VT - Worth buying????

[Mum-of-teen]

Hi there I am buying my son a car & would like some feedback please.
1998 VT Berlina sedan. 177,000kms, 4 x new tyres with 17" rims. car looks neat & tidy & seem to run ok. The asking price is $3900.00 without roadworthy - apparently it will need a new windscreen.
Im not very car savy, so lamens terms would be great =]

[schrinky]

has your son had any experience driving a large rear wheel drive car? i just ask because if your son has never driven a commodore it may not be a great idea giving him something with so much power.

This car sounds good, i would be trying to ask them to do it $4000 with the roadworthy, the car is below the average kms. But it also has 17" rims on it, from the factory they only came with 15"rims, one thing that you might want to check is that the tyres are not wearing out on the inside, also ask the current owner for a full service history, if it does not have a full history then there maybe some services that have been missed.

Have you got a link to carsales that you can show us so we can have a look at it. Also do you have a friend who is a mechanic or car savy so that they can have a look at it, there is only so much you can recommend over the internet without having a look at the car.

[TonyJZX]

i'd look for something smaller as a 1st car myself

[DLFHUB666]

it may not be a great idea giving him something with so much power.

hahahaha were talking about a v6 not a stroked an charged ls3.To the OP as said a link to carsales or some pictures would help abit more.An my first car was my vx ss its still my daily nothing better than learing in a car that has some balls.

[COL3SY]

hahahaha were talking about a v6 not a stroked an charged ls3.To the OP as said a link to carsales or some pictures would help abit more.An my first car was my vx ss its still my daily nothing better than learing in a car that has some balls.

very true lol, if you cant handle a standard v6 dont think you should be on the roads at all!

like every one has sed link to carsale would be handy

[Kieran263]

It sounds fine. Berlina so its got some electrics and mod cons. He'll be fine with handling the car, having a
VX exec myself I can say that they are a very dozy car (easy to drive and control).Definitely find out when
its last service was, if it wasn't too long ago I'd say $4,000 with roadworthy and a full tank. Good luck

[Calaber]

hahahaha were talking about a v6 not a stroked an charged ls3.To the OP as said a link to carsales or some pictures would help abit more.An my first car was my vx ss its still my daily nothing better than learing in a car that has some balls.

The lady asked for advice in "laymans" terms, not petrol-head macho gobbledygook.

Mum-of-teen

A 1998 VT Commodore is a large and reasonably heavy car. It has a reasonably powerful engine for a novice driver to adapt to. The biggest problem is that the VT was only released in late 1997 and for the first couple of years of production, a number of design faults existed which affected the car's serviceability. The rear axle design was poor and led to excessive wearing out of the inside edge of the rear tyres. Larger diameter wheels such as this car has fitted can worsen the tyre wear rate and the tyres are not very cheap to replace. The front brakes tended to suffer from warped discs. This is very common and can be detected as a shudder through the steering when you apply the brakes. New discs are quite cheap and simple to replace. Approx $50 - $60 each (4 in total but the rear discs seem to last a much longer time). The new windscreen would cost around $180 - $200 supplied and fitted.

If the car is in good overall condition, it could be a good buy, nothwithstanding those issues, but I agree with the others and feel that you should try to purchase the car with full registration provided, even if this means a slight increase in price. The asking price is reasonable for the mileage, but the comfort of knowing that it is legally roadworthy and registered would be some insurance for you and your son.

[VN_Luke]

Hi Mum-of-teen.

I used to be a teen once, and I also had a mum. So, as you can appreciate, I can relate quite well to your original post.

As far as your choice of make and model goes, I think it's a good option. These cars, if maintained appropriately, tend to give many years of reliable trouble-free motoring.

I don't know where the misconception regarding a standard family car being "hard to control" came from.

Generally speaking, ANY car is only as hard to control as it's driver. If your son has half a brain, he'll drive within his limits regardless of what car he's driving, and never have an issue.

The only things I'd be weary of are (when buying any car);

1. has the example been modified in any way?
2. has it been in an accident?
3. does it have a genuine reason for sale?

As for your selection of car for the son, you should also consider;
- fuel costs - can he afford to run a car this big? might a smaller car, or larger one on LPG be a good option?
- insurance costs - get a quote on insurance for the car, compare them to another make/model

[DLFHUB666]

The lady asked for advice in "laymans" terms, not petrol-head macho gobbledygook.

.

Well the first part of my post was directed at schrinky an then there is the part where i say to the OP.

[schrinky]

Well the first part of my post was directed at schrinky

i get what you mean DLF, but not a lot of kids have the understand of what can happen, some of us have been lucky enough to have an interest in cars and have grown up driving larger more powerful cars. all my mates started off learning in small 1.8-2.0 4 cylinders, i let one of them drive my car and he nearly stacked it because he gave it a bootful in the wet and ended up the facing the wrong way about 2 foot from a tree...im not saying dont get it, im simply stating that there can be an issue with getting something with more than double the power of similarly aged small cars that are front wheel drive.

But a reason to get it is the fact that replacement parts for when something does break or just general wear and tear cost next to nothing, eg: mate just had a puncture in his volvo s40, 195/55R15 tyre is setting him back $185, commodore tyres start from $100 for a 15inch rim, the 17's on this car around $160. new disc rotors on a volvo, 100bucks for the rotor per corner.

[Emmylouxo]

I am just coming off my P's and I got a similar model VT for second car. I went from driving a 91 ford laser to a VT and did not find it hard to control or too powerful.
Overall it has been a great car, safe car to drive. The new windshield is quite normal when getting a roadworthy, mine had one replaced with my roadworthy too.

I thought I would enlighten you with some things I that I have learnt whilst being a young owner of a VT. When I purchased mine it was 181,100km. I had a gas conversion because being 19 I didn't (and still don't) have a money tree. The car runs fine on gas, it is a lot easier on the pocket. I don't think I could have survived with out it on gas.

I think something you should take into consideration (that I neglected to) is when the car hits the 200,000km mark somethings things may need replacing. In the last 2 years I have had a new timing belt, radiator, fuel pump and apparently could be looking at a new water pump and idler bearings in the very near future. What I am trying to say is perhaps find out if you can have the car looked over by your mechanic or RACV tested. If the car has been maintained over the years (unlike mine) it will be a great reliable car. and if you can get the car at $4000 with roadworthy it will be a good buy. VT is a great safe car but like any care you need to be sure your son can afford to keep up the maintenance.

Also when I first got my car to insure full comprehensive, as a 19yr old Female driver of a VT cost me about $1200 from budget direct.

[DLFHUB666]

i let one of them drive my car and he nearly stacked it because he gave it a bootful in the wet and ended up the facing the wrong way about 2 foot from a tree.

But a reason to get it is the fact that replacement parts for when something does break or just general wear and tear cost next to nothing .

Well that frist part just sounds like he was being stupid there is no need to give it a bootful in the wet when driving normally.EDIT: deleted because i didnt read what i quoted properly.

[graham7773]

I'm a bit confused. One poster is saying Commodore parts are relatively cheap and another is saying Commodore parts are expensive. On a scale of 1 to 10, I reckon they are around 4 for parts prices. Btw, my 17 year old daughter learned in a not very old VT about 12 years ago. Had no trouble at all.

[DLFHUB666]

I'm a bit confused. One poster is saying Commodore parts are relatively cheap and another is saying Commodore parts are expensive. On a scale of 1 to 10, I reckon they are around 4 for parts prices. Btw, my 17 year old daughter learned in a not very old VT about 12 years ago. Had no trouble at all.

Sorry i didnt read the post i quoted properly. But compared to 4 cyl hyundai , commodore genuine parts are hell expensive

[simoj]

hey Mum,
i have a series 2 vt berlina and its my second car. its been great no real major dramas besides having to re gas the climate control ($600) and replace the power steering rack and pump which ($1200). its been a great reliable car thats rather comfy. i started with an vt series 2 exec had no troubles at all learning to drive in it with the power or handling. some big expenses to note are as said before insurance (im an insurance advisor). when your son gets off his L's (if he is on his L's) he will have to become a listed driver and this will sky rocket the policy to more than likely over $1000pa. running costs are also quite high i wouldnt say i hoon around my fuel adverage usually sits at about 11.5l per 100kms and a tank usually lasts me 2 week but i drive a fair bit (bout 550kms per tank). if ur son is into cars he can do a basic service (spark plugs, tension leads, oil change, oil filter, and fuel filter) for around $100 - $150 which is pretty good. before u buy ud definatly want a car savy person to look at it to go through eveything mechanically and ud definatly want to know if it has been in a crash and had a good service history. i wouldnt buy anything that wasnt road worthy as a first car $4000 with roadworth cert would be a decent buy.