Hi All
Had a few commodores in my time, so i though i would load up photos and a short story
There are 4 drivers in the family, so we all have a car, and change every so often, we keep a spare as some times one is in the repair shop or on loan ( i should rip of the tow bars ) even have a shared weekender
VB
#3 car , bought it as a spare weekender, it had a tow bar , 253 trimatic , steer and dealer fitted air , bought it in 2002 i think for $1200
Was advertised near my work, dad had given it to his son, but he hated cars and was moving into a flat so decided to sell it and pocket the money
Nice car, but drove like ****, got a full time, still drove bad, turned it it was just the unleaded replacement garbage fuel, i put $20 of shell 98 and the car drive well,
no loss or put put put noises at the lights, no stall when the air went on , no blowing black smoke then you gunned it - it was all just the fuel
Got borrowed a lot due to the tow bar ( just like the VL and VP )
As VB's go all the trim was there, quite nice and neat, but the odd fine scrape and parking ding from the original elderly owner
Had a slight ticking to it when really it was a really days in traffic, ended up doing cam ( blue racer 270 duration ) and lifters and 4bbl VB 308 manifold with rochester of a blue VH
drove sort of the same, added a set of $30 used extractors and a new redback muffler and the car totally changed broom broom ( well sort of )
A few months later at a wrecker i used to visit, he had a rusted VL turbo so i got the calais wheels , lowered springs and shocks , front brakes ( larger diameter i think its a scam the V8 and Turbo VL brakes that were so hyped up turn out that they are also stock V6 VN items - is that true ??? )sway bars ( i think ) all $200 cant complain about that
Drove nice and nimble, cornered great , a bit bumpy due to low and firm springs.
Finally the wrecker had a VC SLE where the boot lid was damaged by a tree falling on it, i wanted the entire car but he would not budge, he said i can buy everything except the shell, so i got the interior seats / door trims / dash
I think there was a issue with the door trims probably the door sniper button the SLE may have had power locks with the slide lock not the up and down button, i think later on i got a swap for some similar ones that fitted my car
My son done his L's on the car ( ok shared VB and VP ) and drove it with P's for a year or 2 , he never liked it much , so it was sold when he decided to buy his own car , i think i may have sold it for $1800 or $2k in 2006
VL
The first commodore i ever had, bought it around 1995 for $12k
Ok i cannot find a photo of my car, this photo i found on a google search just to give a idea, just a yellow VL wagon , if i find a photo of my car i will replace the picture
Standard 6 , yeah a nice car, drove so smooth and the air con was nice and cold
No break downs at all , only cost me a auto service as i was loosing drive or it was getting jerky, but a cheap fix under $100
Good car for the kids when young, loaded up and all up and down the coast, also a easy car to find in the carpark
Only negative was the melted headlight harness and the bodgy dicksmith inline fuses that they installed, they never blew they were 30 amps each, but the headlights were absolute ****,
they light barely shined 1 car length ahead.
Brakes and tyres lasted about 80,000 k's each time , very happy
Finally in the last year ( or winter ) that i owned the car, a NRMA guy was stopped next to me nd told me to turn on the light, i said they are on
Asked me to go into a petrol station driveway, he had a look , took out the H4 globes they were whatever say 60 watts, he then said the reflectors are almost a non reflective grey
They would have been the original problem, prior owned upped the globes to max and melted the fuse box harness and plastic by trying to get more light out of them
I bought some repro ones for about $150, and problem solved, funny ow the reflectors made a x10 times difference in the light shining forward
Traded in on the VP in about 2000
VP
#2 commodore i purchased, the VL wagon was traded in , i think i got $2500 for the wagon and the VP was $8500 in 2001
I can only find a shared photo with the Vb , i will have a hunt around and upload later one , that nice turquoise / aqua colour , a year later
i bought some VN or VP SS rims
Nice Berlina, i cant remember but i think just front power windows and wind ups in the back, very roomy and comfortable, the V6 actually had some grunt, felt better than
all the 253's in HQ's etc i had owned and some stock 308's
Nice and relaxed on the road, sitting at 110kph was a nice feeling, first car with cruise controll i ever owned
Air was nice and cold to, power steer felt totally different to the VL , they behaved different the VL seemed stable and nimble around corners, the VP sort of larger and more squat,
but took the bends well, never felt to big or unstable like a HQ does ( even a WB statesman that i owned rides well but does not behave well on rougher roads or the cornering ability)
Bought it with about 180k on the clock, wow city driving 380/400 on a tank, but to go sydney to nowra and return on a tank approx 580/600ks is amazing, for a while we were going
down the coast every second weekend, i was also now driving across sydney for work 42k's each way (i took the train before with the VL ), the odometer stopped at about 380-400k
and i still drove it for another 2 years
It was all good, only breakdown was a bad weld on the radiator overflow fitting it leaked from the hose , i just had to top it up once a month, but 1 day it ran hot as i left work
went back to work and left the car there, had a leak under the manifold i think a plastic fitting had snaped , mechanic fixed everything except for the radiator overflow plug
It really annoyed me as i told him to fix it, anyway i took it to a local radiator shop and he fixed it in 5 mins for $20
Again brakes and tyres lasted well 80-100k a set
Only item that wore out was the rear shocks, i got a set of gabriels on special from supercheap and fitted them up, it no longer bottomed out or bounced in the rear ( oem lasted 400k )
Breakdown was the T700 auto, lost 4th gear on the way home, then about 20k's further i lost 3rd , only had 1st and second , which is strange, but i was told that you lose the gears you use the most
I placed a second hand box, i think $300 to but and $300 to fit
A year later some ass@#$@# hit the rear 1/4 of my car and done a runner, damage was about the size of a brick, most popped out but so when rego was up i traded her in , got $500 in 2008
VT
#7 the latest commodore i have bought, i have only had this car since march this year , Yes i miss the green VY SS ,and regret not buying it of my daughter, but at the same time i did have 2 project cars,
a HJ prem and later a WB statesman. so 4 daily drivers and my sons weekender plus 1 project for me is about the limit of my wifes patience ( and parking space at home )
Sold the HJ prem (253) first , then the WB statesman (308)
It was a strange thing, i wanted a Gen4 VY , but they are a hard thing to find, they are wither very nice and very expensive, or really worn out and average price, VZ VE to pricey for me at the moment as a weekender.
I did see a few VZ SS but they were all really run down, at the bottom end of the market the really cheap prices are not worth it , better to spend a little but more and you can get a much better car
I saw plenty of $4k to $8k VT-VX-VY-VZ , some were fine some were not , in the end i picked up a nice VT SS S1 304 $5k , you can buy older , newer , etc , but as far as condition goes ,its a 8 or 9/10 car
The 304 in a Vt is a good as the factory got them, nice kick to them, good throttle response, fuel wise my first and second tank was almost identical 350k's travels on 50 litres (about 3/4 of a full tank ) so it can safely to 400-430k tank in sydney traffic.
On the hoist its all good, nice floors, no rust , just oil leak from pressure switch, 1 ripped steering rack boot, oh and rear tyres worn on the inside ( sounds familiar ) but it has a camber kit and the 17inch wheels at the rear are almost 90 degrees straight up
WH ( VX based )
#4 car, after the VB a VP went to new owners , the WH statesman turned up , for a change i decided to really upgrade and grab a nice car
V6 supercharged and immaculate , was my daily driver for 4 years, now its my sons weekender , i probably drive it 3 or 4 times a year ,still have it
I was suprised how nice the overall package is , way more superior to the VN V6 , and the supercharger makes it go like a rocket, it is dead quiet, you dont realise the speed you are doing untill you look at the speedo
Handling and cornering is excellent, it feels like it is glued to the road
Repairs, nothing really , at 150k i done the front brakes and went for slotted rotors
Radiator sprung some pin holes , replaced in 2010 with a chinese ebay $200 special, still good
And the only pricey item was a noisy front left wheel hub , that ABS sucker cost me $500 all up
I/ We still have it
VY SS
#6 The SS , my daughter bought it in 2008, 15k , nice gen4 chipped , lowered , had a rough ride , had to go slow on out gutter / driveway in the front of the house , same with speed humps
But yeah fast factory car, chipped , proper twin exhaust , X pipes , high flow cts , lukey mufflers ( i think no resonator ) , very nice burble at idle
Min 380's to a tank in traffic , i think we ay have hit 400ks once or twice , done a few trips to gosford / newcastle , and good on fuel on the highway
But i would not call it a thirsty car , it was similar to the VL VP , and the VB sucked fuel big time, i was lucky to get 250-280 out of that thing
No breakdown to speak of, but when we got nit needed a major service, a few oil leaks , engine and trans mounts, radiator had to be changed within a month as it leaked from the side tanks and looks like it had a
few cans of chemiweld or stop leak in it , also needed new tyres rear camber kit , all tyres were worn out on the inner edges , seeing as it may be a issue i placed 4 brand new "asian cheapys" to see how it goes
Probably done 40,000 k's with them cant remember the outcome if they wore out or scrubbed and if the camber kit solved the problem
Stereo sounded yuck, changed door speaker, then a head unit with amp , then it was nice
Sold in 2012 when my daughter bought a unit, it became deposit money - a smart move, but it should have stayed in the family and i could have sold something that we had ( or 2 cars )
VZ
#5 the wagon i bought for my daughter, she done her L's on the WH and her mums ford , her first year on P's was on a nissan to get her around, the wagon came up via a friend who buys cars every 3 or 4 years,
it was fairly nice car, i drive it for a week to check it out, and done 2 or 3 country trips down the coast, nice car , about 400--450k on a tank in sydney traffic, actually it was costing my daughter about $10-20 a week more than her jap car doing the same distance
She absolutely hated it, nice car, low miles but the wrong image , white and a wagon , 2 years she had it ,then she asked if she can trade it in, i said sure its your car , i bough tit cheap in 2008 for $10k ( rounded down was my mated trade in offer form a dealer ) , 2 years later we got 5k for it , dam shame 5k loss in 2 years , should have kept it ( my wifes car was damaged a few weeks later this could have replaced it easily , my wife did not mind it )
Cheers
george
Had a few commodores in my time, so i though i would load up photos and a short story
There are 4 drivers in the family, so we all have a car, and change every so often, we keep a spare as some times one is in the repair shop or on loan ( i should rip of the tow bars ) even have a shared weekender
VB
#3 car , bought it as a spare weekender, it had a tow bar , 253 trimatic , steer and dealer fitted air , bought it in 2002 i think for $1200
Was advertised near my work, dad had given it to his son, but he hated cars and was moving into a flat so decided to sell it and pocket the money
Nice car, but drove like ****, got a full time, still drove bad, turned it it was just the unleaded replacement garbage fuel, i put $20 of shell 98 and the car drive well,
no loss or put put put noises at the lights, no stall when the air went on , no blowing black smoke then you gunned it - it was all just the fuel
Got borrowed a lot due to the tow bar ( just like the VL and VP )
As VB's go all the trim was there, quite nice and neat, but the odd fine scrape and parking ding from the original elderly owner
Had a slight ticking to it when really it was a really days in traffic, ended up doing cam ( blue racer 270 duration ) and lifters and 4bbl VB 308 manifold with rochester of a blue VH
drove sort of the same, added a set of $30 used extractors and a new redback muffler and the car totally changed broom broom ( well sort of )
A few months later at a wrecker i used to visit, he had a rusted VL turbo so i got the calais wheels , lowered springs and shocks , front brakes ( larger diameter i think its a scam the V8 and Turbo VL brakes that were so hyped up turn out that they are also stock V6 VN items - is that true ??? )sway bars ( i think ) all $200 cant complain about that
Drove nice and nimble, cornered great , a bit bumpy due to low and firm springs.
Finally the wrecker had a VC SLE where the boot lid was damaged by a tree falling on it, i wanted the entire car but he would not budge, he said i can buy everything except the shell, so i got the interior seats / door trims / dash
I think there was a issue with the door trims probably the door sniper button the SLE may have had power locks with the slide lock not the up and down button, i think later on i got a swap for some similar ones that fitted my car
My son done his L's on the car ( ok shared VB and VP ) and drove it with P's for a year or 2 , he never liked it much , so it was sold when he decided to buy his own car , i think i may have sold it for $1800 or $2k in 2006
VL
The first commodore i ever had, bought it around 1995 for $12k
Ok i cannot find a photo of my car, this photo i found on a google search just to give a idea, just a yellow VL wagon , if i find a photo of my car i will replace the picture
Standard 6 , yeah a nice car, drove so smooth and the air con was nice and cold
No break downs at all , only cost me a auto service as i was loosing drive or it was getting jerky, but a cheap fix under $100
Good car for the kids when young, loaded up and all up and down the coast, also a easy car to find in the carpark
Only negative was the melted headlight harness and the bodgy dicksmith inline fuses that they installed, they never blew they were 30 amps each, but the headlights were absolute ****,
they light barely shined 1 car length ahead.
Brakes and tyres lasted about 80,000 k's each time , very happy
Finally in the last year ( or winter ) that i owned the car, a NRMA guy was stopped next to me nd told me to turn on the light, i said they are on
Asked me to go into a petrol station driveway, he had a look , took out the H4 globes they were whatever say 60 watts, he then said the reflectors are almost a non reflective grey
They would have been the original problem, prior owned upped the globes to max and melted the fuse box harness and plastic by trying to get more light out of them
I bought some repro ones for about $150, and problem solved, funny ow the reflectors made a x10 times difference in the light shining forward
Traded in on the VP in about 2000
VP
#2 commodore i purchased, the VL wagon was traded in , i think i got $2500 for the wagon and the VP was $8500 in 2001
I can only find a shared photo with the Vb , i will have a hunt around and upload later one , that nice turquoise / aqua colour , a year later
i bought some VN or VP SS rims
Nice Berlina, i cant remember but i think just front power windows and wind ups in the back, very roomy and comfortable, the V6 actually had some grunt, felt better than
all the 253's in HQ's etc i had owned and some stock 308's
Nice and relaxed on the road, sitting at 110kph was a nice feeling, first car with cruise controll i ever owned
Air was nice and cold to, power steer felt totally different to the VL , they behaved different the VL seemed stable and nimble around corners, the VP sort of larger and more squat,
but took the bends well, never felt to big or unstable like a HQ does ( even a WB statesman that i owned rides well but does not behave well on rougher roads or the cornering ability)
Bought it with about 180k on the clock, wow city driving 380/400 on a tank, but to go sydney to nowra and return on a tank approx 580/600ks is amazing, for a while we were going
down the coast every second weekend, i was also now driving across sydney for work 42k's each way (i took the train before with the VL ), the odometer stopped at about 380-400k
and i still drove it for another 2 years
It was all good, only breakdown was a bad weld on the radiator overflow fitting it leaked from the hose , i just had to top it up once a month, but 1 day it ran hot as i left work
went back to work and left the car there, had a leak under the manifold i think a plastic fitting had snaped , mechanic fixed everything except for the radiator overflow plug
It really annoyed me as i told him to fix it, anyway i took it to a local radiator shop and he fixed it in 5 mins for $20
Again brakes and tyres lasted well 80-100k a set
Only item that wore out was the rear shocks, i got a set of gabriels on special from supercheap and fitted them up, it no longer bottomed out or bounced in the rear ( oem lasted 400k )
Breakdown was the T700 auto, lost 4th gear on the way home, then about 20k's further i lost 3rd , only had 1st and second , which is strange, but i was told that you lose the gears you use the most
I placed a second hand box, i think $300 to but and $300 to fit
A year later some ass@#$@# hit the rear 1/4 of my car and done a runner, damage was about the size of a brick, most popped out but so when rego was up i traded her in , got $500 in 2008
VT
#7 the latest commodore i have bought, i have only had this car since march this year , Yes i miss the green VY SS ,and regret not buying it of my daughter, but at the same time i did have 2 project cars,
a HJ prem and later a WB statesman. so 4 daily drivers and my sons weekender plus 1 project for me is about the limit of my wifes patience ( and parking space at home )
Sold the HJ prem (253) first , then the WB statesman (308)
It was a strange thing, i wanted a Gen4 VY , but they are a hard thing to find, they are wither very nice and very expensive, or really worn out and average price, VZ VE to pricey for me at the moment as a weekender.
I did see a few VZ SS but they were all really run down, at the bottom end of the market the really cheap prices are not worth it , better to spend a little but more and you can get a much better car
I saw plenty of $4k to $8k VT-VX-VY-VZ , some were fine some were not , in the end i picked up a nice VT SS S1 304 $5k , you can buy older , newer , etc , but as far as condition goes ,its a 8 or 9/10 car
The 304 in a Vt is a good as the factory got them, nice kick to them, good throttle response, fuel wise my first and second tank was almost identical 350k's travels on 50 litres (about 3/4 of a full tank ) so it can safely to 400-430k tank in sydney traffic.
On the hoist its all good, nice floors, no rust , just oil leak from pressure switch, 1 ripped steering rack boot, oh and rear tyres worn on the inside ( sounds familiar ) but it has a camber kit and the 17inch wheels at the rear are almost 90 degrees straight up
WH ( VX based )
#4 car, after the VB a VP went to new owners , the WH statesman turned up , for a change i decided to really upgrade and grab a nice car
V6 supercharged and immaculate , was my daily driver for 4 years, now its my sons weekender , i probably drive it 3 or 4 times a year ,still have it
I was suprised how nice the overall package is , way more superior to the VN V6 , and the supercharger makes it go like a rocket, it is dead quiet, you dont realise the speed you are doing untill you look at the speedo
Handling and cornering is excellent, it feels like it is glued to the road
Repairs, nothing really , at 150k i done the front brakes and went for slotted rotors
Radiator sprung some pin holes , replaced in 2010 with a chinese ebay $200 special, still good
And the only pricey item was a noisy front left wheel hub , that ABS sucker cost me $500 all up
I/ We still have it
VY SS
#6 The SS , my daughter bought it in 2008, 15k , nice gen4 chipped , lowered , had a rough ride , had to go slow on out gutter / driveway in the front of the house , same with speed humps
But yeah fast factory car, chipped , proper twin exhaust , X pipes , high flow cts , lukey mufflers ( i think no resonator ) , very nice burble at idle
Min 380's to a tank in traffic , i think we ay have hit 400ks once or twice , done a few trips to gosford / newcastle , and good on fuel on the highway
But i would not call it a thirsty car , it was similar to the VL VP , and the VB sucked fuel big time, i was lucky to get 250-280 out of that thing
No breakdown to speak of, but when we got nit needed a major service, a few oil leaks , engine and trans mounts, radiator had to be changed within a month as it leaked from the side tanks and looks like it had a
few cans of chemiweld or stop leak in it , also needed new tyres rear camber kit , all tyres were worn out on the inner edges , seeing as it may be a issue i placed 4 brand new "asian cheapys" to see how it goes
Probably done 40,000 k's with them cant remember the outcome if they wore out or scrubbed and if the camber kit solved the problem
Stereo sounded yuck, changed door speaker, then a head unit with amp , then it was nice
Sold in 2012 when my daughter bought a unit, it became deposit money - a smart move, but it should have stayed in the family and i could have sold something that we had ( or 2 cars )
VZ
#5 the wagon i bought for my daughter, she done her L's on the WH and her mums ford , her first year on P's was on a nissan to get her around, the wagon came up via a friend who buys cars every 3 or 4 years,
it was fairly nice car, i drive it for a week to check it out, and done 2 or 3 country trips down the coast, nice car , about 400--450k on a tank in sydney traffic, actually it was costing my daughter about $10-20 a week more than her jap car doing the same distance
She absolutely hated it, nice car, low miles but the wrong image , white and a wagon , 2 years she had it ,then she asked if she can trade it in, i said sure its your car , i bough tit cheap in 2008 for $10k ( rounded down was my mated trade in offer form a dealer ) , 2 years later we got 5k for it , dam shame 5k loss in 2 years , should have kept it ( my wifes car was damaged a few weeks later this could have replaced it easily , my wife did not mind it )
Cheers
george
