arsevee
Active Member
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2019
- Messages
- 152
- Reaction score
- 57
- Points
- 28
- Age
- 51
- Location
- Brisbane
- Members Ride
- RS-V Sportwagon
Hi All,
As many of you have also done, I just ordered a 'demo' (ex-GMH) ZB.
It's a May 2018-built, November 2018-complied RS-V wagon, so has just over four years warranty left. In Absolute Red...
I came to the ZB the 'long-way 'round' - I drive between Brisbane & Hervey Bay every week and I'm currently doing so in a 2015 Golf hatch; if you've never had a Golf out for a good thrash, I highly recommend you do so - they're an absolute scream to drive. While they're a great 'city car', they're not so good on the crappy roads north of Gympie, which are broken, pot-holed and on some sections have no centre line markings (on 100Km/h zones FFS!), so I decided something with a longer wheelbase would probably be better.
As the car was only ever going to be a 'flogger' to go up & down the Bruce highway once a week, I was after something 'affordable' with a bit of warranty left.
I started with Holden Astras (2018+), but they're not much bigger than the Golf, so while a nicely specced car, no real advantage over the Golf - from there I was looking at Mondeo wagons - problem there is that the base models are all ex. lease, high Kms and flogged - a mid-range Trend only comes in diesel (not doing that again) and the Titaniums are fiercely expensive. Mazda 6 wagons are also expensive and thirsty on fuel.
I spotted a Commodore LT liftback on a private sale for $20k with only 20,000Km on it, then another with 42,000Km which eventually went for $19000Km, so I started looking at ZBs...
Much like Matt ( MattSAU2XR8 ), I drove a couple of different models; initially an RS liftback, and then an RS-V Wagon. I tend not to buy base models of anything as there's more of them, so you tend to get less on the resale.
I was pleasantly surprised at how nice the RS was to drive - I'm fully aware of how peppy a modern turbocharged four can be, but the ZB RS liftback was a revelation!
The only negative for me was noticeable torque-steer in anything but a straight line.
The interior was great, the fit & finish was as good as anything in it's price range - a nice package all-round.
My first mistake, though, was to drive the RS-V wagon!
Yes, I know the V6 only puts out forty-odd KW more than the four-pot and weighs more, but steering feels much more planted with the AWD and the engine sound put a smile on my face. Quite a big smile.
Coupled with the leather interior, LCD instrument cluster, bigger infotainment screen and HUD that pretty much sealed the deal for me...
Anyway, I pushed the 'go button' last week on a car from Victoria, and it went on the truck this morning (only as far as Altona, but it's a start). This would be the fifth car out of the last six I've bought interstate - the Brisbane dealers treat you like a mug, and I guess there's less competition up here, so they charge what they like. In this case, the exact same spec, but with more Kms and less warranty is $8k more. Don't tell me there's no money in used cars...
So, as I've watched pretty much every ZB Commodore / VauxOpel Insignia / Buick Regal video there is on YouTube, there's not much left to do but sit & wait...
Cheers.
As many of you have also done, I just ordered a 'demo' (ex-GMH) ZB.
It's a May 2018-built, November 2018-complied RS-V wagon, so has just over four years warranty left. In Absolute Red...
I came to the ZB the 'long-way 'round' - I drive between Brisbane & Hervey Bay every week and I'm currently doing so in a 2015 Golf hatch; if you've never had a Golf out for a good thrash, I highly recommend you do so - they're an absolute scream to drive. While they're a great 'city car', they're not so good on the crappy roads north of Gympie, which are broken, pot-holed and on some sections have no centre line markings (on 100Km/h zones FFS!), so I decided something with a longer wheelbase would probably be better.
As the car was only ever going to be a 'flogger' to go up & down the Bruce highway once a week, I was after something 'affordable' with a bit of warranty left.
I started with Holden Astras (2018+), but they're not much bigger than the Golf, so while a nicely specced car, no real advantage over the Golf - from there I was looking at Mondeo wagons - problem there is that the base models are all ex. lease, high Kms and flogged - a mid-range Trend only comes in diesel (not doing that again) and the Titaniums are fiercely expensive. Mazda 6 wagons are also expensive and thirsty on fuel.
I spotted a Commodore LT liftback on a private sale for $20k with only 20,000Km on it, then another with 42,000Km which eventually went for $19000Km, so I started looking at ZBs...
Much like Matt ( MattSAU2XR8 ), I drove a couple of different models; initially an RS liftback, and then an RS-V Wagon. I tend not to buy base models of anything as there's more of them, so you tend to get less on the resale.
I was pleasantly surprised at how nice the RS was to drive - I'm fully aware of how peppy a modern turbocharged four can be, but the ZB RS liftback was a revelation!
The only negative for me was noticeable torque-steer in anything but a straight line.
The interior was great, the fit & finish was as good as anything in it's price range - a nice package all-round.
My first mistake, though, was to drive the RS-V wagon!
Yes, I know the V6 only puts out forty-odd KW more than the four-pot and weighs more, but steering feels much more planted with the AWD and the engine sound put a smile on my face. Quite a big smile.
Coupled with the leather interior, LCD instrument cluster, bigger infotainment screen and HUD that pretty much sealed the deal for me...
Anyway, I pushed the 'go button' last week on a car from Victoria, and it went on the truck this morning (only as far as Altona, but it's a start). This would be the fifth car out of the last six I've bought interstate - the Brisbane dealers treat you like a mug, and I guess there's less competition up here, so they charge what they like. In this case, the exact same spec, but with more Kms and less warranty is $8k more. Don't tell me there's no money in used cars...
So, as I've watched pretty much every ZB Commodore / VauxOpel Insignia / Buick Regal video there is on YouTube, there's not much left to do but sit & wait...
Cheers.