My first Holden!

[KeithM2576]

HI all, I'm new to this group and looking forward to sharing stories and learning about my new ride.
I am picking up my 2007 V VE Calais this weekend, the first Holden I have ever owned. I have had various cars over the years from Valiants in the 80s, through various Japanese hatchbacks and Subaru Foresters. My last ride for a very short time was a Falcon until someone slammed into me on a roundabout and wrote it off. I decided on the Calais as it seemed to be the best bang for the bucks, and to be honest, I fell in love with the luxury features as well as the looks! It's immaculate inside but needs some tidying up on the outside. It drives well too, though it will take some getting used to after all the Japanese sewing machines I have owned!
My main concern when making up my mind was the timing belt issue, although it seems to be luck of the draw as far as this goes with many having problems and many not. The people I bought it off are actually mechanics and also Holden specialists (he rebuilds the old ones and has a EK in his garage) and they reckon it is down to maintenance, the way it is driven and also something about a blocked breather hole in the rocker cover (?).
Anyway, I hope to own it long term so if the belt needs changing I guess I'll have to get it done. The only things really bugs me is spending $3K on repairs to a $5K car! Although there is that mob in Dandenong (?) that does it for $999 if I fancy a road trip!
I'm sure once I pick it up and start driving I'll have a lot of questions, and it looks like this is the place to be asking them!

 

[h8tensv6]

Welcome to the forum. The timing chain issue is a bit hit and miss with these cars. We have seen them needing done at 70 to 80 000 kms and some that have done 200 000 kms and never been done. A mate of mine has one with over 290 000 kms he got from the original owner and never been done. The prices are falling on timing chain jobs these days as many mechanics have done plenty and can now do it in half the time. Checking the service history on any VE before you buy it is a must. Cars that have no service records or ones that have been done at 15 000 km intervals like the books say you should avoid. There are plenty of videos on YouTube about the rocker cover breathers being too small and how to fix them. Good luck with the car.

 

[KeithM2576]

Thanks for that, certainly helps to put my mind at rest. Can't wait to pick it up this weekend, though still a bit nervous driving after the accident that wrote off the last car.

 

[snortings]

still a bit nervous driving after the accident that wrote off the last car.

Here's a story for ya!

As I was writing this I noticed I went severely off track from what I was planning to say, but enjoy the story. Long story short my main goal for this reply was to say that after I had my accident, I didn't even think but just hopped straight back into the car 2 hours later.

When I was coming out of a driveway and started to take off to make my way down to the end of the street, I noticed my car took off a little hard. The end of the street was about 15-25m away. I instantly thought that gee I must've pushed the throttle nearly flat to the floor because it really took off, but when I took my foot off the throttle to stop it from speeding up I quickly realized that it was going to keep on speeding up and up.

From the moment I jammed my foot as hard as I could on the brakes and realized that it was only holding my speed (at about 55) instead of slowing me down, I knew I was done for. I was coming up to a T intersection and I knew there was a creek on the other side, I knew I had to try and turn the corner blind and hope to god that I didn't t-bone another car. I started to turn the corner with my foot pressed as hard as I could on the brakes, I still remember the revs just staying at 4000rpm. The car under-steered as the tyres were pretty much trying to do 3 things at once; brake, accelerate and turn. Off the road I went and I had two options. Turn the wheel back to straight and go into the creek, most likely to my death or take my chances and keep turning. Instinctively I kept turning as I did not want to go into that creek, slammed into a tree stump. Wrote the car off.

Then that afternoon after going home, I was back on the road driving to go pick up a loan car... I eventually realized that I was driving 2 hours later after my accident. I didn't give it a second thought.

Here are some photos:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ScYdgz17VfJR3XlGiBgCCEgrmXGD97mo?usp=sharing

When I created a thread asking for advice on what happened (before I was told from Holden that it wasn't my fault), I had heaps of criticism saying that it was because I was 17 (at the time) and a P plater. Boy did I prove those guys wrong... here's the thread:
https://forums.justcommodores.com.au/threads/throttle-stuck-hit-a-tree.273162/