advice on buying my first commodore
Discussion
first hello to everyone
After many years of fun with my galant vr4 i have to decided to go for the car i have wanted for a long time, i am going to look at a GTS-R this weekend. Its y reg with just over 50k miles on the clock its priced quite cheaply compared to what i was expecting to pay which means theres either a few niggles with it or it could be a potential bargain.
I was hoping any of you peoples on here would be as kind as to giving me things to look out for when buying one as i imagine this is the best place to get it. Also on the pics ive seen an extra arial on the back by the boot giving it 2 including the roof one i have seen this on a few hsv's over here and wonder why they are there, any ansers?
any replies are much appreciated
thanks james
After many years of fun with my galant vr4 i have to decided to go for the car i have wanted for a long time, i am going to look at a GTS-R this weekend. Its y reg with just over 50k miles on the clock its priced quite cheaply compared to what i was expecting to pay which means theres either a few niggles with it or it could be a potential bargain.
I was hoping any of you peoples on here would be as kind as to giving me things to look out for when buying one as i imagine this is the best place to get it. Also on the pics ive seen an extra arial on the back by the boot giving it 2 including the roof one i have seen this on a few hsv's over here and wonder why they are there, any ansers?
any replies are much appreciated
thanks james
Welcome... Hi Lozzy,
Welcome to the forum and I hope the test drive puts a smile on your face. Just be sure to budet for the plastic surgery to have it removed
Apart from the usual stuff like making sure everything works, the rest of it should be good. These cars are fairly bullet-proof.
The things I'd look at would be:
1) Check the underneath & wheel arches for signs of rust. By default the HSV's didn't have any rust proofing on as standard when they entered the country. Most cars have had some sort of protection added since purchase but make sure. If possible find out what protection it has and when it was done/last topped up (if applicable).
2) Drive the car slowly in a tight'ish circle (both directions) to verify that the diff works. It's an LSD so both wheels rear wheels should turn independantly.
3) Check tyre wear. The cars have a bit of camber so the inside wears a lot faster that the outside. It's difficult to visually inspect so take a depth guage and check the inside edge of all tyres for excessive wear. You don't want to have to buy 4 new tyres just after you bought the car. That would be expensive.
4) The gear linkage may rattle/buzz in 3rd under load. This is a known feature of the cars . It's not a problm but I thought I'd best point it out in case you think it's a gearbox issue. It can be resolved by replacing the linkage with a Rip Shifter (circa £450inc VAT & Fiting and makes a great mod). Make sure you can select all 6 gears with the engine off & running. Reverse is sometime a bitch to get with cold oil. Just hold your foot on the brake, select a couple of forward gears and she should slid into reverse no problem. Again depends on the age of the linkage and how much wear it has.
5) Check the engine on tick over from a cold start. Check the two front belts for signs of wear. Particularly old belts are prone to breakage. Check the insualation on the bonnet for signs of previous thrown belts. Again it doesn't do any harm to the engine just makes a mess of the sound proofing.
6) Check the service history. Servicing according to the book is every 10,000KM (6,000miles). The brake, clutch, gearbox, & dif oil should be changed every 2 years. You can check the color of the brake & clutch fluid easily (cylinders are next to the driver side front suspension strut.
7) Find out what mods, if any, have been done to the car. Standard mods include CAI, Stainless Exhaust, Headers.
8) There's some excellent advise given here on this thread
Enjoy the test drive.
Welcome to the forum and I hope the test drive puts a smile on your face. Just be sure to budet for the plastic surgery to have it removed
Apart from the usual stuff like making sure everything works, the rest of it should be good. These cars are fairly bullet-proof.
The things I'd look at would be:
1) Check the underneath & wheel arches for signs of rust. By default the HSV's didn't have any rust proofing on as standard when they entered the country. Most cars have had some sort of protection added since purchase but make sure. If possible find out what protection it has and when it was done/last topped up (if applicable).
2) Drive the car slowly in a tight'ish circle (both directions) to verify that the diff works. It's an LSD so both wheels rear wheels should turn independantly.
3) Check tyre wear. The cars have a bit of camber so the inside wears a lot faster that the outside. It's difficult to visually inspect so take a depth guage and check the inside edge of all tyres for excessive wear. You don't want to have to buy 4 new tyres just after you bought the car. That would be expensive.
4) The gear linkage may rattle/buzz in 3rd under load. This is a known feature of the cars . It's not a problm but I thought I'd best point it out in case you think it's a gearbox issue. It can be resolved by replacing the linkage with a Rip Shifter (circa £450inc VAT & Fiting and makes a great mod). Make sure you can select all 6 gears with the engine off & running. Reverse is sometime a bitch to get with cold oil. Just hold your foot on the brake, select a couple of forward gears and she should slid into reverse no problem. Again depends on the age of the linkage and how much wear it has.
5) Check the engine on tick over from a cold start. Check the two front belts for signs of wear. Particularly old belts are prone to breakage. Check the insualation on the bonnet for signs of previous thrown belts. Again it doesn't do any harm to the engine just makes a mess of the sound proofing.
6) Check the service history. Servicing according to the book is every 10,000KM (6,000miles). The brake, clutch, gearbox, & dif oil should be changed every 2 years. You can check the color of the brake & clutch fluid easily (cylinders are next to the driver side front suspension strut.
7) Find out what mods, if any, have been done to the car. Standard mods include CAI, Stainless Exhaust, Headers.
8) There's some excellent advise given here on this thread
Enjoy the test drive.
thanks for the input, thats the kind of advice i need. just spoke to the garage before to confirm on seein it saturday, one good thing he told me is that its had 1 owner from new with a ton of paperwork and a full service history, im just hoping my dream car will not dissapoint me and live up to all the expectations i have of it
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