Upgrading from VE to VF

[adclawrence]

I'm looking at possibly upgrading from a 2006 Calais 3.6 to a VF II SV6 or Calais 3.6 - my new job is very heavy on driving and I'm considering the upgrade for the sake of reliability. I've had my VE for 2 years and it's now approaching 12 years old (137,000km) - has been mostly reliable but has needed a new throttle body and a few other fairly common failure items replaced. I hear that the early VE 3.6 motors have the tendency to stretch chains and that's something I wouldn't have time to go get fixed.

Would a low mileage VF II prospectively offer more reliable motoring and be worth the trade up in this instance? And are chain issues something that's still seen in the VF?

Cheers

 

[Forg]

No the SIDI engines (I think from VEII?) apparently don't have the chain problems, VF or VFII have the same 3.6.
Equipment levels will depend on the individual car, they were gradually adding equipment for most model-years over VF's life.

The only mechanical part I can think of which is a potential problem in VFII but not VE is the electric steering rack. There's conjecture over whether it's actually been fixed, when people have reported problems the fix has just been to apply a dielectric grease to some contacts. Because VE has hydraulic steering that won't be a problem (although I know E-Series HSV's had steering problems - dunno if VE's did?).
But most people have never had that steering issue crop-up. According to what I've seen & read, an upgrade to a VFII will definitely increase your chances of reliability; which is not to say your VE will clag-out, it could go for another 10 years at the same rate of use.

Although is it possible to rectify the timing-chain issue by fitting a new chain, in the same amount of time but for less cost than buying a replacement car?

VFII is a lot more comfy, quieter, and feels like better quality (although it's in the touchy-feely feelgood stuff, it's not ACTUALLY better quality per se ... it's the same as how an Audi A3 feels like better quality than a VW Golf when in reality they're the same). Regardless of the chances-of-reliability thing, the VFII will make you feel good.

 

[redvxr8clubby]

Can't say I've heard of timing chain issues with VF, but that may be as the VF's are no more than 5 years old right now. The timing chain issue is still there with the early SIDI's which were first available in the MY10 VE from late 2009. There was an engine change from LLT engine to LFX engine in 2011 (LLT and LFX are both 3.6 litre). I've seen a number of threads with 2009 and 2010 cars with timing chain issue. I'm not sure if LFX doesn't have the same problem or if it's just a matter of time until they also start having the problem. Overall though it's logical to expect if you upgrade your car for a one 10 years newer that you would expect reliability to be better. Edit, as Forg mentioned the VF has an electric steering issue where the power assistance to steering fails due to bad connections on the steering rack. There doesn't seem to be a recall for this, I tend to think there should be as loosing power steering assistance especially as totally unexpected could well be very much a safety issue. If the car you buy has a history of this already having been corrected, hopefully you'd be all good.

 

[adclawrence]

Thanks for the replys guys

I test drove a never registered 2017 VF II SV6 today with only 220km on the odometer just to get a gauge for if I should go ahead and I’m feeling conflicted. The salesman took me through a high speed country route for 20 minutes and the VF felt great - most noticeably the HUD being a cool feature. On the drive home I took my 2006 VE through the same roads and I felt very little difference in both power and handling. The VF was much quieter and comfortable - steering felt superb and required little to no effort to make low speed turns but hill climbing power and ease of navigating corners felt pretty much identical. It seemed to feel only about 10% better than my car that is 11 years older (I’ve recently changed virtually every service item including shocks and brakes)

If my almost 12 year old VE feels in the same league as a brand new demonstrator, would that be considered an indication that my current car is doing well and there’s little cause for concern? I just don’t know if chain failure happens gradually and noticeably or one day I’m driving on the freeway and everything is great until the engine crunches itself to bits because the chain let go without warning. On cold mornings after a while sitting without running it does make a chain crunching noise for about 2 second seconds before returning to normal idle. Sometimes happens, sometimes doesn’t.

 

[arronm]

The extra safety features of the VF is what makes it better than the VE. I own both. With chain , engine light will come on, then get noisier and noisier and then fail...

 

[Pablito]

From what I've read, your car would start to sound like a tractor when the chain is on the way out. And throw up the engine light.

Doesn't sound like your that keen to move on from the VE yet anyway. They are a great car and I still love mine.

The drive might be similiar but the VF interior does make the VE interior look prehistoric. Plus there's s few more gadgets. BUT if you're not fussed about those things then keep the VE.

Maybe drive a VF Calais with the nicer interior than the SV6? Might have more wow factor....?

 

[Tryg]

VF Calais would be a lovely thing to drive..

It's probably time your treated yourself.

 

[VS 5.0]

If my almost 12 year old VE feels in the same league as a brand new demonstrator, would that be considered an indication that my current car is doing well and there’s little cause for concern?

If your current car feels as good as a brand new car and you are happy with it, even if the chain goes, the cost of repairing the chain is far less than upgrading the whole car.

 

[Forg]

Is there no maintenance you can do (for cheaps c/f buying a car) to avoid the chain thing? Like a new chain?