Help please..What to look for when buying a VT II SS 5.7

[akust0m]

Any help would be much appreciated. I'm going to look at a 2000 VT II SS 5.7 with gas injection that has done 124,XXXkm's. Keep in mind that I know very little about cars/engines, what are the main things that I should be looking for...

Cost, $8500 down from $10,000 (haggled over the phone so far).

I'm hoping to sell my VT S for as much as possible so the change to an 8 is very little $$ wise.

Thanks in advance,

Chris

[ryan101]

check for oil usage, piston slap (that all should be fixed by now if there were ever a problem)
rear main seals so check under the car between the engine and gearbox
and just make sure it's not tharshed check tyres that kind of stuff
hope that helps

[akust0m]

No worries. Sorry for my lack of knowledge but how do I check for "piston slap".

The car is completely stock as well which is a good sign. No lowering, no decent wheels, no sound system.

It is a 6-speed manual as well.

It's just that I've never drivin a v8 before, and just want to seem confident when I go to look at it.

[Thessman]

I'm in the same boat as you my friend, I know very little about engines. I do know that piston slap makes a rattling sort of sound when the engine is at idle. Start it up and have a listen. If it still has the books from the dealer, check to see the service history and if the common problems have been fixed. Being a six speed manual I'd take it for a drive where u can run through all the gears.

In saying that, in my opinion I'd steer clear of vt gen3's in general. I own a series 2 vx ss 6 speed so it sound ironic me saying that, but the gen3 hadn't been perfected in those models. Keep in mind tho, even brand new cars can still be duds so you may just have a winner there. You never know.

If this help, I dont know what state your in but I had an RACV test done on my car, I'm in Victoria. This meant that someone came and inspected the car top to bottom, inside and out, wrote a report, and sent me the results. It cost me nearly $200 but it was worth every cent, especially because I know very little about cars. So see if you can organize something like that, either with your local mechanic or a company similar to the RACV.

Good luck mate, my gen3 6 speed is the best car I have ever owned, you won't be disappointed I guarantee it.

[GEN3RATD]

If you can, get the VX or VXII SS as they are more refined. With the VXII you will get a much better rear end suspension set up and with both you will get the LS6 manifold (better flowing). For the price I found my series 2 with 70,000 kms and full leather for 11k, so have a look around.


Try and take the car for a test drive, check everything (lights, A/C, etc.) just generally check everything works as it should. As above the RACV checks are a good idea.