Help with Adventra LX8 purchase?

[fragmoider]

Hi Guys,

I was just out car shopping on a whim.. I have a mitsu 380 that is gettingup in k's that I wanted to get out of into a more suitable vehicle as I plan to do a bit of Personal Training/have 3 big dogs etc and don't want a ute really.

I walked past a 2004 LX8 adventra and it had 48,500 k's which seemed very low and otherwise looked in very good condition bar a little car park incident ($300 or so of damage).

The dealership (AFS) was asking a crazy price - listed at $29990, after much haggling i think they moved to $25K. I still think this is well overpriced..I left telling them not interested.

Quick call back and they had dropped finance payments from $520/month to about $350 including LPG conversion.

It's good car, drives very well and in great condition for age BUT.....

Don't know the model real well so not sure of any nasty issues?
Not sure what the price would be for a good deal?
What is generally better - older car with well below ave k's or newer model? does it matter?

Any help appreciated as I do like it but tend to be a little impuslive with car purchases - witness the mitsubishi 380 :-)

[muneey]

just make sure that the lpg conversion is a "vapor sequentual setup" and not a cheap n nasty venturi old skool mixer setup..the latter is infact illegal as it doesnt comply with emissions

[fragmoider]

Good point..I asked them about that and the dude said he had no idea what goes on them but I assume that they couldn't sell something modified illegally?

It's a big assumption since it's a car dealer I know however they wouldn't want to get investigated I assume?

[Torquative]

they can in deed because its not them selling the item, its whoever their sending the car too. As long as they get it cheap enough and get your sale they dont care.

All the salesman says is "I sent it to this LPG mob and they did the install, I know nothing else la la la laa laa la la"

I know a dealership who used to install "genuine sunroofs" and "genuine sat navs" on brand new cars ... except they werent genuine, they were aftermarket from a 3rd party supplier/installer at a far cheaper price then genuine. Was always fun telling the customer the vehicle manufacturer doesnt care because the parts not one of theirs when something went wrong! I cant count the number of times I heard "but the Salesman said he was having a genuine one installed ..."

[fragmoider]

Duly noted...will check before anything.

As far as this goes can the old style system be fitted anyway due to fuel injection etc?

Just so I understand Is the old system bad/troublesome etc?

[muneey]

no i dont think so..with the vz, the lpg HAS to be injection..dont settle for anything else..if anything, get it confirmed in writing..i would hate to think what a modern v8 would drive like on a venturi mixer setup..youre not in western sydney by any chance? as i know a dealership who promises free lpg conversions on their cars

[fragmoider]

Yeah I am in western sydney but it certainly wasn't free "car city" or something..no idea? actually I think the model is VYII but I would assume (there we go again) that the diffs between the vz/vyII adventra would be minimal? The dealer was Aus fleet Sales.

[fragmoider]

Bah..can't find any info and too many unknowns with this so looks like I'll be motoring along with the 380 for now.

[muneey]

yeah i was thinking of car city..but hey if you can get them to do an injected gas setup, you will be thankfull as it would be real cheap to run, compared to running it on petrol..ive heard they are guzzlers being heavy and 4wd

[jimmy19650]

For what it is worth, I just bought a VZ LX8 Adventra, first thing I did was fit a JTG liquid injection Gas unit to it. There was some initial problems with the computer, but after everything was sorted, car goes extremely well. Better performance on gas, gets about 320kms on 45 litres of gas on a highway. Overall, the car is awsome. the only problem is the small gas tank, which is fitted where the spare wheel goes. They give you a can of tire repair in place of the spare wheel. if you have road service, no spare is no problem. on long trips, i take a space saver.

The car has heaps of room, super comfortable, good economy on gas, heaps of power, great tow vehicle, not bad off road (love to watch peoples faces when I drive past them on the beach).

Buy it

[Torquative]

oh and watch that named dealer too, they will do shonky stuff.

They once tried to sell me a VX Supercharged S pack. Problem was the car never existed.

They told me about it, it was "at the workshop for inspection". I offered to travel out to the Burwood workshop to inspect it and got told no.

I paid a $100 deposit on a Saturday afternoon, not their $250, to "secure" the car.

They rang me, telling me "on Sunday morning, someone else had paid cash at another AFS dealership and bought the car" I had finance ready to go, just give me the bank account details and it wouldve gone in instantly.

Anyway they tried to upgrade me to a VY SS, bearing in mind I only had X amount to spend.

I demanded my money back, they told me too bad - read the contract.

Only issue was I had modified the standard contract, and the salesman had signed and agreed to the changes. The changes were that I was paying "$100 cash deposit pending an inspection of the vehicle which included a test drive and 3rd party inspection in the workshop of a local named mechanic" and that the deposit would "be refunded in full in cash if the vehicle did not meet my expectations or failed the test drive and/or 3rd party inspection".

We argued, he got cocky, but agreed it was a legally binding document and had to cough up $100 out of his own wallet to make me go away.

While this was happening, a P plater had signed a contract for an XR8. I heard him say on the phone while in tears "I dont know how I'll afford it, its going to cost me almost all of my pay. Yes I know if Im sick I dont get paid. I dont know how I would afford it then"

Now that was the damage done by what was a "standard contract" so imagine what else goes on in that place.

[ScufVZwags]

Dude id buy it for that price and kms. Jump onto streetwagons.com. Heaps of lx8 owners on there. Ill be one once I get of my ps. For the moment ill be in a v6. But yer jump on street wagons. That price is cheap 25g for not many kms. Buy it

[jimmy19650]

I paid 20k for mine. Absolutely immaculant. if you look around, I have seen them as low as $10500. I would recommend a VZ though. I have also seen them with liquid injection gas fitted, if you can buy these. the LX8 is the only Calais spec wagon holden make. You wont find a better spec'd wagon. Buy it, or another LX8, as long as you understand they do use a bit of fuel, you wont regret it.