Some questions about a VS I’m buying

[LukQuestionMark]

To begin,
I like cars but I am nowhere near as knowledgeable as you people when it comes to them. I am 17 and this VS is my first car! I bought it from a highly trusted workmate who I have known my whole life almost so he wouldn’t sell me a $hit car. The questions I have are as follows:

1. Why is there no Holden badge on the bonnet, a quick google image search shows Holden badges on most other VS’s but some don’t have them. Mine shows no marks of where a badge used to be. Why?

2. The airbag cover on the passenger side has come off at some point (image included) and I’ve seen the same issue in other VS’s online so it must be a common issue, is there an easy and relatively cheap fix for it?

3. What are your recommendations for things to look out for/ things to do now so that I can keep driving this car reliably and for a long time.

 

[gossie]

Badge was possibly lost years ago and the owner will need to repair that airbag at his cost before you even think about buying that vehicle.
It will be not roadworthy like that and may be dangerous and will not pass inspection for roadworthy.
Do not buy it until it’s fixed and has a legal roadworthy certificate.

 

[stick3]

airbag cover lifting is a very common problem all you can do glue it or get it retrimmed and you cant get new ones, get on the various vr/vs owner groups on facebook and ask, somebody near you may have a solution or contact to repair it

who knows about the badge bonnet could have been replaced or debadge that was very common but do search ebay commodore buy sell and swap on facebook google you should still be able to one

just maintain it regular oil changes at 5000ks or 6 months coolant flush 2-3years

 

[LukQuestionMark]

airbag cover lifting is a very common problem all you can do glue it or get it retrimmed and you cant get new ones, get on the various vr/vs owner groups on facebook and ask, somebody near you may have a solution or contact to repair it

who knows about the badge boot lid could have been replaced or debadge that was very common but do search ebay commodore buy sell and swap on facebook google you should still be able to one

just maintain it regular oil changes at 5000ks or 6 months coolant flush 2-3years

Thanks for the help! Appreciate it

 

[LukQuestionMark]

Badge was possibly lost years ago and the owner will need to repair that airbag at his cost before you even think about buying that vehicle.
It will be not roadworthy like that and may be dangerous and will not pass inspection for roadworthy.
Do not buy it until it’s fixed and has a legal roadworthy certificate.

I haven’t paid for it yet or picked it up, I am buying it with rego and a roadworthy which he will organise himself

 

[_R_J_K_]

Bonnet is either from a VR or they've had the holes welded up (pretty sure mine had holes). It is popular to remove them and get rid of the adhesive on other cars for a cleaner look though.

As for the airbag cover, my last VS had this problem and passed a government RTA type inspection in my state no problems. Basically just a cover glued to the airbag door and the corners pointing up shouldn't really effect it's operation.

 

[LukQuestionMark]

Bonnet is either from a VR or they've had the holes welded up (pretty sure mine had holes). It is popular to remove them and get rid of the adhesive on other cars for a cleaner look though.

As for the airbag cover, my last VS had this problem and passed a government RTA type inspection in my state no problems. Basically just a cover glued to the airbag door and the corners pointing up shouldn't really effect it's operation.

May I ask what state you are from? So I can guess if mine will pass or not

 

[_R_J_K_]

May I ask what state you are from? So I can guess if mine will pass or not

Not Victoria, but the RTA inspection stations in my state do enforce the rules quite vigorously and you usually have to go back a couple of times before they pass it.

This is a really common problem for those covers which heaps of VSs have so I doubt it will be the first one they've seen. My Father got a quote to replace it back in the day and Holden told him they would have to inflate the airbag to do it. Was a cost of $600 or $1000 if I remember, and that's even if they still stock the parts. Knowing all of this, if I were to buy one and have it come with a roadworthy I wouldn't bat an eye.

 

[LukQuestionMark]

Not Victoria, but the RTA inspection stations in my state do enforce the rules quite vigorously and you usually have to go back a couple of times before they pass it.

This is a really common problem for those covers which heaps of VSs have so I doubt it will be the first one they've seen. My Father got a quote to replace it back in the day and Holden told him they would have to inflate the airbag to do it. Was a cost of $600 or $1000 if I remember, and that's even if they still stock the parts. Knowing all of this, if I were to buy one and have it come with a roadworthy I wouldn't bat an eye.

Awesome, thanks so much

 

[vs-lover]

That cover is attached via an adhesive to the actual metal plate underneath.

Should the airbag go off that plate with the cover attached will only flip open from the lower edge as it's hinged at the top edge. I also have an S2 Acclaim and mine started doing that but I got to it early enough and as I had the front screen out it made it rather easy to apply Sikaflex from the window opening and carefully re-bond it and clamp it from above over night. The next night I did the other corner. It's still sitting perfectly after being done 5 years ago, but I do have a full dash mat over the top of it now keeping the suns direct rays from it opposed to the previous dash mat that had a full open section where the airbag is located. If the airbag was to go off the force that's used won't ever be bothered by any dash mat that's a certainty.

As far as the badge is concerned I'd say it's probably been in some sort of love tap (bingle) during it's long life and the badge was forgotten about. This was very common by Crash Repairers that probably sourced a VR bonnet which never had the locating holes in it and thus the badge was overlooked.