written by on 11/10/2013
One of our dogs legs slipped between the back of the seat backs and the rear platform. When he pulled it out he left a chunk of his skin there. Needless to say, he was not quiet about this and he bled profusely. It is just a drastically poor design. The same could happen to anyone. There's just enough room to get your hand down there and a piece of angle iron on the base of the rear platform will get you.
written by on 17/08/2013
Just drove a 2013 Captiva across USA, NY to Seattle. Here's a few impressions: Seating is good, with good visibility. Quite a few things started to show up as time went on that made me crazy. The first is that the 4 cylinder equipped ECO 2.4L is just fine for around town, but do not try to use this for hilly freeway driving. This vehicle needs more than just a 4 cylinder 2.4L motor. It's work to keep this vehicle up to speed in hilly terrain. It's fine if you live in a valley without hills, but try to drive 70mph in hilly terrain turns driving this Captiva into a real chore. Maybe if this vehicle had a 6 cylinder with at least mid 200's horsepower, it would be a better driver. If you use a iPhone or similar, console layout is maddening. Sure there's a cubby to set the iPhone in, but it slopes away from you so you cannot see the screen. Vehicle designers this is a big mistake. The outlet for plugging in a recharging adapter is down at the bottom of a sliding lid center compartment. So if you are driving with sunglasses on, you cannot see it. GPS map screen content is unusable. XM/Radio controls are confusing and hard to use. After five days of driving, I think it finally got figured out. Shouldn't be this hard to use & interpret.
written by GaryWoods1957 on 26/04/2013
Hello, my son bought this new car some 9 months ago and at first was very pleased with it. However, about 2 months ago it wouldn't start? Not what you expect from a £30k car with only 9,000 miles on the clock! After c 5 weeks in the Lookers garage who really had no idea what the problem was, they concluded it was a faulty injector? A new "injector" was fitted and he eventually got it back. In the meantime he wrote to the Customer Care Director only to receive NO response at all...Disgraceful!! He has had it back for 2 weeks now and guess what, it has yet another problem and is today back in the garage!! I think he may complain again but has no confidence that Chevrolet will respond!! This car just cannot compete with the reliability of some of its competitors and the customer service is dreadful. Chevrolet had an offer in place when he bought it, allegedly to get the brand selling in the UK, we feel they have paid for this offer / discount by cutting quality? Don't buy one .
written by on 29/01/2013
Up till now I've been pretty satisfied with my Chevy Captiva. I didn't expect to have any maintenance issues for at least five years but I recently experienced a shut-down due to the alternator going bad. Fortunately my vehicle is still under warranty so the dealership replaced the alternator. But I am very disappointed that this type of problem has surfaced so early in the game @ 48,000km. I've never had such a problem with other older vehicles such as Toyota and Nissan and took a chance with the Chevrolet brand as it is not very popular in the caribbean. It's over priced in my opinion for the lack of features it has as compared to the Equinox which is the same vehicle available in the US. I will think twice about the Chevrolet/GM brand next time around.
written by on 06/11/2012
1st... problems faulty rear parking sensor. 2nd problem faulty back window water jet both fixed under warrenty. Then the crunch 12months out of warrenty, my radio kept turning off, then the indicators went crazy, the tow bar light came on the dash even though we don't have a tow bar and finally the parking sensors onca again stopped working. The dealership advised a water leak on the driver side rear 1/4 window resulting in water ingress on harness and ecu, which is located under this window. Cost £2,500 to repair..... this includes new window and seal as they come as one unit...Surely after only 4 years old and 35.000 miles this should not happen.... Still in discussion with customer service at Chevrolet , i think this is a design fault...the ecu should be better protected from any occurring water problems. Not holding my breathe
written by on 29/03/2012
I got the car brand new in October 2009. From day one there seemed to be a problem with the clutch. I was told by the service centre (Northcliff) that the smell is just the clutch working itself in. 18000 km later I had to replace the clutch as acording to GM it was due to driver technique that the clutch failed. The machanic mention that there is a certain way you need to drive the clutch. I mean raelly! I have driven for over 25 years and owned a number of vehicle and never had to replace a clutch. Two weeks after replacing the clutch the clutch again failed and was replaced together with the flywheel by GM as a goodwill gesture according to them. They still did not admit that the clutch problem was inherent and did not refund me for the first replacement. The steering rack was replaced after 3 months of owning the vehicle. The computer box was replaced on the second service. The CV joints was replaced on the third service. The steering rack was again replaced a week ago after my wife was almost in an accident as she could not turn the steering wheel without using force. The car has been a pain in my life and the service has also been very poor from GM. They also dont seem to understand the inconvenience of having your car in the garage for repairs waiting for parts or the wrong parts being supplied. I will never buy a GM vehicle again.
written by ChevvyDriver on 19/03/2012
I have had my Captiva for nearly 2 years now, 20000 miles. I bought it new and got side bars and 20" alloys as optional extras. We have been delghted with it. It drives really well and you all sit up high. I have always been concerned about a lack of crumple zone in 7 seat cars but I feel the rear passengers are much safer in the Captiva as they sit higher than the impact area from other cars. A friend has a Volvo V90, bought about the same time - he paid over £10k more than I did. We agree that the Captiva looks at least as well, has better fuel consumption and all the luxury of the V90. The service pack from Chevrollette is excellent - well worth the money. My only slight negative is the turning circle which is quite large. Otherwise excellent. Cannot recommend it strongly enough.
written by on 03/12/2011
I have just had my 2 nd engin replaced under guarrantee. thus my 3rd engin since bought.never pulled any heavy trailers.looked after it like a baby.understand from dealerships mechanics that many of the diesels give engin problems. both engins went faulty between 30000 and 40 000 km's. Any one else having this problem.Fanie
written by on 15/05/2011
LT 2.0 Manual Diesel 7 seat version - bought brand new in 2008 for £16,500.
Now covered 35,000 miles, including some towing a fairly large caravan. Only mechanical fault has been a parking sensor replaced under warranty.
Great tow car - heavy, stable, with bags of power. Towing 1,600kg with a full compliment of passengers was efforless - self levelling suspension is a boon.
Drwbacks? - it's thirsty, thirsty, thirsty. I'd never really measured the fuel consumption until fairly recently - a mix of driving (no towing) over 380 miles, at speeds never over 70mph, mostly 50 -60 mph, and hardly any urban driving (rural location) cost £80 - at £140 per litre I worked the mpg out to just over 31 mpg.
31 mpg just doesn't cut it these days. I suppose I could squeeze an extra 5 mpg out of the car if I drove like a Nun, but even that is just not good enough when fuel prices are high and will go higher.
It's a lovely car - but the time for cars like it is passing rapidly away, I'm afraid.
The other kicker is depreciation. I recently traded it against a new VW - and the best offer I could get was $11,000 - that's for a car in excellent condition, full service history, no bumps or scrapes, and no mechanical issues.
A Chevrolet dealer offered me.........£9,0000!
As we paid only £16,5000 the loss for us wasn't *too* bad - but for anyone who paid list at £23,000 it would be catastrophic.
All in all, if you have a use for it (like towing) then it's a nice car - that can be picked up second-hand for peanuts. As we no longer caravan we no longer need to run a car like the Captiva.
It's been a fun car to drive and own - but it's expensive on fuel, and when the warranty runs out it could well be expensive if it goes wrong.
written by on 04/04/2011
I had this car in Malaysia (imported from Thailand). My Captiva was an AWD 2.0 Diesel. It was surprisingly powerful, 150 HP and 320Nm of torque. With 6 adult passengers and plenty of baggages, I could take-off from 120KM/h to 140km/h in an uphill. Very low fuel consumption in highway. I got 8.6L/100Km with 3 adult passengers, air condition and half the way headlamp and projectors on, mostly between 100 to 120 km/h through a 700Km trip. The only mentionable issue was a bit bumpy ride.
written by on 15/03/2011
Like an earlier post my car has been in and out of the garage with no end of problems. My big complaint is that from day one my average MPG has been 20 mpg and has never changed in 2 years. I have had checked 3 times now and they there nothing wrong with car. The onboard computer says im getting 25.4 mpg, my average speed is 14 mph both of these figures have never changed since i bought the car.
I have spoke to Chevrolet themselves and they say that 20 mpg is within there guidelines. Which is rubbish as they state i should get 37 mpg. I mostly do motorway driving so i should get more than the 20 mpg that i'm getting. I actually tested it recently and on my calculation i got 18.2 mpg, which for 2 litre is rediclulous. This car has cost me an absolute fortune to run. Over the last 2 years it has cost just over £4000 in fuel costs and i have just covered 17000 miles, do the sums.
This car will be handed back half way through my credit agreement and i will be glad to see the back of it.
The faults i have had with the car are too long to mention or even remember.
Do not buy this car
written by on 17/11/2010
Worst car I have owned. Picking it up tomorrow after another repair and a £2000 bill thank you very much. DMF failure and a new clutch. I also had problems with ECU, reversing sensors, window wash pump failed, rear seat won't fold down etc. The fuel filter costs £140 to replace as you cannot just change the insert. Try opening it and it breaks!! That's after you have spent an hour getting to it..that's why they don't change it on your service interval!! It's under powered at 2.0L diesel. You'll probably destroy the clutch if you tow anything remotely heavy....I've always been a GM fan. Best cars ever were the 50's Tri Chevys out of Detroit. Modern ones, forget it. Is it because they're out of Korea? Back to Ford me thinks.
written by on 30/09/2010
Like many other members, I bought the Captive LTX after much research for under £20k new.
I must say it has been faultless, good build quality and reliable (12k miles so far). Some may not be aware that this car is the Vauxhall Antara - with extras - at less cost !! Yes they are made in the same factory !
Still to find something I don't like - apart from the lack of a sat nav (now available in the LTZ). But I had a dvd/cd/ sat nav unit fitted to replace the existing radio and this still worked out £2k cheaper than the new LTZ. (unless you need the autmatic seat).
Fuel consumption is exactly what is claimed by Cheverolet, however I had a tuning box fitted last week and it appears to be improved now but the jury is still out on that, as I need to confirm if it does what it says by checking the fuel "top up" vs miles
written by on 28/06/2010
Decided to change my 2005 BMW 5 series M sport which I paid 27K for new - for a BMW X5. X5 priced at £39500 well kitted out. BMW dealer offered £6900 for the 5 series M sport - total insult after the sale pitch when first bought - you'll get at lesast £12k to £14k in 3 yo 4 years. Asked what the depreciation on an X5 was likely to be after 1 year and was told approximately £12K to £15K. Working on this principal and taking into consideration the poor offer on the 5 series I looked around at other SUV's.
Looked at the AUDI 4x4 beast - OTT - viewed the ANTARA - poor spec. Looked at the FORD KUGA & VW versions - over rated under spec'd. Finally looked at the Mitsubishi Outlander and Captiva. Outlander OK but hard ride - low spec. Captiva LTX hit all the buttons:
Performance very good
Drive excellent on tarmac - off road better than an X5 by far - in general 6 out of 10 off road - not bad at all for a soft SUV. Deffinately not a heavy mud slugger though.
Comfort - electric heated seats, 7 seats and the two pop seats are really comfortable full leather spec with excellent leg road.
Could go on an on ................suffice to say - kept the 5 series M Sport and bought the Captiva for £24K with £7500 discount from Chevrolet as an introductory offer. Hell of a reliable car to date, faultless performance, a joy to drive .........all for the price of the depreciation of the X5 I was going to buy. The good thing is I paid the additional couple of hundred pounds to get 3 years free servicing & parts for peace of mind. I've now got two cars. BMW eat your heart out - the Chevrolet Captiva may not be as state of the art as the fast depreciating Beemer X5 but for the money it performs superb and ticks all the boxes as standard. Well done Chevy with your first attempt at a European SUV - I'd buy another one.
written by on 19/06/2010
I have owned my Chevrolet Captiva 2.0 VCDi LTX AUTO for a year now and I can honestly say that it has been a pleasure to own. Having owned and driven everything from a Ford to a BMW and Citroen to a Mercedes I've had my fair share of vehicles to compare it to.
There are far too many so called 'experts' out there who are quick to criticise Chevrolet's Captiva but let me tell you this, the Captiva is a European spin-off of a tried, tested and proven platform from GM in the United States. Remember, nearly ALL SUV's and 4 4′s in the USA are Chevrolet or other GM owned brand.
I have compared my Captiva to other SUV's on the road in the UK and without a doubt the Captiva is the best value for money - my own model, the LTX is every bit as good as other similar sized SUV's available, the 7 seat configuration beat every other SUV in it's class when it was launched because nobody else offered it. This can also be said about the adaptive 4 Wheel Drive, again nobody offered it but now everyone has copied.
Do yourself a favour, don't listen to so called experts who tell you that the Captiva is no good - go and have a go for yourself and you will wonder where these people get their information from!
Good work Chevrolet - I'd buy another Captiva any day!!!
written by on 11/02/2008
Great over all usable vehicle, but should have a better accessories list for those that want it. No built in sat nav, no auto rain sensing wipes, no dual climate control.
written by familyguy on 12/01/2008
After looking at a number of SUV and 4X4 Vehicles I found the Captiva. Only as I was looking at the new Vauxhall and I was informed that the Captiva was the same vehicle, but cheaper and had more features.
Money was not really the issue and I had looked at Landrover, Rangerover (2nd Hand) and also the Toyota SUV. The Captiva 2 litre is great on petrol, very surprised to see it used the same as my previous Mondeo as long as it's not thrashed. Interior is great and the LTX is fully loaded with everything you need. Sat Nav was expensive so I opted for my own device. It's got 7 seats, but they fold down to give extra room at the back. I've sat in a Rangerover sport and the Captiva is not far from it, especially as you could have 3 of these for the price of the Rangerover! Look around though if you are buying as you can pick them up new for £20,000, thats £4,000 less than direct.
written by maxine monks on 17/09/2007
Proud owners of new Chevrolet Captiva diesel. Surprised by power on acceleration for a heavy vehicle. Boot space and compartments are great for regular shoppers and seats fold down completely flat giving extra space for luggage. tail gate window comes down for those long items if your a DIY buff, its certainly gets peoples attention when they see it and I have even been stopped in the street to ask about it. Overall very happy. Reliability untested as only had it a month but so far so good. More good than bad a lot of vehicle for the money compared to others of similar SUV's.
Do you have a question about this product or company? Simply type it in the box below and one of our community will give you an answer
Once we've checked over your question we will put it live on the site and our strong community of experts will hopefully give you some great answers that you find useful.
We will email you when the question is on the site
Guest's Comment
Written on: 10/06/2011
Just buying 08 LTX and am interested in how to retrofit a Satnav. Whose did you use and how much including fitting. Info appreciated