VS commodore Reliable and mods

[Anthony .]

Hi fellow enthusiasts,
I am looking at purchasing a 97 VS V6 Holden Commodore acclaim with 205 XXX on the odometer. Car has supposedly been owned by an elderly gentleman is completely stock.

I do plan on applying some tasteful mods:

CAI
Headers and exhaust


Overall, I am looking for a reliable commodore. I won’t thrash the car like most have been. I may do a few skids and hard pulls here and there for giggles, but nothing extreme. The car will follow 7xxx service intervals.

The question is, how reliable are these cars for what I have described? I am seeking a reliable car as my first priority. Is this the right car?

Furthermore, apart from a nicer note, will I notice much performance gain over stock with the mods I mentioned?

Thanks for the help

Cheers from NSW

 

[losh1971]

Mace CAI, decent headers 2.5 cat back, with resi and memcal tune. It won't be a street beast but it will be ok for what it is. 5k oil and filter changes are the go on these. Run full syn trans fluid if auto and change it every 40k.

 

[Anthony .]

Cheers for the help!
In general, are the 97 V6 quite reliable providing I follow the service suggestions you mentioned?
I want this car as a keeper hence why I am spending a bit on small mods.
This car will be my daily, and it will be driven quite a bit, maybe 20xxx yearly

 

[Immortality]

Ask the VS guru @NORTI

But personally, I'd start with a full service, change all the fluids, plugs leads, filters etc I'd go with DEXIII for the auto.

 

[NORTI]

Cheers for the help!
In general, are the 97 V6 quite reliable providing I follow the service suggestions you mentioned?
I want this car as a keeper hence why I am spending a bit on small mods.
This car will be my daily, and it will be driven quite a bit, maybe 20xxx yearly

I believe in regular servicing and maintenance if you plan on giving it a hard time or keeping it.

personally I live more in 5L land than eco, but we have kept the kids going in the VS V6 as first cars, with basic maintenance and servicing.
Parts are still around, and as far as first cars go, been pretty happy with it.

found that mostly its cooling related that we have spent the most time on for replacing failed parts, like hoses, heater tap, water pump, and the fuel pump!

do your exhaust & CAI upgrades, keep a good servicing schedule, and throw a few dollars into a kitty for when stuff breaks. Plenty of info on these forums if you want to repair it yourself.

 

[greenacc]

Replace all the shocks, put super pro bushes in the front and buy a spare DFI with a set of coils. Then just replace anything else that busts and it will last forever.
Maybe do the heater tap as well before you go far from home unless already done. When they get old and go BOOM in the middle of nowhere you are up very quickly up **** creek without a paddle. Keep a spare bit of heater hose in the boot as well. Maybe a spare radiator too LoL, but seriously those issues are really only a problem if you don't do any preventive maintenance and just keep on driving waiting until the steam cloud appears. Plastic parts don't last forever at high temperature so just treat them as service items. Good cars when looked after.

 

[Draimond]

Mods:
I did a Whiteline sway bar kit when my VS was fairly stock and it made a huge difference in feel. If I started a stock build from scratch again, it would be one of the first mods.

High flow cat. It's so bloody cheap to get one welded in. I'm sure mine was less than $300 installed.

Issues:

eBay full alloy rad is good. Ecotecs get hot in slow traffic. Also, add a rad fan switch. Keep her cool and happy.

Oil temps!
My pre modified temps hit 115°c+ in bad traffic consistently. Add an oil temp gauge. If it gets hot, no skids or wide open throttle. Simple.
After I did mods, it stays under 90°c.

All 4 of my VS V6's have had battery / alternator issues. I fixed this by running a bigger power cable between the battery and alternator. Find a good little auto sparky to crimp the cable for you. Again it's cheap. Check the condition of all connections to the back of the alternator. Mine were green corroded rot about 3 inches into the wire back from their connectors. No charge got through the cable.

Starter motors die when they get hot. Ecotec's like to cook their starters with headers. Plus, did I mention battery issues that also don't help.
A bigger power wire to the starter is on my to do list, plus some shielding for the starter. If it won't start, let it cool down.

These are the main items that I've had to address with all my VS V6's.
So from my experience, if you fix the above, it'll be very reliable.

 

[Draimond]

Actually yeah, I've had an old heater tap break too. Just check it over and look for crusty old looking stuff.

NEVER PUSH THE TRIP RESET BUTTON WHILST MOVING. Lol, sorry yeah, little plastic gear that breaks.

 

[Anthony .]

Cheers for the great advice guys. I really want the VS haha, but earlier today, got a call from a mate saying a local dealer is selling a VZ commodore 220xxx with RWC, mint condition for $5500.
Which one would you guys take? The VS in RWC state will cost about $5000.

I am really skeptical about the alloytec engine though. In regards to the timing chain issue…

Any thoughts?

 

[vr304]

I’d go the vs mate, the vz v6‘s are known to be problematic with timing chains, ecu issues etc