Griff500 v Monaro VXR

[roy e6]

Hi Guys and Girls i am thinking of selling the Griff and getting a Monaro.Are there any faults that i should be aware of before buying?Would i be dissapointed with my choice of replacement? Thanks in advance for any advice given.

[BigNige]

From what I know of TVR's (which isn't a lot I'll be the first to admit) the Monaro is an absolute paragon of quality.

I've had mine just undera year, done 11000miles and nothing has gone wrong with it at all.

I would also, if you can, get to know Greens of Rainham in Kent.
They are spot on when it comes to their knowledge of the cars as well as knowing how to treat customers (they even have a Monaro as a courtesy car!)

[roy e6]

BigNige said:

From what I know of TVR's (which isn't a lot I'll be the first to admit) the Monaro is an absolute paragon of quality.

I've had mine just undera year, done 11000miles and nothing has gone wrong with it at all.

I would also, if you can, get to know Greens of Rainham in Kent.
They are spot on when it comes to their knowledge of the cars as well as knowing how to treat customers (they even have a Monaro as a courtesy car!)

Thats what i wanted to hear nothing gone wrong.What are servicing costs?

[BigNige]

10,000 mile intervals and mine cost £170.



Dunno about tyres & pads yet, not replaced any so far.

[AM04ARO]

Niggly things have gone wrong with mine.

Anyone have an idea how annoying the seat belt warning buzzer is when it won't stop!? (with seatbelt firmly in) My latest annoyance is the windscreen washer jets seem to have given up (about 1/3 power) although will be getting that fixed at the next service. Had a problem with o2 sensors which appear to be from the air con pipe droppng on it.

coming upto 40k and had it since 8k. Seems reasonable to me.

Servicing costs around the £170 mark and epending on tyre choice £180 each is not uncommon.

The real cost is in the upgrades......

Edited by AM04ARO on Sunday 20th August 21:20

[BO55 VXR]

AM04ARO said:

The real cost is in the upgrades......

But they're worth it

[GSI_Daz]

BO55 VXR said:

AM04ARO said:

The real cost is in the upgrades......

But they're worth it

For sure!

[bennno]

roy e6 said:

Hi Guys and Girls i am thinking of selling the Griff and getting a Monaro.Are there any faults that i should be aware of before buying?Would i be dissapointed with my choice of replacement? Thanks in advance for any advice given.

I owned 5 TVR's. Including 2 Griffs and 2 Cerberas. My VXR is fitted with one of the new Wortec exhausts and it makes a better noise than a Griff 500 which is saying something.

There are very few faults and the cars are bulletproof in comparison with a TVR.

The servicing intervals are every 10k and servicing is cheap, unlike TVR ownership where its every 6k and you always have your trousers pulled down with additional bits that need fixing over and above a massively expensive service.

It depends what you will be doing with the car but its worth looking out for a car with a sports exhaust fitted (as they cost £1k and are essential to hear the v8) and its worth considering a standard car with upgraded breaks or a VXR which is the HSV variant and features upgraded breaks, suspension, diff, engine power etc.

I am in Berkshire also if you want to take a look or hear my car....

Bennno

[biglump]

I recently (within last few weeks) went from a Chimp 500 to Monaro - Like chalk n cheese really other than performance where they're fairly similar. Monaro is v practical as a 2 + 2 altho' mine's the mk2 one so has a smaller boot than the TVR.

Like I said on a previous thread, the Monaro is what the Cerbera would have been if built by a mass producer and for the money there's nothing that comes close - Ignore the Vauxhall badge and enjoy...

[barking]

biglump said:

Ignore the Vauxhall badge and enjoy...

That can be sorted out with Holden/HSV badges, except for the tax disc.

Edited by barking on Monday 21st August 11:20

[biglump]

Good point well put and to be honest with the number of people asking me what it is, it seems they can't read or are simply blown away by it's good looks....???

[GSI_Daz]

Maybe de-badge it completely and get people wondering

[roy e6]

bennno said:

roy e6 said:

Hi Guys and Girls i am thinking of selling the Griff and getting a Monaro.Are there any faults that i should be aware of before buying?Would i be dissapointed with my choice of replacement? Thanks in advance for any advice given.

I owned 5 TVR's. Including 2 Griffs and 2 Cerberas. My VXR is fitted with one of the new Wortec exhausts and it makes a better noise than a Griff 500 which is saying something.

There are very few faults and the cars are bulletproof in comparison with a TVR.

The servicing intervals are every 10k and servicing is cheap, unlike TVR ownership where its every 6k and you always have your trousers pulled down with additional bits that need fixing over and above a massively expensive service.

It depends what you will be doing with the car but its worth looking out for a car with a sports exhaust fitted (as they cost £1k and are essential to hear the v8) and its worth considering a standard car with upgraded breaks or a VXR which is the HSV variant and features upgraded breaks, suspension, diff, engine power etc.

I am in Berkshire also if you want to take a look or hear my car....

Bennno

I was thinking about going for the VXR anyway,you have just made my mind up.Meeting up for a butchers and maybe a spin sounds like a good idea to me.

[roy e6]

AM04ARO said:

Niggly things have gone wrong with mine.

Anyone have an idea how annoying the seat belt warning buzzer is when it won't stop!? (with seatbelt firmly in) My latest annoyance is the windscreen washer jets seem to have given up (about 1/3 power) although will be getting that fixed at the next service. Had a problem with o2 sensors which appear to be from the air con pipe droppng on it.

coming upto 40k and had it since 8k. Seems reasonable to me.

Servicing costs around the £170 mark and epending on tyre choice £180 each is not uncommon.

The real cost is in the upgrades......

Edited by AM04ARO on Sunday 20th August 21:20

Upgrades??? Does the VXR need them? if so what upgrades are needed?

[roy e6]

barking said:

biglump said:

Ignore the Vauxhall badge and enjoy...

That can be sorted out with Holden/HSV badges, except for the tax disc.

Edited by barking on Monday 21st August 11:20

Had vauxhalls before the Griff,never had a problem with them.Not one.

[AM04ARO]

They don't "need" upgrades.

The Wortec power packs are great value and make the car 'sound' fantastic (and a few extra BHP does not hurt).

AP Racing brakes are a great upgrade and much bigger (is that better) than even the VXR standard equipment.

I have an 04 CV8 not a VXR so can only comment on the standard base car. The upgrades I have done make the car better but are not essential. I guess the after market options make tune the car to the individual and what they want.

On second thoughts, yes, the car needs to have a loud exhaust

Edited by AM04ARO on Monday 21st August 21:39

[Dan_S V8]

Exhaust (cat-back at least but preferably headers too) is essential as they sound truly crap standard. Brakes might be a good idea too if you want to do trackdays etc.

[doleboy]

Talking of upgrades I hoping that Santa may sneak in a couple of upgrades under management radar.

Will the AP's really blow my mind & how intrusive is the wortec cat back (straight through) on the motorway?

All financial contributions will also be gratefully received just in case Santa can't fit much down the chimney.

[GSI_Daz]

doleboy said:

Will the AP's really blow my mind & how intrusive is the wortec cat back (straight through) on the motorway?

IMHO it will drive you mad on the motorway, definitely a droning sound when you are just cruising. If I did lots of motorway miles I probably would have put the silencers in.

[doleboy]

That's what I was thinking - but winter's coming so I can't keep driving around with the windows down so I can hear the stock exhaust.............