how many k's for a vr/vs?

[rhysieboyy]

im looking to buy a vr/vs sedan in a couple months when im 17,but everyone ive seen lately for 3-4grand has high km's ranging from 200xxxk's to 300xxxk's,im not after a a1 condition car but would you happily buy a car with those soughta's kilometres?im a apprentice mechanic so would look at building a new driveline anyway but for atleast 12months it would be left stock from when i got it which has got me wondering if i should risk buying a car with high k's to get me around?any oppinions are good.

cheers,
rhys.

p.s how many kilometres do your vr/vs's have?

[Matty89]

Just do the usual checks. Look for a service history, driving type (highway or city). Plenty of tidy examples out there.

[MR.HG]

im pretty sure NRMA statistics say the average is 15,000 per year so just devide the total ks travelled by the cars age and compare to see if the car has had excessive use, mines a '97 model with 263,xxx so im well above average...you may also want to research a bit and find out what problems occur at what KMs (commonly) compare with the car your buying and see if these have been fixed recently....good way to see what your in for in the future

[Muscular Jesus]

They are 10+ years old champ. If you're hoping for low kays, prepare to be disappointed.

[Vee-ard]

Like all car dealers say, once a car reaches a certain age (normally 5 years) it becomes less and less about how many k's its done as opposed to how its been treated and whats already been replaced on it.

I would prefer to buy a car with 200,000 country miles and serviced regularly rather than a city one thats done 100,000 and probably an oil change every 25,000 if that.

My car's done 89,000kms and the only serious things that HAD to be replaced (rather than me just replacing stuff to keep it running well) was the heater core, springs, shocks and tires.

[Pickle']

They are 10+ years old champ. If you're hoping for low kays, prepare to be disappointed.

he is asking how much is normal basically, how much yours has and pretty much are they worth buying now. why was it hard to just give an answer?

As to the Op my vr when i got rid of it had 270xxx on it (approx). Mine was alot of work from about 255-260xxx ks onwards. my injectors clogged (running 95 octane fuel only) my alternator shit itself as did my air con compressor, starter motor, harmonic balancer, power steer pump... the list goes on and in the end it had a miss that i couldnt find after changing to many things to name really... (this was serviced every 5000)

its upto you really your choice.. my opinion is go for a vt or something like that. the vr to me was alot to work with but i didnt really mind and i would buy another one if i had the chance to do the work that was needed... ( i loved that car ) but in the end couldnt rely on it and had to travel 30+ minutes to and from work everyday and just wasnt worth the hassle.

So all in all is upto you in the end.. to me it was a good fun car.. but deffinately not reliable

[Wilko53]

I don't think it's the number of Ks on the odometre that matters as much as how they got there. An 18 year old car that has really low Ks , owned by an aged pensioner, being only driven down to the shops once a week, would be less desirable than a country car that did a minimum of 20 odd Ks before it even got to the shops. The low K vehicle may never get its oil hot enough while the bakes and gearbox get used a lot more than the country car.
I have a VT 6 cylinder, with 240K, that only gets driven twice a week. Up to Sydney and down from Sydney (500K). but not around Sydney. I did the same in my 94 VR Caprice. 6 cylinder. with 278K before I sold it a few months ago. Both have strong drive trains and used no oil while getting better than 7.5 km / litre. I've got 239Ks on a VR V8 I'm doing up. I don't expect any problems, as it has always been a country car too.
So choose your car on its condition and especially its history (usage).
My other thought is that the Ks wont matter so much .. it's not that you might add too many in the 12 months before the rebuild.

[Muscular Jesus]

Get back in your VE forum pickle, we're discussing antiques here...

[rhysieboyy]

ok yer i had a vt exec manual but had heaps of issues with it and just couldnt be bothered fixing it,(slipping clutch,diff about to die,electric problems.only had 126xxx km's)my mates vs has over 300xxx and goes like shite but he flogged it pretty hard and hes only replaced 2fuel pumpes in the last 6months cos he runs it dry regulary(hes knows its bad but still does it).so i think i might just get a vs sedan or some type and put up with it for 3years cos i will be qualified before i turn 20 so i can buy a new car then.

cheers,
rhys.

[MR.HG]

oh yea and at 260,000 i replaced engine mounts, water pump,fuel pump, struts, link pin, every rubber underneath, so if its between 220-270 tho look for any of these mentioned problems

[Pickle']

Get back in your VE forum pickle, we're discussing antiques here...

lol there is no need for that... please tell me where it is that your 'discussing' anything. you tell the guy nothing of what he wanted to know. I had a vr so i told my part.

oh yea and at 260,000 i replaced engine mounts, water pump,fuel pump, struts, link pin, every rubber underneath, so if its between 220-270 tho look for any of these mentioned problems

yeah forgot to mention those lol and a gearbox mount and a torque converter too actually...

[justbad4you]

ive seen one daily driver with 690.000km and its still cruising around(not sure how many bhp its lost driving over half a million km) when i was taken for a spin she went pretty good and ran realy smooth for the over half a million km....the owner realy looked after it in regards to oils,transfluid and so on...cheeers

[2DIE]

3-4 grand is pretty steep for a VR-VS, my sister picked up a VS about a month ago for $1200. It had 140k on it and bone stock, good paint and interior. Probably will get trashed now though, she has 2 kids =x

[justbad4you]

vs? $1200 not a bad price.....lol whats that make the VR worth ?

3-4 grand is pretty steep for a VR-VS, my sister picked up a VS about a month ago for $1200. It had 140k on it and bone stock, good paint and interior. Probably will get trashed now though, she has 2 kids =x

[axemurderer101]

i just sold my VS with just under 130,000ks for $3,600, i would of liked more but nobody was interested in it and that was the only good offer i got

[justbad4you]

i just sold my VS with just under 130,000ks for $3,600, i would of liked more but nobody was interested in it and that was the only good offer i got

its a buyers market thats for sure,(if you have the time and a hand full of cash theres some great car buys all over australia) some states are cheaper than others...but at the end of the day its a buyers market,,,,for sure

[justbad4you]

i paid $38,000 for my berlina 1997 (brand new) 1st of the berlinas to hit the road in 1997, i had leather put on as an option as new( its just about to hot 140.000km and not a mark on it...whats it worth 14yrs later? with low km? bout 5k lucky to get 6 k

i just sold my VS with just under 130,000ks for $3,600, i would of liked more but nobody was interested in it and that was the only good offer i got

[elmaso]

VS for sure man, can't go wrong with the good ol' ecotec, mines done over 320,000k's and runs like it was new, K's dont matter, how it was treated does.

[justbad4you]

yeah the ecotec is a pretty good donk (motor) run for ever if you look after em...

VS for sure man, can't go wrong with the good ol' ecotec, mines done over 320,000k's and runs like it was new, K's dont matter, how it was treated does.

[rhysieboyy]

how do they go in the way of putting a s/c or t/c on them?i had a look through somsones thread on his tt ecotec build last night and looked impressive!and ill be doing a few k's a week when i get my p's probably about 500,so if im gunna buy a goodbodied car with high k's i deifinetly will think about building a mild performance motor for it.and i was checking out trading post before and there was heaps of v's with around 200thou on the clock for 2-300grand with 12months reg and a rwc.

[2DIE]

vs? $1200 not a bad price.....lol whats that make the VR worth ?

Not sure, just picked up a immaculate VT with 150k on it for $1700 a few months ago. Makes me cringe when I see people trying to sell VR/VS for even 2k+ but if there are people willing to pay that much then let them.

Depends on the individual car though but I couldn't justify getting a VR for over $1000 as I think the VN looks better and has the same running gear. VT looks better than the VS and around the same price.

Options and the size of the motors add value but VR is a VN/VP with a facelift, VS is a VR with a ecotec. Its arguable but thats the way I see it. I know many that prefer VS over VT but its personal preference. I prefer VN over VR/VS. I prefer VT over VR/VS. S1 VN's are nice down low, VT's are a little more sluggish on bottom end but are great on the highway.

Either way, I think if you are paying over $1300-1500 for a VS or VR you are getting ripped unless its something special.

Keep your eyes open and you will land a bargain sooner or later. Don't go rush for the first one you have the cash for, I was watching about 40+ VT's on ebay for about 3-4 months till I finally bought mine. I had the cash to get any of them at any time but as soon as they went over what I think they are worth I let them go.

The same goes for any car, dont be afraid to ask questions. After all its costing you $1000+ so you can be as annoying as you like to make sure you are getting what you want. Doesnt really matter where it is either. I bought one recently from Melbourne and flew there and drove it back to Adelaide, $80 for a flight there, $20 for a taxi, $100ish for fuel. The costs didn't bother me as it was good to get a feel of the car and take it for a long drive, and if you enjoy driving like I do I'm always looking for an excuse to go on a long trip.

If you cant get a VS for under $1500 with around 150k on it I would look at getting a VT, or if you really want a VS just get a run about for $500 or so and keep a eye out for what you really want at a good price, could take you half a year or more but when you get it you can sell your run about for $500 again and you havent lost anything there, only saved money from not rusing out and buying the first one you look at.

Dont buy from a dealer, check local news papers, ebay, gumtree, carsales ect and set your self a price limit. If its over what you want to pay just wait, something better and cheaper always comes along when you wait for it.

[2DIE]

how do they go in the way of putting a s/c or t/c on them?i had a look through somsones thread on his tt ecotec build last night and looked impressive!and ill be doing a few k's a week when i get my p's probably about 500,so if im gunna buy a goodbodied car with high k's i deifinetly will think about building a mild performance motor for it.and i was checking out trading post before and there was heaps of v's with around 200thou on the clock for 2-300grand with 12months reg and a rwc.

If you will be on your P's I wouldn't bother about a turbo or supercharger unless you wanted to buy a motor and do it up over a few years and keep it in the shed till you get your full licence.
Looking at 5k+ unless you can do all the work your self, I have read people can do there own set up for about 1k but they have everything they need to do it and the skills needed.

[rhysieboyy]

yer im a apprentice mechanic so will do all the assembling my self over the time,i would buy something for 500-2000grand with reg and get a"legit" rwc but the parents are freaking out trying to get me a super safe car.

[juzzyx]

I bought my VS Equipe 96 S1 for $2500 with 165000 on it. Interior was fair but mechanically it was perfect and still is after 10months of thrash. The guy wanted $3500 for it. Just keep checking carsales and gumtree. Don't buy anything with performance mods and defiantly don't buy from a P plater, your a mechanic so you will know that anyway. Hold out for a bargain, everything is negotiable.

[2DIE]

Are you only interested in VR/VS? VT S1 Acclaim has driver and passenger air bag, ABS, traction control ect. Good value for money and voted #1 for safety in large cars in 97. And the traction control can be turned off the the press of a button