Thursday 18th January 2018

Holden Commodore: Spotted

You don't have to be Richie to afford this bargain V6...

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It's been nearly three months since Holden's iconic Commodore was deemed too hot ta trot and production ceased. Despite that, it's easy to see why a second hand purchase could be tempting, even if you buy one just to be close to you. Whether you're looking for a cheap commuter to get to and from the night shift, or just need something to transport your lady to and from the shops; as a daily that'll still stand out from the crowd there's lots to like about today's Spotted.

It may not be the full-blooded, 302hp V8, oh no, but with 204hp and 225lb ft of torque, the naturally aspirated V6 found here should still provide plenty of zoom when you feel the need to sail on. This VX iteration of the Commodore also received enhanced suspension front and rear, making for more predictable handling and likely proving useful if things get slippery when wet.

It may have had once, twice, three times an owner, but this car still looks to be in pretty good nick throughout, having obviously received plenty of sweet love whichever brick house it's been parked outside of. The interior in particular looks to belong to a much newer vehicle, and the seemingly spotless paintwork belies its 70,000 miles. A full service history further adding to the appeal.

Appreciation of the nameplate aside, there is truthfully very little to suggest that this particular car will become an "appreciating classic" as the ad claims. But take it from me, for just under £3,000 there's every chance it could become an entertaining bargain daily, earning its fair share of appreciation in an even better way. So, what're you waiting for? Just say yeah.

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SPECIFICATION - HOLDEN COMMODORE

Engine: 3,791cc, V6
Transmission: 4-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 204@5,200rpm
Torque (lb ft): 225@3,000rpm
MPG: N/A
CO2: N/A
First registered: 2001
Mileage: 73,000 miles
Price new: N/A
Price now: £2,995

See the original advert here

[Twoshoe]

The spec at the end doesn't correlate with the text. E.g. is it n/a or is it supercharged? If the former, I doubt whether 204bhp in something that size provides 'plenty of zoom'!

[Turbobanana]

An injury means I may now have to consider an auto: this would do nicely.

But please, PH: enough cliches!

[cheddar]

Twoshoe said:

The spec at the end doesn't correlate with the text. E.g. is it n/a or is it supercharged? If the former, I doubt whether 204bhp in something that size provides 'plenty of zoom'!

A typo, it should be 227ps, 224bhp, still an amazingly low number for a big cube supercharged 6 pot.

[sjabrown]

Looks a good enough barge, but I would think it would drink a fair bit of fuel

[TooMany2cvs]

Looks like 204bhp naturally aspirated AND 229bhp supercharged were available.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holden_Commodore_(VX...

There's no engine bay pics, and no mention in the source ad (or the car's badging) of the supercharger - so is somebody at PH towers making an assumption...?

Assuming it's the non-blown, then it's the same thing as I hired in 2001/2 in Adelaide for a day in the wine regions. Perfectly decent, but "plenty of zoom"? No. It's basically a v6 Omega with a slightly bigger lump. Meh.

[s m]

TooMany2cvs said:

Looks like 204bhp naturally aspirated AND 229bhp supercharged were available.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holden_Commodore_(VX...

There's no engine bay pics, and no mention in the source ad (or the car's badging) of the supercharger - so is somebody at PH towers making an assumption...?

Assuming it's the non-blown, then it's the same thing as I hired in 2001/2 in Adelaide for a day in the wine regions. Perfectly decent, but "plenty of zoom"? No. It's basically a v6 Omega with a slightly bigger lump. Meh.

I did think it might be a V8 version.

You can get a 3.2 V6 Omega with 208bhp over here

[s m]

cheddar said:

Twoshoe said:

The spec at the end doesn't correlate with the text. E.g. is it n/a or is it supercharged? If the former, I doubt whether 204bhp in something that size provides 'plenty of zoom'!

A typo, it should be 227ps, 224bhp, still an amazingly low number for a big cube supercharged 6 pot.

People deride the Cologne V6 in the 2.8 Capri for putting out roughly the same quoted bhp per litre

[flickyspinny]

Nice way to waft around - the 3.8 V6 is simpler and easier to work on than the 3.6 V6 that replaced it. Don't expect massive performance - it's not small and the lazy outbox is straight from the US playbook.

Not massively quick or sporting as I'm pretty sure this isn't supercharged. Having said that, in all my years around these in Australia I've never seen one with this colour interior so this could be something unusual.

In Aus you can pretty much maintain these on a shoestring because the parts are so common and cheap.

For 3k this is well worth the spend - if it was the estate I'd have it in a heartbeat - they are truely cavernous inside with the back seats down.

[TooMany2cvs]

OverSteery said:

s m said:

People deride the Cologne V6 in the 2.8 Capri for putting out roughly the same quoted bhp per litre

the 2.8i managed 160bhp.

I think you might have missed "per litre".

160/2.8 = 57
204/3.8 = 54

The Cologne 2.8 put out slightly more power per litre. With a carb.

[Twoshoe]

TooMany2cvs said:

With a carb.

Injected, surely?

[TooMany2cvs]

Twoshoe said:

TooMany2cvs said:

With a carb.

Injected, surely?

You're right. I was thinking it came with the move from 2.8-2.9 - but of course that never went into the Crapi, and injection came in with the move from 3.0-2.8i.

[TonyRPH]

Oh how I long for the day that PH embraces a better way of displaying pictures, rather than opening them in a new window every time.

This is so 1990's.

Adding lightbox type viewing code is absolutely trivial for a web developer.

sigh.

[MarvinTPA]

All the 3.0 and 3.2 Omegas are dead and gone. Either that or they never come up for sale. As an ex Omega Owner and current Monaro owner, the Commodore looks like the love child of those two.
There are worse things to spend 3k on, this'll be comfortable and relatively simple to fix too.

[BFleming]

Because this car was registered in September 2001, but is listed as 0g CO2/km (as it's a non-EU import & foreign countries don't list CO2 on their registration documents) how much does it cost to tax?

[treeroy]

What exactly appeals about this car? Why would one buy it?
There are plenty of cheap saloon cars with similar punch. And they're probably more comfortable and more reliable. It does look unique though.

I parked next to a Monaro a couple days ago and I can kind of understand that, it's a muscle car. But this is a 200bhp saloon made by Vauxhall, I'm just not sure what the appeal is.

[TooMany2cvs]

BFleming said:

Because this car was registered in September 2001, but is listed as 0g CO2/km (as it's a non-EU import & foreign countries don't list CO2 on their registration documents) how much does it cost to tax?

Same as pre-01 1550cc+ stuff - £245

[s m]

MarvinTPA said:

All the 3.0 and 3.2 Omegas are dead and gone. Either that or they never come up for sale. .

Still spot the odd one ( although I'm sure someone will detail what's wrong with all of these not taking into account the price )




£950


http://www.preloved.co.uk/adverts/show/618131416/v...




£795


https://www.gumtree.com/p/vauxhall/vauxhall-omega-...

[wst]

TonyRPH said:

Oh how I long for the day that PH embraces a better way of displaying pictures, rather than opening them in a new window every time.

This is so 1990's.

Adding lightbox type viewing code is absolutely trivial for a web developer.

sigh.

They even have a lightbox written! It's used in the classifieds.

[captain_cynic]

Twoshoe said:

The spec at the end doesn't correlate with the text. E.g. is it n/a or is it supercharged? If the former, I doubt whether 204bhp in something that size provides 'plenty of zoom'!

It could be either, the VX Commodore was released with a supercharged or NA 3.8L V6 that made a shockingly low 177KW (229 hp). They were hideously slow no matter what. Even the V8 struggled to crack 6 seconds to 100 KPH (and the V8 was only 6.2L producing 302 hp) and forget about corners... they didn't do corners.

The NA version only produced 152KW from its's 3.8L engine, in the same year Honda produced a NA 2L engine that produced 180 KW (245 HP) in the S2000.

However the VX (and VY) is the generation to get if you're into Australian made American river barges. That one has the 3.8L Buick V6 before GM replaced it with the HFV6 which had all kinds of issues, not the least of which were stretched timing chains.

[OverSteery]

TooMany2cvs said:

OverSteery said:

s m said:

People deride the Cologne V6 in the 2.8 Capri for putting out roughly the same quoted bhp per litre

the 2.8i managed 160bhp.

I think you might have missed "per litre".

160/2.8 = 57
204/3.8 = 54

The Cologne 2.8 put out slightly more power per litre. With a carb.

Yes, I spotted the "per litre" after posting and deleted my reply - but you were too quick for me.