Advice on '98 VT S

[Tim Smtih]

1998 HOLDEN COMMODORE S VT Private Cars For Sale in QLD - carsales.com.au

Oh how i would love to get my hands on this car. Thing is i'm not one hundred per cent familiar with the ins and outs of this model. Are there any things i should look out for, such as any defects that may be prevalent with this cars year. And what about the factory standard supercharger, does it require any maintenance, or is it prone to failure at all?

Thanks.

[ruggj]

VT - VX Faults

Have a look in here, the link in the first post. just browse through, good info

[Tim Smtih]

It's good info don't get me wrong, but it's too broad. Anyone own one of these, and can give a first hand account of the pros and cons?

[feg]

Yep I do. I like the shape over the later models. I looked for a SC and a sunroof for a while and had to go out to the country to get these features.

General advice I would give would be look around and get one with low kays, and has been serviced regularly. Mods decrease the car to me, so the more add ons for performance alone just mean its been driven hard. I also like the factory look so unless the "upgrades" done are to make the car into something better than stock instead of just faster well my advise would be just steer clear.

looking at the ad for that one it does look pretty clean. The interior especially looks great.

The pulley on the snout of the charger is pretty small. Not sure where you are located but if you are in vic you can have this car on Ps but, not with that pulley. your milage may vary depending on which state you are in.

bascally the supercharged model is the same as the NA with a bit more torque. they are starting to age but are still a pretty good buy. If the prices where what they are now when I was buying I would have bought an LS1. But they have their own issues. check through that list of common faults, and you will see the steering rack is a common issue. The car you are looking at has had a few components around the steering rack replaced. When you inspect make sure you get this checked.

Are there any specific questions or concerns, besides the charger?

Every so often you need oil for the charger which is very expensive. but it is like 200 000ks or something like that.

[jazza15]

Bad camber wear on the rear.
Some are worse than others, so if you can see that it's visibly bad then you may want to steer clear as there is only so much that camber kits can do for your tyres... and your wallet

[Tim Smtih]

From what i can see it's $60+ for the oil, servicing shouldn't be a massive deal unless it's log book required. Yeah i can see your point as to avoiding any car that is heavily modded, but the thing is i was planning on doing that myself at some point. Nothing serious just roller rockers, performance valve springs, CAI + K&N panel filter, 10mm leads, iridium spark plugs, maybe a decent cam as well. I guess every car has it's issues, i was just wanting to avoid buying a "lemon".

edit - @jazza15. Yeah thanks mate i had heard about that, apparently later releases were fitted with kits that fixed that. I'll keep an eye out though.

[feg]

Yeah my main point is.
if it is already modded = potentially driven hard
if it's stock = rev'd once or twice...

My mods are LSD, steering wheel buttons for stereo, and leather centre console lid.

Its an alright price, but if you pay that much for one and then do the roller rockers and change the pulley you are up for a grand. Then you have one that is something you are more likely to be happy with over the length that you own the car. I have to say though, have a look at the car and meet the owner. you may find he did the mods and still drove it reasonably. These things stock are not as fast as you think compared to more recent sixes even. So adding a pulley really only changes the car to be faster than a stock six now. ( they do seem to be pretty quick compared to most in the zero to 80ish range though.

Also look out for oil leaks at back of sump and water in oil. If the water is a brown sludge they have most likely blown the LIM gasket, and to change this the charger has to come off. Later models may have had a metal LIM gasket as standard.

[cds]

lol.. its always modded car's people fear from. My friend all have done some mods of some sort performance and visual, don't know what your definition of driving hard means but.. they don't.. really .. well drive hard at all, if anything they fear for anything dangerous that might damage the car or put the car in a situation that would potentially get it damaged.

[feg]

Yeah fair call. Not all modded cars are driven hard. and sometimes it means they understand the difference between reving it a bit here and there and flogging it.

It is something to keep in mind, when you are inspecting the vehicle. It shouldn't mean you don't consider it at all.