 of its Falcons in April 2002.

The Holden recall involved 89,167 vehicles in Australia and 34,552 export vehicles built between April 2003 and December 2005.

The Ford Falcon had been recalled eight times in the same period; the Mitsubishi Magna, recalled three times; and the Toyota Camry and Avalon, twice.

That recall was the second-highest Commodore recall in the VT to VZ era. In 2004, Holden recalled 135,000 Commodores to replace faulty power steering hoses. The recalls prompted the media to question if Holden was building too many cars too quickly. Holden initially planned to build 420 Commodores a day. But the output grew to between 560 and 600 at times.

At the release of the VT in 1997, Holden claimed it had invested $600 million over seven years to develop the car and hailed the installation of 121 new robots at its South Australian plant and "measurable improvements in total vehicle build quality".

In January 2006, Holden stopped production for 18 hours to rectify quality problems, an exercise estimated to have cost the company millions in down time. Holden's then executive director of engineering and design, Tony Hyde, said at the time that the Commodore's problems "have nothing to do with building the cars too fast".

"There is no doubt there have been issues with the Commodore," he said. "But right now the car is good. Some things we've been able to fix quickly, others are very complex.

"I'm not trying to blame the suppliers but the reality is that 70 per cent of the Commodore comes from outside suppliers. We've had our fair share of stuff-ups [but when suppliers] make a change to something and don't tell us, it affects the car and we carry the cost."

THINGS TO WATCH
Here’s a list of known faults on earlier Commodores that can affect VZ, so be sure to have a mechanic check the following:

Indicators
The indicators on some cars can fail because of a faulty connection in the hazard light switch. Holden replaced the switches on suspect cars under warranty. For a temporary fix: activate the hazard light switch momentarily and the indicators will work again…

Brake lights
Check they’re working. The globes can blow as the result of the alternator overcharging for a split second. Some dealers compounded the issue by replacing faulty genuine globes with poorer quality non-genuine parts.

Instrument cluster
The odometer on cars equipped with single-window displays (that is, basic models such as the Executive, Acclaim, S and SS) can fade, making the numbers illegible.

Windscreen washer nozzles
One batch aims too high and sprays water above the windscreen. Dealers replaced these nozzles in most cases.

Vanity mirror cover
The vanity mirror covers in Calais models can detach because of a moulding fault.

Brake shudder
More of a problem with early models. Holden changed the brake pad material on later models but check on a test drive.

Roof mouldings
On sedans, opening the bootlid can snag the plastic end covers of the black strips that run along the roof and each side of the rear window.

Power steering
Can become heavy after turning the wheel quickly (such as when making a U-turn). The power steering pump cannot maintain pressure to handle rapid changes of direction.