[Marley&Me]

We've been looking at buying a brand new Captiva SX. They are around $30 000 at the moment. Finances are tight and I came across a second hand 2007 LX model today for $13990 (car yard). I thought maybe we could start with something like this and in a few years upgrade to a new one when DH's finished studying as we need 7 seats in the next few months.

I've heard bad things about the older model Captiva's. Has anyone had experience with a model similar age or any thoughts?

Would you do it?

TIA

This post has been edited by Marley&Me: 01/02/2013, 08:41 AM

[Bear Grylls]

We have a 2009 series 1 Captiva. The car is good to drive, comfortable for long trips, has an ok amount of boot space and is reasonably fuel efficient, BUT we have had no end of trouble with it mechanically.
We bought t a five year extended warranty and it has already paid for itself at least ten times over. So far we have had the following work done:
Radio replaced
Navigation system replaced
On-board computer system rebuilt twice
One rear wheel speed sensor rebuilt and another replaced
New engine
Rear door lifters replaced
Rear wheel alignment pins put in, but the rear wheels won't align properly so we have had three sets of tyres in 3.5 years

Our car is a city and bitumen road car. It never gets driven off road.

There have been other more minor issues that I can't remember off the top of my head.

Our car is probably just an unfortunate dud, but it has really turned me off Holdens in general. I don't think I'd ever buy another one (Captivas in particular) which is unfortunate because I have owned three others and they were great.

ETA: If you do decide to buy it, make sure you have the rear wheel alignment pins fitted. It is impossible to align the wheels correctly without them, but Holden won't tell you that. They cost approx $150. Unfortunately, they haven't worked for us, but they have significantly slowed the wear on the tyres. We are currently having the problem investigated...again!

This post has been edited by Bear Grylls: 01/02/2013, 05:46 PM

[Mummy fab]

We have a 2007 lx and love it, we have the 7 seater. We have had no issues except for replacing an air con part was quite costly all up about $700 with re-gas but no other issues.

Ours had t do e alot of kms and we paid $21,000 about 12 months ago. So $14,000 is a bloody bargain!

[dynamitee]

wow Bear Grylls, I'd be crying. I've got a 2006 Kluger which hasn't been serviced for about a year and a half (will get round to it soon) and in the three years we've had it, not one problem.

[TiredbutHappy]

Bear Grylls - It might be easier for you to list what hasn't gone wrong with it - a new engine after 3.5 years????? I think I would cry, you have the patience of Job.

[JKTMum]

We have a 2007 LX Diesel, seven seater, bought 2nd hand about 2 - 3 years ago now. Honestly I would never go for another one, we have had several very expensive repairs and for awhile it was off the road several times for up to a week at a time. After we bought it we heard the term Craptiva for the first time (we should have done a little more research, but DH had recently had an accident in our Subaru (which was an awesome car eventhough it was 12 years old) and had written it off, so we needed something to replace it which we could afford).

Scariest thing we had was that it would just cut out and then refuse to restart for up to 30 minutes. Three times it did this while we were driving along, once I was going around a fairly quiet round-a-bout in a suburban street near our house, the other two times we were travelling at about 80kms down two lane country roads. Fortunately it never happened on a multi lane freeway as when it did happen it just totally cut out, no power steering, nothing. We were able to roll it to a stop on the edge each time, and nothing was travelling too close behind as we would have been rear ended. After much stuffing around through the Holden dealership (it was previously a Holden fleet car) I found some other reports on the internet of similar issues which suggested the fuel pump. This particular car has two fuel pumps so they replaced one and fortunately it was the right one (they werent 100% certain which one was causing the issue eventhough we had it towed there when it happened the first time). We have also had lots of trouble with the electrics, the back wiper is tempremental and sometimes doesnt work, the globes in the brake and tail lights blow very regularly. Very few things have been covered under the extended warranty and the servicing costs are huge. We called out RACV more times in the first year we had it than we had for any of our previous cars put together (and got towed more than once). Oh and yes the wheel alignment problem is well known with Captivas, ours even went out between being serviced once and three weeks later the car breaking down (they checked it again when they were doing the once over and it was out again).

We plan on getting rid of it in the coming year once the extended warranty is up, we are going for a Kluger next time.

[Bear Grylls]

Snap JKTmum we are thinking of getting a Kluger too! We have also had trouble the diesel fuel filter and tail lights-I'd forgotten those.

We also have weird things happen such as when you switch from one screen to another on the on-board computer, the radio cuts out and the volume on the navigation system regularly reverses itself ie when you turn it up, it goes down!

We were on holiday when the engine died. Luckily we have awesome friends who carted us around and awesome car insurance that sorted EVERYTHING out including towing, hire car, extra accommodation etc. all for free!

We have had our wheels aligned about six times since July! It would almost be cheaper to put new tyres on every year.

Stupid Craptiva!

This post has been edited by Bear Grylls: 01/02/2013, 07:53 PM

[Ehill]

They are nicknamed Craptivas for a reason.

[Marley&Me]

Thanks everyone so much for taking the time to reply

We have a 2009 series 1 Captiva. The car is good to drive, comfortable for long trips, has an ok amount of boot space and is reasonably fuel efficient, BUT we have had no end of trouble with it mechanically.
We bought t a five year extended warranty and it has already paid for itself at least ten times over.

Thanks so much for your post and taking the time to reply! I had heard the first series had a lot of issues and after reading reviews today, you're definitely not alone.

I have been on the phone regarding a brand new one today but am now hesitant. Would LOVE a Kluger but unfortunately it's out of our price range and I've heard expensive to run..... It's such a big decision!

We have a 2007 lx and love it, we have the 7 seater. We have had no issues except for replacing an air con part was quite costly all up about $700 with re-gas but no other issues.

Ours had t do e alot of kms and we paid $21,000 about 12 months ago. So $14,000 is a bloody bargain!

This one has apparently done 80,000km so not sure how good that is for the year?!

You sound like you've been very lucky with yours which is great! Thanks for the positive feedback although I've decided to rethink and look at buying new. Unfortunately we would only be looking at the SX - the idea of an LX would be lovely!

They are nicknamed Craptivas for a reason.

Lol! I have heard that term before which is definitely off putting in general, new or used!

I guess it seems like the luck of the draw....

[Marley&Me]

it would just cut out and then refuse to restart for up to 30 minutes. Three times it did this while we were driving along, once I was going around a fairly quiet round-a-bout in a suburban street near our house, the other two times we were travelling at about 80kms down two lane country roads. Fortunately it never happened on a multi lane freeway as when it did happen it just totally cut out, no power steering, nothing. We were able to roll it to a stop on the edge each time, and nothing was travelling too close behind as we would have been rear ended. After much stuffing around through the Holden dealership (it was previously a Holden fleet car) I found some other reports on the internet of similar issues which suggested the fuel pump. This particular car has two fuel pumps so they replaced one and fortunately it was the right one (they werent 100% certain which one was causing the issue eventhough we had it towed there when it happened the first time). We have also had lots of trouble with the electrics, the back wiper is tempremental and sometimes doesnt work, the globes in the brake and tail lights blow very regularly. Very few things have been covered under the extended warranty and the servicing costs are huge. We called out RACV more times in the first year we had it than we had for any of our previous cars put together (and got towed more than once). Oh and yes the wheel alignment problem is well known with Captivas, ours even went out between being serviced once and three weeks later the car breaking down (they checked it again when they were doing the once over and it was out again).

We plan on getting rid of it in the coming year once the extended warranty is up, we are going for a Kluger next time.

Thank you for your post! How incredibly scary and dangerous! You're very lucky there were no major accidents involved...