Creaky Commodore quietened

The dashboard squeaks and creaks that have been an unwanted feature of the new imported Holden ZB Commodore have been fixed.

motoring.com.au has been a persistent critic of the unedifying noises emerging from the Commodores dash since we first drove the car.

We also marked the high-rise Tourer down for squeaks and rattles when we tested it in April.

There are two issues that Holden has identified. One is understood to come from within the instrument cluster and another from the plastic surround for the Head Up Display (HUD) fitted to some higher-end models.

Holden has gone back to Opel, which manufactures the Commodore and the Insigna it is based on at its Russelsheim in Germany, looking for a fix.

Cars being shipped now are said to be free of the issues.

While unwilling to be too specific, Holden vehicle development manager Jeremy Tassone tacitly confirmed the issue had been examined and rectified.

He said that work was already underway when the car was launched.

“Any time during a car’s development phase, when we are launching and once the car is production, we are continuing to look for any things that need to be improved,” he said.

“And if there are issues that come up we will deal with them. That’s what we are working towards.

“I won’t say there’s never something that can’t be improved when a car is in production.”

The ZB Commodore has had a difficult launch in Australia, following its replacement of the popular locally-built VF Commodore in February this year.

Sales have been slow and there has already been a recall to fix incorrectly fitted outboard rear seat belts.