Which to buy

[Misker]

I have been looking at the Monaro, seems my ideal car. Now guys which one to get, 04 Standard or VXR or 05 Std or VXR, is the 05 model worth the extra when compared to the 04. Price plays a part, but I have seen 05 standard Monaros cheaper than 04 VXR. What do you recommend?

[yorkkie]

1. do you want a boot?
2. do you want nostrils on the front of your car?

If yes to 1 then you need an 04 model
if yes to 2 then an 05 or VXR


Andy

[moosepig]

Hi, welcome to the forum!

IMO the '04 models score over their '05 counterpart in one important aspect - the size of the boot. The '05 models have had their fuel tanks moved up and behind the rear seats, so you lose a fair chunk of the boot space available. One of the attractions of these cars for me when I bought my '04 CV8 was their practicality, sure you can hoon around in them making lots of noise but you can also take stuff to the tip in them if you like, the boot space is very generous.

As for the debate over CV8 vs. VXR, that's down to your personal preference and what you're looking for from the car. The VXR has more striking looks, better brakes, a different suspension setup (the ride is a bit harder) and a more sporty rear diff ratio. And the added bonus of a bona fide HSV badge (they're actually rebadged HSV GTO's). But the CV8 is a wolf in sheep's clothing, more understated and less likely to attract attention, and what's more it comes in BLUE which as everyone knows is the classiest Monaro colour '04 VXR only available in red, silver or black.

There are plenty of modding and tuning options for all 4 models, have a nose around the forum and its advertisers to get an idea.

Happy hunting!

[ringram]

I think the 04 vxr is best buy.
Its a proper HSV so should hold value better and comes stock with a good few extras which you normally pay for like;

Upgraded exhaust
Suspension
Brakes
Final drive (Diff)
Plus I think you get some extra gauges too.
And its good a big boot.

The extras are worth a good few thousand. They should also be slightly better put together as they are pretty much hand done by HSV rather than trundling off the normal assembley line.

If you just want to buy and drive and not do any mods, I agree the 04 is best. You can buy the bonnet if you want, but you cant buy a bigger boot for it.

[V6 JDT]

If you want the 05 look you can buy a bonnet for £500 and still have a useable boot. I'm off on holiday in a few weeks - 3 adults and cases for a fortnight - and we couldn't have done that in an 05.

[hainser]

I live on my own so the size of the boot, whilst mildly irritating, doesn't affect me too much, but the looks of the 05VXR just can't be beaten. (Especially silver, the fastest type)

[rocket]

With this type of car looks are more important to me than extra boot space, so my preferance is the '05. And whilst you can put the '05 bonnet on an '04 CV8, what you can't change is the rear end. The '05 rear end with a big single pipe either side is a more aggressive look than the '04.

[StuartL]

LOL I find myself agreeing with everyone here. I have an 04 cv8 real wolf in sheeps clothing, noone takes a second look, well a few people but thats because they know what they're looking at. I like that. The people who come over and talk are the ones who know something rather than 'WOW what a great car, what is it mate?'

I find it interesting how different the two versions are with, what at the end of the day are, very minor differences to the shell.