My new daily...its another wagon

[YBHVE4]

hey all,

been a while since posting up my ride here. Well as my situation changed once again with the new addition of my son i decided the Landcruiser was too big for the wife to use and was a waste to drive to and from work each day as it was modded for the bush.
Firstly I had to decide what my needs were: comfortable interior with enough room in the back for someone to sit with the 2 baby seats, reliable, newish, big boot to easily fit the double pram plus more, affordable, reasonable on parts and a tow bar.
Then my wants: stylish, dvd player for the kids, at least a 6, sat nav, few creature comforts and no older then 5 years.

Was considering a BA/BF, or a 300C wagon. the 300C ticked most of the boxes except for the parts part. Ford wagons well are nice but need to really throw some money to make it look the way i would be happy to have it. After alot of searching through carsales to see what fell in my price range with the above I came across a type of vehicle i thought i would never considering owning....a Holden
Took awhile to get my head over this decision as i rather a ford over a holden and never thought in my life i would drive a holden...but im still a ford person deep down and must say....FORD - you need to lift up your game and bring out something to compete with the Sportwagon. Its funny how many people who now drive the Sportwagon all feel the same and alot are in the same boat as myself who have been loyal to the blue oval.
anyways.....The Sportwagon depending on what model ticked majority of the boxes till i came across a Calais wagon which ticked every box.

So here is it:
2009 Holden VE Calais Sportwagon.
Has all the basic Calais features with upgrades Sat Nav, Rear roof mounted DVD, Partial leather which was perfect as im not a fan of leather as its too hot in summer and cold in winter so this was absolutely perfect. It was owned by a cop who drove most of the time to and from work from near Ballarat as he was stationed in the city. Its a ex-lease with him being the first owner so all servicing, etc were done like clock work and car was very well maintained.

Anyways....here are some pics of my wagon as I bought it:




Since then I have changed all the lighting to LED or HID
(rear number plate LED lights)

front LED Parkers

front HIDS and fog light HIDS


also, got my hands on a set of geniune used R8 Clubsport staggered 19's


got a few light mods planned so stay tuned :-)

[edfalconTurbo]

ve's are basically a money trap walking.. any little thing is so over priced to replace.
not worth owning 1 imo

[YBHVE4]

ve's are basically a money trap walking.. any little thing is so over priced to replace.
not worth owning 1 imo

so far so good for me. the worse thing i heard was the major service but thats all done by the previous owner...but if anything did got plenty of hook ups in the trade so should be fine.
Anyways....knowing me ill move on from it in no time. i get bored fairly fast. Hopefully by then Ford might have something else or else might heard to a Territory Ghia but in the 2wd.

[someLS1]

looks like a tidy wagon shoulda got the 6ltr though

[YBHVE4]

looks like a tidy wagon shoulda got the 6ltr though

so wish i could have afforded one. maybe next time and manual

[YBHVE4]

here is how it looks now:

[Dansedgli]

Much better! I like it.

[someLS1]

looks like a tidy wagon shoulda got the 6ltr though

so wish i could have afforded one. maybe next time and manual

Looks mint in the new pictures much better

Yea mate has a manual ssv wagon good bit of gear!

Just make sure you stay on top of servicing in those alloytecs doesnt take long for them to clog up with oil ive seen some shockers in the VZ when they open em up.

[YBHVE4]

looks like a tidy wagon shoulda got the 6ltr though

so wish i could have afforded one. maybe next time and manual

Looks mint in the new pictures much better

Yea mate has a manual ssv wagon good bit of gear!

Just make sure you stay on top of servicing in those alloytecs doesnt take long for them to clog up with oil ive seen some shockers in the VZ when they open em up.

cheers and thanks for the heads up...will do.

[private9]

Your mods look fantastic mate. VE wags are a great car and have heaps of room. Would happily have another!

ve's are basically a money trap walking.. any little thing is so over priced to replace.
not worth owning 1 imo

LOL - they're as good/bad as any other falcodore!

[YBHVE4]

Your mods look fantastic mate. VE wags are a great car and have heaps of room. Would happily have another!

ve's are basically a money trap walking.. any little thing is so over priced to replace.
not worth owning 1 imo

LOL - they're as good/bad as any other falcodore!

yeah i think its a good all rounder too.

and you hit the nail on the head

[pHaT`eL]

Im hoping a Holden badge will be going back in the front!

I love the look of these things, but a bad choice for people who actually need a wagon, not a sportswagon.

[EFFalcon]

keep the no badge look ;P

[pHaT`eL]

Anything except a Chev badge, lol!

[YBHVE4]

Im hoping a Holden badge will be going back in the front!

I love the look of these things, but a bad choice for people who actually need a wagon, not a sportswagon.

nah no badge at the front.

i think there is more then enough room in the back. certainly more then a sedan and has the height of a wagon. also the distance needed on the back to open the boot is alot less than most wagons.

[YBHVE4]

keep the no badge look ;P

yeap no badge. plus i want to keep the chrome bonnet strip as it is a calais so the badge would be half cut out if i did put one.

[LOW_XR]

ve's are basically a money trap walking.. any little thing is so over priced to replace.
not worth owning 1 imo

yeah not worth owning one! thats why you drive a EF i suppose?

looks cool anyway! id maybe colorcode the bonnet mould ( like HSV's) but other than that its cool!

[edfalconTurbo]

looks like a tidy wagon shoulda got the 6ltr though

so wish i could have afforded one. maybe next time and manual

Looks mint in the new pictures much better

Yea mate has a manual ssv wagon good bit of gear!

Just make sure you stay on top of servicing in those alloytecs doesnt take long for them to clog up with oil ive seen some shockers in the VZ when they open em up.

man i work at a holden dealership as an apprentice.. we got this sv6 come in for a service and fk all oil came out, so got the approval to look into it abit further and found that the entire motor had sludged up to the point were it needed a full strip down and reseal kit. and what caused all this? the lady that owned the car, bought it from a nissan dealership and they put the wrong oil in it. LOL.

[edfalconTurbo]

ve's are basically a money trap walking.. any little thing is so over priced to replace.
not worth owning 1 imo

yeah not worth owning one! thats why you drive a EF i suppose?

looks cool anyway! id maybe colorcode the bonnet mould ( like HSV's) but other than that its cool!

dude for the amount you pay to get an e series as opposed to a ve? id take an e series anyday..
i work with ve's everyday and my personal opinion of them are not good but.. as i said its my opinion.

[V8VenomWagon]

ve's are basically a money trap walking.. any little thing is so over priced to replace.
not worth owning 1 imo

yeah not worth owning one! thats why you drive a EF i suppose?

looks cool anyway! id maybe colorcode the bonnet mould ( like HSV's) but other than that its cool!

dude for the amount you pay to get an e series as opposed to a ve? id take an e series anyday..
i work with ve's everyday and my personal opinion of them are not good but.. as i said its my opinion.

That seems to be the opinion of many people including myself. I worked for holden when these came out and while I love the idea of a new wagon there are just too many bad points for me to ever buy one

[edfalconTurbo]

^agreed..

now back to the calai'S i still think it looks hot as fck lol keep up the good stuff mate

[YBHVE4]

Thanks for the heads up. As is *touch wood*no issues. I knew what possible issues I may face owning one so was very particular on my selection. As mentioned before anyways is that I change cars fairly regularly so as a short term I should be ok. Whoever if the opportunity arises where I can own a ss, ssv or clubby wagon im not going to pass

[YBHVE4]

ve's are basically a money trap walking.. any little thing is so over priced to replace.
not worth owning 1 imo

yeah not worth owning one! thats why you drive a EF i suppose?

looks cool anyway! id maybe colorcode the bonnet mould ( like HSV's) but other than that its cool!

Cheers mate. Was thinking that but I think it staying chrome it still gives it the calais appeal.

[edfalconTurbo]

lol man if u get a 6ltr wagon first thing u do is slam it and full exhaust.. we had 1 come in today and fair to say this thing hauled ASSSS!

[YBHVE4]

lol man if u get a 6ltr wagon first thing u do is slam it and full exhaust.. we had 1 come in today and fair to say this thing hauled ASSSS!

any pros and cons about the 6litre u can tell me before i set my goals towards one...LOL

[someLS1]

lol man if u get a 6ltr wagon first thing u do is slam it and full exhaust.. we had 1 come in today and fair to say this thing hauled ASSSS!

any pros and cons about the 6litre u can tell me before i set my goals towards one...LOL

There are no cons with a 6ltr! any one that tells you otherwise is full of it!

[EFFalcon]

thats not true...
it'll cost you more because you'll want to modify it unlike a commo V6

[Dansedgli]

Also not turbo enough.

[ClassicAU]

Well, here is my experience of the 6ltr. I had a brand new VE SSV wagon 6M for a few months. Key word, HAD. Ok, so I couldn't afford to keep a $43k car, but that doesn't change the fact that it drove like shit. Don't get me wrong, the interior was a fantastic place to be, but everything else was completely underwhelming. The clutch was heavy, the driveline clunked and felt rough, and I am certain it was slower than my AU is now, and the stock exhaust is too quiet. So it only had 56kms on it when I took delivery, which means the motor probably needed to loosen up, but still. Poor experience of a brand new car. I should have bought the ex-demo FG XR6T 6M I drove at the time, would probably still have it. That thing was a rocket!

[URZ2NV]

The Mrs has a 06 VE SS 6 speed manual sedan, I quiet enjoy driving from time to time as its a tad different to the turbo, but the only things I can pick on is the gear changes could be alot smoother as it does feel quiet clunky, the suspension could also do with a little softening from standard but different springs and shocks and i recon you could get it to ride nice, other then that they are awesome car.

As ClassicAU sed the exhaust note is pretty pathetic but nothing a cat back 2 1/2 or even 3 inch couldn't fix.

Oh and love the current wagon it looks sweet.

Cheers
Josh

[YBHVE4]

thanks for the comments.

yeah have to agree with the suspension. mine rides so much nicer on kings and i would say a set of lowered shocks would be the icing on the cake (besides coilovers). The stock suspension was harsh and hopeless around corners. Exhaust too stock on the 6L could be abit more "sporty" in sound as its a 6L and ppl who buy them for the power.

havent driven a manual but again before changing i would do some research and test driving before making my next selection when it does happen.

small update (Ill get pics soon) - just got some AFM stock mufflers on now so got quad tips plus a light note when putting your foot down. Quite happy with that and suits me well with the kids :-)

[edfalconTurbo]

any pros and cons about the 6litre u can tell me before i set my goals towards one...LOL

they feel fcking heavy as, not very responsive an yeah...
oh btw DO !!NOT!! GET A 6LTR IF YOU DONT WANT TO CHANGE YOUR TYRES EVERY 15,000 - 25,000 KMS!!!!

[YBHVE4]

any pros and cons about the 6litre u can tell me before i set my goals towards one...LOL

they feel fcking heavy as, not very responsive an yeah...
oh btw DO !!NOT!! GET A 6LTR IF YOU DONT WANT TO CHANGE YOUR TYRES EVERY 15,000 - 25,000 KMS!!!!

lol....why is that

[edfalconTurbo]

because u cant help but skate everywhere

[LOW_XR]

i had a 6lt maloo and only thing i can say is the stock shifter was pretty clunky. i was looking to upgrade the shifter but never got around to it.

i think the VE's are a all round nice car. love the interior, only thing is the pattern on the dash is a bit of a bitch to clean.

they make bloody good power and with an exhaust they sound 10x better than a windsor. I'd buy another VE if i get the chance.

[YBHVE4]

well the wagz is now gone. Was def a great car but time for a new toy. Hope the new owner looks after it and enjoys it as much as i did.