Gday mates,
I am planning to purchase a used 2015 VF sv6, just concerning about the engine oil consumption cause I found lots of people complaining that their VE/VE2 SV6 eat oil very very badly, and Holden just keep telling them using 3L within the service interval is normal and refuse to do anything within warranty. And from my knowledge the engine on VF SV6 is the same as the VE/VE2's.
Then my question are , does the VF sv6 has common problem regards to the excessive engine oil consumption? And does the VF SV6 has any other annoying issues? Appreciate for any help.
Cheers
1. When you buy a used VF check all the fluid levels possible, the engine oil, brake fluid and coolant level. Often dealers don't ever bother to do this and a car with low fluid levels is usually a sign of a neglectful owner(s) and, for brake fluid and coolant, possible leaks in the system.
2. There have not been a large bunch of people with VEs complaining of excessive V6 oil consumption and in any event I take most of these with a very large grain of salt. Quite a few of these have been owners who have bought used cars(not new ones as some of them even claimed at one stage) and who knows what negligence the engines have been subjected to before these people bought them. At least one guy I recall bought a car with the engine oil level well below the add level or off the dip stick, then there was another genius who claimed that in modern cars you never ever have to check your oil and fluid levels in between services. If you think you can run your engine for 15000 kms and never have to add oil then you are an idiot. I recall another guy who had the correct 5w-30 synthetic oil put in his engine and he claimed his oil use then mysteriously went away so god knows what he was putting in his engine before that.
The trouble with many people who come on forums like this with complaints about their car is that they often give you only part the the story.
3. I strongly suspect most of the cases of oil consumption complaints have been due to owner negligence causing excessive engine wear, using cheap incorrect viscosity oils, not topping up oil, not changing the oil frequently enough for the type of service the vehicle is subjected to, sloppy mechanics forgetting to tighten sump plugs allowing oil to leak out etc etc and nothing whatsoever to do with the quality of the engine when it left the factory. I think there were a couple of V6 cases where the crankcase ventilation system had a defect and small amounts of oil were being sucked through the system into the intake.
4. The engine is a mass produced product so it is possible a defective engine which uses excessive oil could slip through quality control but this would be rare. People can draw there own conclusions but from what I read, what appeared to be the truly genuine cases with owners of new cars were quite rare.
5. The SIDI V6 engine is an excellent product in my opinion but like any engine has to be properly maintained using the correct products. Mine runs like a dream and I change the oil every 4-5000 kms because of the type of use it gets and if its drops down a small fraction below the full level between oil changes, as it does inevitably, it gets topped back up to full..
6. The problem is too many people do not regularly check their oil and fluid levels between long service intervals and wait until they get some warning light before they ever check anything. If you follow that practice you will probably ruin your car. I came across a person one day with a problem and they did not even know how to open the bonnet on their car.
7. I would not hesitate to recommend the V6 if buying a VF.
But with any used car you need to check it very carefully and have a professional check as well. Most people don't. They would rather come on forums like this and complain about the used car they bought with issues that they stupidly never had checked which would have identified significant problems .
Unless you know the previous owner you don't know what kind of mistreatment the vehicle had previously like running it for 000s of kms with low oil, running the engine in an overheat condition because of low coolant or a leak in the cooling system etc etc.
