Regarding buying a vt commy

ED Ford Falcon · 12-08-2009, 11:13 PM

Going to check out a car i may be interested in...a vt commonwhore

:evil3:

besides checking the body is straight and km's and service records etc etc...

what should i be looking for?My brothers mate is selling it he wants $2000 cash for it but my brother said he will take $1400

so i basically need to know if it's worth it...

it has near new 18" rims with new front tires and bald back ones

any hints/tips will be appreciated, ill check in here 2morrow morning before i go check it out.

:

FreddyDUZ747 · 12-08-2009, 11:34 PM

Look at things like ABS,airbags,electrics and evidence of factory sealer around panels being invaded.Powersteer leaks arent uncommon in these cars too.

Check car for water leaks(spray with high pressure around seals) and that the aircon is working.If you hear a tink noise when selecting gear its the unis or centrebearing.Make sure the car has a 20-30min drive to warm up trans and do a WOT 1st to 2nd to see if it flares on change(common on cars with bald back tyres,lol)

Sounds like a good deal even with a few dings and a couple of the minor probs above.Good luck.

gilmore

ED Ford Falcon · 12-08-2009, 11:39 PM

whats WOT mean sorry mate?

yea must take it for a decent drive, I to be honest don't even know if it's a manual, although i hope it is

I have seen the car once, sounds awesome and the paint looks pretty decent

cheers gilmore

and sorry guys i know i shouldn't be posting about commodores in a ford forum!

svo supporter · 13-08-2009, 12:49 AM

Be prepared if you buy it, to be shelling out for rear tyres reguarly, as they love eating the inner edges of them. There is no cure for that either. Yes, they sell "camber kits" for the rear, but it doesn't fix the camber problem. It only makes it toe adjustable.

EFPWR · 13-08-2009, 12:51 AM

I also believe the Series 1 VT's had cooling problems too?

Rodp · 13-08-2009, 06:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ED Ford Falcon

whats WOT mean sorry mate?

Wide Open Throttle.

It means, floor it champ. :P

outside · 13-08-2009, 07:12 AM

bald rears would tell me all i need to know :eclipsee_

Jesk · 13-08-2009, 07:27 AM

also stick your head under the engine and check that the engine mounts havent sagged, cos before they are fully sagged the sump rests on the cross-member and wears a hole in it pretty quick from there

ED Ford Falcon · 13-08-2009, 01:30 PM

okay thanks everyone, Im going to check it out at 4:00 as the bloke was busy in the morning... leaving about 2:30

will check all of the above things! cheers guys...

ED Ford Falcon

p.s. first thing i will be getting is a "my other car is a falcon" sticker

LOL

Kommandant · 13-08-2009, 06:25 PM

What model is it?

I picked up a 99 VT Acclaim yesterday for 5900 as a second car, 180thou k's. Immac inside and out, small leak in power steering which won't cost me much to fix.

So far its been great to drive.

ED Ford Falcon · 13-08-2009, 08:48 PM

Okay, so cause I know the bloke and there is only 1 and a half months rego left...and he has another car he drives he has lent me the car until end of rego to decide if i want it or not!

If i decide i don't want it ill give it back to him pretty quick!

Okay so i drove it about 60 kms over about an hour this arvo, and besides the diff? making a bit of a worrying noise the car is lovely to drive...
Paint work is immaculate, besides to big dings LOL but the rest is good!
It is an AUTO :( was hoping for a manual...
Acceleration is slower than my falcon by a noticeable amount (no idea why? ow that's it my falcon is a beast! LOL) in my opinion AND it is lower so you would expect it to feel faster:S
The car is quite low, and has 18" rims under it which are quite nice.few dings but meh!
The car does take corners better, and it doesn't feel like i am driving a cork in the ocean lol

Pics will be added 2morrow
cheers
ED Ford Falcon

Jesk · 13-08-2009, 09:37 PM

lowered, its gonna DEMOLISH the inside edge of the rears!

Iggypoppin' · 13-08-2009, 09:44 PM

For 1400 bucks take it mate, then flog off your wheels and get some acclaim wheels or whatever, you'll get probably half your cash back for the wheels? Then go nuts until she dies, 1400 bucks for a VT is sweet

BPXR6T · 13-08-2009, 10:01 PM

I had a VX as a loan car recently for a week which was great apart from overheating. Plenty of power, great to drive. Having not driven a commordore since my VP years ago I was suprised how good it was.

IH8HSV · 13-08-2009, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by svo supporter

Be prepared if you buy it, to be shelling out for rear tyres reguarly, as they love eating the inner edges of them. There is no cure for that either. Yes, they sell "camber kits" for the rear, but it doesn't fix the camber problem. It only makes it toe adjustable.

Yep, I agree 199% !!!

I loved my vt commy, but the inner tyre wear of the rear tyres is the reason why I changed from justcommodores.com.au to australianfordforum.com

It must of been a sign cause Ive never looked back!

au adam · 13-08-2009, 10:20 PM

Lowered or not it will kill rear tyres,put in a VX series 2 rear end in and tyre wear will be much better,pwr steer leaks are common.Glove box will prob be broken when you open it.
Not bad cars but you need 8 cylinders instead of 6.

ED Ford Falcon · 13-08-2009, 10:28 PM

went out and the tire wear seems alright:S on all 4 tires:S lol

there isn't much tread on the back but it seems even! :S

will have a closer look 2morrow morning...

think i will take it for a longish drive tomorrow check all fluids and if all good pay cash for it!
i reckon i could get easy half the cost of the car in rims

thanks everyone

p.s. my skyline has the R31 motor in it and although its a smaller engine and not v6 it goes harder :S strange

au adam... I am a 17 yo p plater, so as good as a v8 would be i would lose my licence pretty quick

And another note corolla is still running! it will not give up! LOL

ED Ford Falcon · 13-08-2009, 10:30 PM

also i will not be moding this car...hopefully, its just a runabout and i will continue a ford fan!

cheers

FreddyDUZ747 · 13-08-2009, 10:33 PM

[QOUTE

p.s. my skyline has the R31 motor in it and although its a smaller engine and not v6 it goes harder :S strange

You can thank the wafer thin panels and 3.9gears in the skyline for that,lol.Beautiful cars the R31 to drive.

Well done good find/bargain.

ED Ford Falcon · 13-08-2009, 10:41 PM

yeah its an '89 skyline silhoute (one with power windows etc etc..)

not in immaculate condition but well looked after...$1000 cash with 9 months rego

i was stocked at the price, and all i have needed to fix/replace was the air flow sensor which set me back a whole $5

The car hasn't used any oil in 6 months (since last service) and no water to

It was obviously rebuilt at some stage as the odometer has 456000 on it...

I have convinced me friend to buy a R31 skyline cause he loves mine

Iggypoppin' · 13-08-2009, 11:02 PM

good to see you took on board a way to recoupe money ;)
When you kill it(if you kill it) part it out and return the rest of your outlay for possible profit. Sounds like a rare deal, even a thrashed out VT goes for a bit more than that.

ED Ford Falcon · 13-08-2009, 11:05 PM

good to know that i got a good deal thanks NJXR6
I really and truelly don't think it has been to massively thrashed and i belive servicing was pretty common!
he seems the sort of bloke that warms up his car and then thrashes the sheet out of them LOL

i will try to kill it lol

p.s. can no one let me get to attached to the car
cheers

ED Ford Falcon · 13-08-2009, 11:08 PM

I gotta head off ever one cya all later

svo supporter · 13-08-2009, 11:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by au adam

Lowered or not it will kill rear tyres,put in a VX series 2 rear end in and tyre wear will be much better,pwr steer leaks are common.Glove box will prob be broken when you open it.
Not bad cars but you need 8 cylinders instead of 6.

Even series 2 VX rear ends destroy tyres as quick. Those are toe adjustable. The problem with that era Commodore is a camber issue.

Teflon Turbo · 14-08-2009, 08:51 AM

i had a 5.0L VT SS and overall i was suprised with the quality of the car.

i chose the aussie v8 over the piston slapper to avoid issues and got good money on it when i sold it

Gobes32 · 14-08-2009, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Teflon Turbo

i had a 5.0L VT SS and overall i was suprised with the quality of the car.

i chose the aussie v8 over the piston slapper to avoid issues and got good money on it when i sold it

And they sounded shed loads better too........ Can't beat an aussie built V8.

EFPWR · 14-08-2009, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ED Ford Falcon

Acceleration is slower than my falcon by a noticeable amount (no idea why? ow that's it my falcon is a beast! LOL) in my opinion AND it is lower so you would expect it to feel faster:S

Last VT I drove felt like it lacked punch too.. but it had 250,000km on it so I sort of expected it a little..

Buzz Box · 16-08-2009, 03:25 PM

$1500 for a run about of which you could get half back from the rims how could you go wrong?

madmelon · 16-08-2009, 04:36 PM

Look for control arm mounts being flogged out on front wheels. Will shudder and make an accompanying noise under acceleration and braking if these are worn.It's the wheel/hub moving backwards and forwards due to the stuffed bush. It's difficult to see if the factory bushes are gone (I think they may be hydraulic or something) but aftermarket ones like nolathane should be easy to see. Jack it up, put some stands under it and reef the front wheels around a bit. Any looseness is a sure sign of trouble.

madmelon · 16-08-2009, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by madmelon

Look for control arm mounts being flogged out on front wheels. Will shudder and make an accompanying noise under acceleration and braking if these are worn.It's the wheel/hub moving backwards and forwards due to the stuffed bush. It's difficult to see if the factory bushes are gone (I think they may be hydraulic or something) but aftermarket ones like nolathane should be easy to see. Jack it up, put some stands under it and reef the front wheels around a bit. Any looseness is a sure sign of trouble.

...the aftermarket ones aren't cheap either.