What do I need to know before buying a Holden

[michaelnz29]

Hello all, I am new to the Holden Commodore world and am looking to buy something around the 1997 - 2001 with around 200,000 kms on the clock, either manual or automatic and either the v6 or v8.... now with the huge list of options above, are there problems that are likely to occur with Holdens of this age with moderate Km's on the clock. I am trying to get the most holden for my money (around $7000).

Thanks for any assistance

Mike

[TVR-190]

get something with a full service history if possible. other then that the usual things like shocks / bearings etc that would be worn after that many km's

[calais24/7]

yeh see if it has been thrashed or if it has been taken good care of, you can usualy tell this by the overall condition, if the motor sounds healthy, good tyres and generaly no marks and scratches on the inside and outside. tyr to get a service history on it. with 7 thousand i would probably go with a vt or vx. they are both good family cars and reliable when taken proper care of
good luck mate

[HamaTime™]

Probably looking for a VT or a VX.

Power steering racks and fuel pumps are fiesty on commodores

[michaelnz29]

Thanks for your advice, so engine is fairly reliable for lots of Km's? I can do most of my own mechanical work, but I don't want to be doing major work :-)

What sorts of km's will these engines do without serious problems?

Thanks for you help so far.

[caaf]

Well I can't say how much you'll get out of your new purchase as it'll be the piece of string theory.. How ever I had a VN (kind of related) until 295.000k and sold it on and I know it's still going well.. All I replace on the engine was a new bearing on the AC, Alternator, battery, a few tensioner pulley's and two harmonic balancers. I could gone about suspension ect but there's no point as these things will fail over time regardless of use. With regular servicing generally the engines them selves are extremely reliable it's just the bits that hang off seem to fall over.. BTW I owned the car from 125000k