VS S Pack - long term ownership report

[Pjay]

Bought the beast August 1995, so it'll have its 14th birthday this August. Last week I replaced the battery, only the second replacement since new. Car has now done 215,000 km.
I was asked about my service history (thanks hako ), so here goes:
1000 km gearbox replaced due to gear noise in 5th gear, no further problems since.
46,000 engine partially rebuilt with new pistons/rings/bearings. On a trip around Australia, we had a horrible rattle on start up, which turned out to be piston slap. The car was about 5 months out of warranty, but GMH paid for the complete job! The dealer argued for a new short motor, but the motor was rebuilt instead, and it's been very sweet ever since.
150,000 changed oil in transmission and differential
160,000 replaced most of the front end consumables, struts, tie rod ends, bushes, due to a misdiagnosed noise - turned out to be an unbonded steel in rubber bush at the top of one of the struts, only discovered after I'd spent about a grand, but the front end is tight as new, so all good.

Actually, that's about it! The rest has just been the usual consumables - brake pads, plugs, have changed leads once, brake fluid and coolant changes. Most of the maintenance I have done myself for the last 7 years or so, the car is pretty easy to work on with a Gregory's manual on hand and a decent tool set.
No rust at all, despite being on Bribie Island for the first 4 years, in a salt air environment. Some corrosion around the battery tray area that I repaired and has not reoccured. Still have the original windscreen.

Economy has been sensational, as high as 37 mpg, regularly 36mpg on trips. She likes a drink around town. 700 km on trips, down to 450km just around town.
My only modification was a set of white alloys (15" was okay in 1995!!!!!) because I didn't like the silver S pack mags. An aftermarket cruise control helps ease the pain in my right leg ( two episodes of multiple compound fractures from motorcycle crashes, that's another story...)

I bought the car with the intention of keeping it for 15 years, but I can think of no reason to sell it.

[greenacc]

Nice car mate.
ps, hows the steering rack, are the boots oily ? just replaced my rack due to leaks.

[Morton]

That's the beauty of looking after these cars from new - they come out the other end flawless

I always look for a car with a good, transparent service history. I've been lucky with the two I've bought That car should give you another 15 years of trouble-free motoring with any luck ^_^ Probably change some of the "known issues" at around 250-300,000km, like the harmonic balancer, all the sensors, fuel pump... but they're damn good cars if you treat 'em right ^_^

Congrats to you - she's still a looker after all these years! (and so's the car).

[hako]

Great report Pjay - your fuel usage is much better than mine....I was thinking of changing the O2 sensors but you can buy a lot of fuel for what they cost.
Regards.

[Fekason]

Interesting reading.

I bought a VS II Manual V6 Executive with Dual IRS, ABS, IRS and AIRCON in early 1997. Had cruise control fitted straight away. Also fitted a Level 3 cluster some years later.

I have since moved on to a VY II Exec and now VE SV6, but the VS is still in the family. It has covered well over 200,000 Km.

Warranty problems:

Just one. One of the pulley wheels for the serpentine belt was replaced.

Later problems:

1. Pressure plate gave out around 9.5 years. Replaced the dual mass flywheel and put a clutch kit in. Total cost was $1,400. Considered moving to a solid flywheel (would have cost $1,100 and so cheaper), but decided to stay standard.

2. AIRCON compressor gave out at around 11 years. Replaced with a new one.

3. Around 10 years, the power steering pump started to leak. This was fixed for a matter of dollars by replacing seals.

While I was driving it, I would get between 7.4 and 7.8L/100KM on the open road, including heavily laden going on holidays. This figure was achieved by driving at the speed limit where ever possible. Best that I got was 6.8L/100Km travelling from Tenterfield to Sydney with only a light load.

Around town, I used to get between 9.5 and 10.5L/100Km.

It remains one of my favourite cars, and I see no reason why it will not continue on for many years to come.

[HamaTime™]

sweet...glad to know that I've bought a good car haha