Holden recalls 27,000 Commodores

Windscreen wiper defect sees Holden Commodore recalled for second time in two months.

The new Holden Commodore has been recalled for the second time in two months because the windscreen wipers might not work.

Holden is recalling 27,074 cars built from 27 February 2013 to 31 August 2013 because faulty windscreen wipers may become “an accident hazard to the driver and other road users”, says a safety bulletin issued by the Federal Government.

A spokesman for Holden said 11 customers had complained that the wipers weren’t working properly “but no accidents or injuries have been reported”.

The fault was traced to the incorrect grease being used in the wiper motor.

Last month, Holden recalled 42,000 Commodores — almost every one since the new model went on sale in May last year — over a potential fault with the front seatbelts.

Holden issued a confidential bulletin to its network of 230 dealers, instructing them not to sell any new Commodores or transfer them to other showrooms.

Holden said the seatbelt pre-tensioner module can make contact with the seatbelt buckle assembly under the seat, causing an electrical short that can disable the seatbelt retractor mechanism in a crash.

Pre-tensioners are designed to take up the seatbelt’s slack milliseconds before an airbag deploys, giving the driver and front passenger the best chance of survival in a serious crash.

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Holden says there have been no customer reports of the seatbelt pre-tensioners not working.

Meanwhile the Commodore has narrowly avoided what could have been Australia’s largest automotive recall.

More than 500,000 Chevrolet Camaros are being recalled in North America because the ignition switch can be bumped by the driver’s knee, which switches off the engine and can disable the airbags.

The Chevrolet Camaro is based on the homegrown Holden Commodore VE model introduced in July 2006, and uses the same key and ignition system.

The updated Holden Commodore VF model introduced in May 2013 also uses the same ignition system.

But Holden says there is no need to recall the 432,000 Commodore sedans, wagons and utes built since July 2006 because local testing found there was not a problem.

Holden spokesman George Svigos told News Corp Australia the company reviewed the Commodore ignition system once it became aware of the issue in the Camaro.

“In light of this, Holden engineers conducted a review of the (VE and VF) Commodore, which is based on the same architecture, and can confirm that it is not impacted by this recall,” said Mr Svigos.

General Motors says the Camaro ignition fault is not the same as the recall of 2.6 million cars linked to 13 deaths in older model Chevrolet vehicles.

General Motors said that, in the Camaro, a driver’s knee can “bump the key fob and knock the ignition switch out of the ‘run’ position”, which cuts power the engine and can disable the airbags.

General Motors says it knows of three crashes involving the Camaro, resulting in four minor injuries, that “may have been caused” by the ignition being disabled.