Holden Commodore owners are facing long delays for certain spare parts, but General Motors says it is working on a solution.
Since Holden ended local production in October 2017, owners of its Australian-made Commodore have relied either on a stockpile of spare parts made before the production shop closed or on contracted suppliers to provide new plastic components such as new bumpers .
However, Adelaide-based Trident Plastics – which made the new bumpers for General Motors and specializes in bins – fell into administration in June 2023, with InDaily reporting in July that the injection molding firm owed its creditors more than $52 million.
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This has led to massive backlogs for parts, affecting not only those looking to restore their beloved cars, but also the garages tasked with getting damaged Commodores back on the road.
It is not yet known how many generations of Commodore this affects, although owners who have voiced their concern on social media have said models from the latest VFs made in Australia right through to late 1980s VNs are facing long delays .
Some disgruntled owners claim they have already had to wait more than a year for a new bumper, with some insurance workshops refusing to use second-hand parts from other cars.
If they do choose to source parts from used vehicles rather than directly from the manufacturer, they now face significantly higher prices – resulting in insurers paying owners rather than forcing them to wait for expensive and time-consuming repairs.
“These days it’s cheaper for the insurance company to pay them because it’s hard to get the parts and they’re so expensive they just write off the car,” said Ziad Miestro, owner of Westgate Commodore Wreckers 7News.
Although there are third parties and aftermarket companies that sell new, unpainted bumpers and other plastic parts for Australian Holden models, owners run the risk of having a different fitment compared to factory supply, while insurers usually require workshops to use genuine items.
A spokesman for General Motors – which still operates in Australia despite Holden being closed in 2020 – told CarExpert it was currently working on a way to resolve supply constraints, claiming new parts could be available before end of August.
“We have occasional disruptions in the parts supply chain due to unforeseen challenges, but we are always working to correct them as quickly as possible,” a General Motors spokesman said.
“There have been challenges in the supply of Commodore facias due to the supplier going into administration, but GM Australia and New Zealand has continued to work with the supplier and the administrators to find solutions so that production can resume, and we are currently estimating , that supplies will gradually begin to resume at the beginning of the third quarter of 2024.
“Customers can contact our customer service team at any time to escalate an issue. You can contact our customer service team by submitting an online inquiry at Holden.com.au or by calling us on 1800 GM Holden.”
More than 2.3 million Holden Commodores were produced in Australia for the domestic market between the end of 1978 and October 2017, not including examples that were exported to markets such as the US and the Middle East.
Not only does General Motors still operate in Australia through GM Specialty Vehicles (GMSV) – the local distributor of Chevrolet and soon GMC – but also Cadillac, due to be launched later this year.
It also owns and operates ACDelco, its parts and services division, which took over the branding of some former Holden dealerships after the automaker closed.
