Running a Monaro - realistic expectations
Discussion
I have a serious hankering for a Monaro.
This has been going on for a long time now - I decided against one in 2011 and went for a Vectra VXR instead, never regretted it but now that is gone and I'm still wanting to scratch this itch...
I am not fussed by either a 5.7 CV8 or a 6.0 VXR - the VXR would be nicer, but I think I'd settle for the right CV8...
Anyway, ignoring the phrase of 'if you have to ask, you can't afford it' I want to get some ideas of realistic ownership expectations.
Are they that bad on fuel?
Does anyone use them as a daily drive?
Maintenance/wear & tear?
Smiles per gallon?
In relation to the above Qs;
I was getting between 19-24mpg in the Vectra VXR, how comparable is this to a Monaro - ignoring/excluding hard arse-kicking sessions where it will be much lower, I'm talking about on average with real-world mixed driving conditions really.
I currently do up to ~50 miles per day commuting, then whatever the weekend throws at me - is 250 miles of mostly rural A/B roads achievable on a single tank of fuel? Public transport is not an option to me in my area, so I have to drive.
Are they expensive to keep on the road? The Vectra VXR is only one RFL band lower I believe, so the big number there is not off-putting whatsoever.
Are they enough of a laugh to justify the expense? I think I know this already...
What do other owners do to offset any costs - 2nd cars? Hitch-hicking? Riding micro-scooters?
I know one owner on here personally, mattrg, who offsets his ownership with a boggo Insignia.
Any input, good or bad, greatly appreciated to help me out!
If a Monaro isn't the one for me (
) I'll probably go for an Astra GTC VXR instead.
This has been going on for a long time now - I decided against one in 2011 and went for a Vectra VXR instead, never regretted it but now that is gone and I'm still wanting to scratch this itch...
I am not fussed by either a 5.7 CV8 or a 6.0 VXR - the VXR would be nicer, but I think I'd settle for the right CV8...
Anyway, ignoring the phrase of 'if you have to ask, you can't afford it' I want to get some ideas of realistic ownership expectations.
Are they that bad on fuel?
Does anyone use them as a daily drive?
Maintenance/wear & tear?
Smiles per gallon?
In relation to the above Qs;
I was getting between 19-24mpg in the Vectra VXR, how comparable is this to a Monaro - ignoring/excluding hard arse-kicking sessions where it will be much lower, I'm talking about on average with real-world mixed driving conditions really.
I currently do up to ~50 miles per day commuting, then whatever the weekend throws at me - is 250 miles of mostly rural A/B roads achievable on a single tank of fuel? Public transport is not an option to me in my area, so I have to drive.
Are they expensive to keep on the road? The Vectra VXR is only one RFL band lower I believe, so the big number there is not off-putting whatsoever.
Are they enough of a laugh to justify the expense? I think I know this already...
What do other owners do to offset any costs - 2nd cars? Hitch-hicking? Riding micro-scooters?
I know one owner on here personally, mattrg, who offsets his ownership with a boggo Insignia.
Any input, good or bad, greatly appreciated to help me out!
If a Monaro isn't the one for me (
) I'll probably go for an Astra GTC VXR instead.I bought a Monaro 4 years ago. Used it daily for the first 2 years, then bought a house and couldn't afford the weekly fuel bill anymore.
I was doing 50 miles a day and tended to average about 23mpg.
I would be less concerned about fuel bills and more about servicing/repair costs. The cars are over 10 years old, parts will fail and they can be pricey to replace.
It doesn't take much to go wrong for you to be landed with a four figure bill.
That said, I love the car to bits and can't think of anything I'd replace it with.
I was doing 50 miles a day and tended to average about 23mpg.
I would be less concerned about fuel bills and more about servicing/repair costs. The cars are over 10 years old, parts will fail and they can be pricey to replace.
It doesn't take much to go wrong for you to be landed with a four figure bill.
That said, I love the car to bits and can't think of anything I'd replace it with.
Had my monaro vxr just under a year now and ive loved every minute! My first trip to Monkfish left me £2k poorer, but its fine now. just make sure you go in with your eyes wide open and try to find the best one you can get with the most mods for your budget. if your worrying about fuel costs then youre buying the wrong motor! mine averages low teens urban and mid twenties on a run. Theres also a great bunch of guys and gals on this site who will help you with anything you need to know. good luck!
Just got a Monaro and I love it.
Previous car was the Vectra VXR and I save £210 a year on road tax and 5p - 10p a litre on petrol as does not require any super unleaded to run (in stock).
The Vectra was a daily driver as is the Monaro now. I travel 45 mile a day for work. Don't really notice a huge rise in cost on fuel. Would think the Astra GTC VXR is not cheap on fuel anyhow (probably in the mid 20 mpg).
I spend a bit of time in a car every day, I want to enjoy what I drive and boy I do.
Repairs, well not reached that stage yet but that's why I drive to work to pay for things I love. life is short.
Previous car was the Vectra VXR and I save £210 a year on road tax and 5p - 10p a litre on petrol as does not require any super unleaded to run (in stock).
The Vectra was a daily driver as is the Monaro now. I travel 45 mile a day for work. Don't really notice a huge rise in cost on fuel. Would think the Astra GTC VXR is not cheap on fuel anyhow (probably in the mid 20 mpg).
I spend a bit of time in a car every day, I want to enjoy what I drive and boy I do.
Repairs, well not reached that stage yet but that's why I drive to work to pay for things I love. life is short.
I've owned a CV8 for a few years. It's not a daily as I do 100 miles a day up and down the M5 and thought that the Monaro would be wasted doing that job. I think that it would make a good daily if you felt so inclined as it's comfortable and easy to drive. the lights are pretty rubbish though, so not as good in winter.
I do use it for daily duties on the rare occasions my Lexus is off the road, or on the much more frequent occasions that I feel like I need cheering up to and from work, and it's perfectly capable.
I haven't really worked out the fuel consumption, but I don't think it is that bad considering the size of the engine, I'd guess around low 20s, better on the motorway, but I can't say I really care.
Keeping the thing on the road is very reasonable, though I ran a Cerbera before the CV8 so anything would feel cheap in comparison. I use Monkfish for servicing and they are very knowledgeable and reasonably priced. I have had one disproportionately big (IMHO) bill so far for replacing corroded brake lines. This requires the subframe to be dropped so it ends up a lot of labour. I wouldn't say that they are any more expensive than comparable cars to run, quite the opposite in fact.
What I would say is that whilst they are great cars and I love mine, you need to be sure why you want one. In all honesty a new top of the range hot hatch is likely to show it a clean pair of heels. Sure they are quick enough, but it's a muscle car not a point to point car. I own mine for the noise, the tail out smiles, and oddly the SWMBO friendliness of the thing. Mrs Skoff wouldn't and didn't ever drive the Cerb, but she is happy to drive the Monaro. We did a road trip to Italy a couple of years ago and she did her fair share of the driving. Indeed the car turned out to be a perfect car for the job, and even attracted a fair bit of attention when we stopped off in Monaco on our way home.
It doesn't give me the thrill of the Cerbera it replaced, but it is a HELL of a lot easier and cheaper to live with, whilst giving 80% of the enjoyment.
Or to put it another way the Cerbera was like the 22 year old gold digger wife of a 90 year old millionaire - constantly plotting to kill me or bankrupt me.
The Monaro is more like a pretty-but-plain girl next door, who you would be happy to take to meet your parents, but is still good fun with a few glasses of Aussie Chardonnay inside her.
I do use it for daily duties on the rare occasions my Lexus is off the road, or on the much more frequent occasions that I feel like I need cheering up to and from work, and it's perfectly capable.
I haven't really worked out the fuel consumption, but I don't think it is that bad considering the size of the engine, I'd guess around low 20s, better on the motorway, but I can't say I really care.
Keeping the thing on the road is very reasonable, though I ran a Cerbera before the CV8 so anything would feel cheap in comparison. I use Monkfish for servicing and they are very knowledgeable and reasonably priced. I have had one disproportionately big (IMHO) bill so far for replacing corroded brake lines. This requires the subframe to be dropped so it ends up a lot of labour. I wouldn't say that they are any more expensive than comparable cars to run, quite the opposite in fact.
What I would say is that whilst they are great cars and I love mine, you need to be sure why you want one. In all honesty a new top of the range hot hatch is likely to show it a clean pair of heels. Sure they are quick enough, but it's a muscle car not a point to point car. I own mine for the noise, the tail out smiles, and oddly the SWMBO friendliness of the thing. Mrs Skoff wouldn't and didn't ever drive the Cerb, but she is happy to drive the Monaro. We did a road trip to Italy a couple of years ago and she did her fair share of the driving. Indeed the car turned out to be a perfect car for the job, and even attracted a fair bit of attention when we stopped off in Monaco on our way home.
It doesn't give me the thrill of the Cerbera it replaced, but it is a HELL of a lot easier and cheaper to live with, whilst giving 80% of the enjoyment.
Or to put it another way the Cerbera was like the 22 year old gold digger wife of a 90 year old millionaire - constantly plotting to kill me or bankrupt me.
The Monaro is more like a pretty-but-plain girl next door, who you would be happy to take to meet your parents, but is still good fun with a few glasses of Aussie Chardonnay inside her.
I've had my Monaro 1 year and use it a s a daily driver, I do about 35 mile round trip per day plus anything I do extra In the evenings or weekends. I get 19mpg regularly with normal driving and giving it a bootful on the dual carriageway every morning once it's warmed up. I've got a CV8 with lots of mods and love it, I've had lots of fast cars and bikes and it's the best grin per mile out of all of them, that's compared to a whale tail cossie, an Audi Quattro, various bmw's and two corvettes and a formula 300 Pontiac firebird (which obviously had the same small block Chevy power plant) to name a few. But I've found the Monaro to be the most useable and enjoyable. If things go wrong it can be expensive but it doesn't have to be. Look for one that's already been modded if that's what you want as it costs an absolute arm & leg to modify and it will be a lot cheaper to spend extra and buy one done than do it yourself
Two years ownership, daily driver. Do around 9,000 miles per year. 29mpg open road, 15 or so around town.
So far the waterpump has failed (circa £600) but that has been it, other than servicing (full service £220 including plugs etc) and new boots (MPSS - not cheap but well worth it). Also went braided hoses and new pads (yellowstuffs) and find with the standard 6.0 VXR brakes the stopping is fine. Has cut-outs too which sound amazing.
As for smiles - every time. Love it, can't see me ever selling up. It is going to cost me big one day I can see it, but it's worth every penny.
So far the waterpump has failed (circa £600) but that has been it, other than servicing (full service £220 including plugs etc) and new boots (MPSS - not cheap but well worth it). Also went braided hoses and new pads (yellowstuffs) and find with the standard 6.0 VXR brakes the stopping is fine. Has cut-outs too which sound amazing.
As for smiles - every time. Love it, can't see me ever selling up. It is going to cost me big one day I can see it, but it's worth every penny.
Had mine almost 3 years and use it daily doing around 8k a year. Suffice to say the fact that its remained with me for almost 3 years is a good thing....I'm a serial car swapper.
Costs to watch out for are fuel (obviously), tyres and general wear and tear. Buy wisely with the help and expertise of this forum and they shouldn't cost too much, they don't like sitting around for weeks on end - mine is quite miles (107k) and is in great condition. Buy on history and condition, not mileage. Low mileage sounds great and for some it's important but a higher miles one can be a bargain and they generally last well. If the car's been modified make sure it's been done by a recognized specialist as they're relatively straight forward to work on but also relatively easy to f
k up.
Also watch for corrosion as the oldest of these cars are 12 years old and some may show signs of rust.
They are superb cars and I love mine. Now appears to be a good time to buy as there are plenty on the market ready to be enjoyed for the summer. Nothing attracts more attention than a nicely polished Monaro with headers and centre silencer removed!
Costs to watch out for are fuel (obviously), tyres and general wear and tear. Buy wisely with the help and expertise of this forum and they shouldn't cost too much, they don't like sitting around for weeks on end - mine is quite miles (107k) and is in great condition. Buy on history and condition, not mileage. Low mileage sounds great and for some it's important but a higher miles one can be a bargain and they generally last well. If the car's been modified make sure it's been done by a recognized specialist as they're relatively straight forward to work on but also relatively easy to f
k up. Also watch for corrosion as the oldest of these cars are 12 years old and some may show signs of rust.
They are superb cars and I love mine. Now appears to be a good time to buy as there are plenty on the market ready to be enjoyed for the summer. Nothing attracts more attention than a nicely polished Monaro with headers and centre silencer removed!
Some very good summaries to help the OP. My thoughts are that it can be quite expensive IF you want the car to look and drive perfectly. Example - I spent £1000 on a proper front end respray just because the stone chips annoyed me. I had the wheels refurbed costing £400; they were OK.......but I like my cars to be pristine and now the wheels are perfect. A trip to Monkfish cost quite a lot too!
And that's without much modding (OK, a quick rack and road response pack, but no engine work, I like it just how it is).
My advice is to look for a car that's already had work done, or mods, that you like. Paid for by the previous owner! As others have said, buy on condition and history. Low miles is a bonus.
Happy hunting, Mike.
And that's without much modding (OK, a quick rack and road response pack, but no engine work, I like it just how it is).
My advice is to look for a car that's already had work done, or mods, that you like. Paid for by the previous owner! As others have said, buy on condition and history. Low miles is a bonus.
Happy hunting, Mike.
Had mine for a year and a half now, daily driver (15 miles) averaging 19mpg.
Mine was not abused, but had been neglected when I bought it and so far I've sunk £3.5k into getting it up to standard. Monkfish reckons there's another 4 figure bill still to go (the corroding brake lines mentioned by a previous poster) and I'm budgeting a further £1k for clutch/spigot bearing since I'm pretty sure it's never been done.
Rust is a worry, especially on salty roads in winter. Mine isn't pretty underneath, but my logic is that it's never going to be concourse spec, so I may as well use it and enjoy it. I expect it'll require welding within a few years though.
However, all the expense is worth it every time I press the loud pedal. It doesn't feel especially fast, though it does pull like a train. The noise never fails to put a smile on my face - my car is standard other than a Wortec exhaust, but it still makes quite a roar.
Mine was not abused, but had been neglected when I bought it and so far I've sunk £3.5k into getting it up to standard. Monkfish reckons there's another 4 figure bill still to go (the corroding brake lines mentioned by a previous poster) and I'm budgeting a further £1k for clutch/spigot bearing since I'm pretty sure it's never been done.
Rust is a worry, especially on salty roads in winter. Mine isn't pretty underneath, but my logic is that it's never going to be concourse spec, so I may as well use it and enjoy it. I expect it'll require welding within a few years though.
However, all the expense is worth it every time I press the loud pedal. It doesn't feel especially fast, though it does pull like a train. The noise never fails to put a smile on my face - my car is standard other than a Wortec exhaust, but it still makes quite a roar.
Edited by DCLXIV on Thursday 4th February 20:41
Ive had mine for 18 months or so now.
Its not a daily per se as I work in a van but it has all other duties after that
It averages 19mpg (cv8 with mods) , Mine is the early low tax big boot model
I don't think I could cope with the small boot one as it is tiny imo
Used mine for a trip to lemans ,3 up full and I mean full of campiny gear,was a great long distance companion.
The noise is amazing ,its a comfortable car ,its no hot hatch,its great on the A roads,not so hot on the tight b roads.
Ive had a few small issues central locking failure,broken plug lead ,split air intake pipe
tyres are no more expensive than my last bmw 330
The car I got was previously well looked after..a huge bonus imo.ive seen some rough ones.
Its not a daily per se as I work in a van but it has all other duties after that
It averages 19mpg (cv8 with mods) , Mine is the early low tax big boot model
I don't think I could cope with the small boot one as it is tiny imo
Used mine for a trip to lemans ,3 up full and I mean full of campiny gear,was a great long distance companion.
The noise is amazing ,its a comfortable car ,its no hot hatch,its great on the A roads,not so hot on the tight b roads.
Ive had a few small issues central locking failure,broken plug lead ,split air intake pipe
tyres are no more expensive than my last bmw 330
The car I got was previously well looked after..a huge bonus imo.ive seen some rough ones.
If you have a hankering for one then get one - it'll happen eventually. Ive had two. After selling the first I missed it and ended up in another a year down the line. They do get under your skin.
Running costs aren't too dissimilar to your vectra I would say. There are some surprisingly expensive consumables though. Brakes surprised me, but I do have the AP's. Check out the monkfish website to get an idea of parts prices comparative to your vectra.
Regards fuel I have always found it surprisingly good. But I do mostly long journeys with very little town driving.
My new one is gassed and there seem to be quite a few with LPG so it may be worth seeking one of those out if fuel is a concern. It wasn't something I was looking for, but its a nice bonus on long journeys especially in Europe.
If you can afford a bit more on running cost than the vectra then I'd say go for it. Get one with an exhaust at least though. I've had standard and a wortec and now understand that it is essential to have a wortec or similar exhaust!
Running costs aren't too dissimilar to your vectra I would say. There are some surprisingly expensive consumables though. Brakes surprised me, but I do have the AP's. Check out the monkfish website to get an idea of parts prices comparative to your vectra.
Regards fuel I have always found it surprisingly good. But I do mostly long journeys with very little town driving.
My new one is gassed and there seem to be quite a few with LPG so it may be worth seeking one of those out if fuel is a concern. It wasn't something I was looking for, but its a nice bonus on long journeys especially in Europe.
If you can afford a bit more on running cost than the vectra then I'd say go for it. Get one with an exhaust at least though. I've had standard and a wortec and now understand that it is essential to have a wortec or similar exhaust!
I run mine as a daily doing around 20k a year and the day to day running costs aren't all that bad. Big tyre sizes have come down massively in price these days and apart from consumable parts these cars are pretty reliable. The only big expense is when the brake discs need replacing 
Are you open to the idea of an LPG converted car?
Are you open to the idea of an LPG converted car?
djgritt said:
LPG - I'm undecided.
I understand the benefits of it from economy points. But, I've never had any experience of it, and that unknown makes me a bit wary.
I understand the benefits of it from economy points. But, I've never had any experience of it, and that unknown makes me a bit wary.
put up with 22mpg or buy a run around aswell. these cars aren't designed to have excessive heat from lpg install and they are quiet hard to sell afterwards if lpg fitted
djgritt said:
LPG - I'm undecided.
I understand the benefits of it from economy points. But, I've never had any experience of it, and that unknown makes me a bit wary.
A couple of members have been running very successfully on LPG in Monaros, but Preciousmetal knows the market, as he sells them.I understand the benefits of it from economy points. But, I've never had any experience of it, and that unknown makes me a bit wary.
Good luck with your hunt, and scratching that itch.
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