AM I ASKING FOR TROUBLE VZ WAGON 180K

[Skeptik1990]

Hey everyone, I'm not sure if this is the right place to post...if not, sorry could you point me in the right direction.

I'm looking at purchasing a VZ waggon for 3 grand which inudes roadworthy and rego for 6 months and has 176000 on the odometer. Old mate selling it got it off an older bloke who is getting a new car and other than a little rust on the top of the tailgate where the plastic visor connects to the top of the rear window and 1 300mm bit of sun damage on the passenger front qp it's in pretty good nick...that being said I know f all compared to you guys. The engine bay is dry and free from leaks, acceleration is smooth and there is no knocking or any other strange sounds aside from the usual vz shake on start up (if that makes sense) the bloke selling it gave me the service history to take home with me which I will attach shortly. Am I a nuffy for thinking 3k isn't too bad if I've got another grand up my sleeve or should I give it a miss.

I know I know ..it's an alloy tech but any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Wats_in_a_name]

Kilometre wise that's brilliant only 176,000. Others with better knowledge on this forum will let you know it that's a good price or anything else to watch for. Having said that I've had a VZ for nine years and love it (226,000kms, Series 2 06). What year is it exactly as some Alloytech engines had an issue with timing chains. Others might also comment on whether they think the oil used in the service (10W40) is the right one as the wrong one can cause issues from what I've read.

 

[greenacc]

3 grand is cheap. Biggest worry with alloytecs is what can go wrong if they are not serviced often enough eg timing chains and sludge but if it's 15 years old and still running well, why would it suddenly **** itself now? At those ks it might go for another 10 years if you start using synthetic oils.

 

[Skeptik1990]

Cheers for the replies guys, I had a drive of it this arvo as well and other than the usual lag on acceleration (as if its dropping down a gear and then booting it which I wouldn't be doing anyway!) That you can expect from a car that old it seemed super smooth. Is it reasonable for me to ask that he take it elsewhere to.get the rwc check done (I know this has little to no bearing on the mechanics of the vehicle but at least he can't be dodgy about it.) I'll get a video of the bad boy running and you can do a full diagnostic for me haha.
Thanks again
Anything to look fornin particular tomorrow would be much appreciated.

 

[greenacc]

Check it's full of red coolant and there's no red-pink stains from coolant leaks down the front or back of engine. The back would be more of a problem. The front of those is easy to work on.

 

[gossie]

Why has mechanic or whoever used the wrong oil?
A recipe for timing chain disaster.
Read the books that should be with the car re oil and red coolant as previously mentioned.

 

[rambunctious]

FWIW I have just bought another VZ which makes 5 in total and have never touched a timing chain on any of them.

As a family we still have a 2004 sedan 130000 k's
2005 ute 82500 k's just purchased
2007 wagon 194,400 k's

When you get the wagon pull the tailgate rubber window strip around the bottom and half way up each side of the glass and clean the dirt/mud from there because they will rust in the passenger lower corner eventually.

Also the sill joins under the back doors will sometimes show rust so a quick soft wire brush and a bit of oil stops that.

 

[stick3]

Hey everyone, I'm not sure if this is the right place to post...if not, sorry could you point me in the right direction.

I'm looking at purchasing a VZ waggon for 3 grand which inudes roadworthy and rego for 6 months and has 176000 on the odometer. Old mate selling it got it off an older bloke who is getting a new car and other than a little rust on the top of the tailgate where the plastic visor connects to the top of the rear window and 1 300mm bit of sun damage on the passenger front qp it's in pretty good nick...that being said I know f all compared to you guys. The engine bay is dry and free from leaks, acceleration is smooth and there is no knocking or any other strange sounds aside from the usual vz shake on start up (if that makes sense) the bloke selling it gave me the service history to take home with me which I will attach shortly. Am I a nuffy for thinking 3k isn't too bad if I've got another grand up my sleeve or should I give it a miss.

I know I know ..it's an alloy tech but any advice would be much appreciated.View attachment 223973

maintenance history is the key with the alloytec and this one sounds very good only other thing is the electronics but that affects everything these days

if you do buy it first thing is to pull the pcv orifice out and clean and drill the holes bigger it makes the engine run so much smoother here a detail thread and a lot of have done it including me
https://forums.justcommodores.com.au/threads/alloytec-pcv-problem-fix.279039/

 

[J_D 2.0]

Why has mechanic or whoever used the wrong oil?
A recipe for timing chain disaster.
Read the books that should be with the car re oil and red coolant as previously mentioned.

I switched my VE SV6 to a 10W40 oil when it was at about 150,000kms as it was burning too much oil for my liking on the “fuel saving“ oil they specify from the factory. Im now over 300,000kms and still going strong.

IMO they don’t select the oil grade for the durability of the engine, they select it for the fuel consumption sticker on the windshield! Regular changes with a good quality oil is far more important that the oil grade used IMO (provided it’s not something stupid like 20W50 in a modern car).

 

[Skeptik1990]

THANKS HEAPS EVERYONE
Cheers everyone I really appreciate the feedback, I have decided that I'm probably going to buy it at 3k it's a good deal and the situation is great, I work with the bloke who's brother is selling it (2 older blokes in their 60s) and I know that the guy was initially going to sell it to his sin but his son didn't have t he cash and he said he was sick of just giving his son cars that he didn't take care of...anyway long story short it's got a pretty decent service history...if you were going by Holden's recommended 15k per major and the most recent service (see pic ) seems like a whole lot was done.

One last bit of advice, if the rwc is getting done by one of his mates what could suggest that its a dodgy rwc? I assume there is soe.thing that always needs to.get done in a vz for.rwc (in my experience most cars have that on we thing no matter what it is )
What is it in a vz? If that makes sense hahah.