New Car advice

[davidc2233]

I need advice on what car I should buy for $8000. There are three I have found.
- Holden VE international 09, 80000kms, $8000
- Holden VE SV6 07, 115000kms,$7500
- Ford Falcon FG XR6 09, 140000kms, $7500

If anyone has any general advice on the positives or negatives on each car or how many kms they can have before they start to have problems it would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[JoshlikesCalais]

Buying a cheap VE is really shooting yourself in the foot imo, especially a v6 with the alloytech engine. They are well known for their timing chain issues that are very expensive to replace, thermostat is a ***** to change as well. The interior is pretty rubbish on the series 1's and they can have bad electrical issues. My cousin had a calais once and all the windows decided to go down one day by themselves and wouldn't come back up lol

Hell I have a series 2 V8 and its still ruining my life at the moment

My advice, steer clear of the early VE's.

I'd say get the FG out of those options, I really don't know anything about them but I just did a search and can't find too many complaints. Apparently a noisy gearbox is something to watch out for. Just get it checked over by someone before you decide.

 

[blackve76]

Lucky I've owned 4 series one Bed and no major dramas still have 2 12/09 dual fuel Berlina had just clicked up 192000 and running great. If the international has good service history try to get it for $6500 or $7000 mark.

 

[wraith]

By late 07 most of timing chain issues were sorted. V6's can have sludging issues if servicing isn't kept up to them. An International is nothing special though. Fords can chew out diff bushes which is a bit of a pain in the butt to fix and can be expensive. Most of the other things like interiors etc are just personal opinions. Go sit in both cars and take them for a drive to see what you like.

 

[vc commodore]

Known issues with the Ford is, chewing diff bushes out...Cost round the $1,000 to fix, as it is a full days work to do them...They also had an issue, where the trans cooler inside the radiator splits, causing water to mix with the trans fluid....Not real nice on the gearbox.

Also best to check the front cross member...They are alloy and if some knob jockey has jacked it by the cross member, it will crack....So best check for cracks

 

[VTS5]

You read the VE bads / faults.,these are the FG bads/faults,
Diff bushes
Noisy Diff
Centre Bearing
Engine and Tranny Mounts
Water pump
Front control arm/s bushes
ICC
Constant ABS DCS Faults
Front Seats
No spare Tyre
Not much better then VE
(We'r running 15 LPG XR6's as cabs)

 

[VTS5]

Known issues with the Ford is, chewing diff bushes out...Cost round the $1,000 to fix, as it is a full days work to do them..

Because we do it all the time, takes bout 2.5 hrs. But definitely not $1,000 bucks(that's bit rich) We always use Genuine bushes.

 

[cewing]

I'd only buy a 2nd hand VE V8. They're noisy but solid motors if you treat it as a family sedan