VX II Calais s/c V6 opinions please

[nstg8a]

I've asked this in aff as well, thought I might as well get as many opinions as I can

Yes I realise its a ford forum, but there's some on here that know a bit about the holdens, so I thought I'd ask the question.

Basically I'm looking for a daily to tide me over for the next three or four years, and I'm only looking at spending 6k. Can go to 8k but I'd really prefer not to.

So, I've eyeballed heaps of cars in the last few weeks ( probably a candidate for the 'time waster' thread according to some) and I'm not finding much that really interests me.

But the local cheapie yard has a pretty tidy vx II Calais, with the s/c v6.
Condition wise, its hard to fault, probably a 9/10 considering its age.
It's done 240000 ish Kay's iirc, and they want 5k driveaway.

Il admit, I loved the interior of it, seems like a much classier interior than the equivalent au, exterior wise, its pretty, well. Meh. Inoffensive I guess. Front looks better than the rear.

Il admit I know nothing about the s/c v6s, what are they like? Reliable? I don't need a powerhouse, and it would no doubt stay stock mechanically.

Any obvious flaws in the vx range? Is 240 Kay's a lot for one f these?

[mr calais49]

There a fairly good engine the biggest thing I've found that go wrong with the engines is the inlet manifold gaskets go and leak coolant and I've done a couple of the supercharger belts and tensioner other than that there about the same as every other emotec

[staunchxr]

For that price range you can get a nice XR6 turbo seen a bf 6 speed around 8 not long ago and ba xr6 turbos have dropped right down just last week i found a couple on gumtree for around the 5K mark iirc I m sure the calais would be a nice daily but I know which one id choose My old supercharged statesman was around the 300,000 mark and still went great and was nice and comfy sorry I m not more help cheers

[nstg8a]

For that price range you can get a nice XR6 turbo seen a bf 6 speed around 8 not long ago and ba xr6 turbos have dropped right down just last week i found a couple on gumtree for around the 5K mark iirc I m sure the calais would be a nice daily but I know which one id choose My old supercharged statesman was around the 300,000 mark and still went great and was nice and comfy sorry I m not more help cheers

Seen a few cheap xr6ts and to be honest I wasn't impressed, I don't think the b series is ageing particularly well, plus I'd be too tempted to mod a xr6t. Same yard has a ba xr6t for 9k I think.
Cheap xr6ts are cheap enough that they aren't necessarily treated as well as they should be. Calais is a grandpa car, so hopefully hasn't been abused as much. (I hope lol)

[Parfrey]

Probably not a bad machine but if you really want a crummadore why not an LS1 vx?

[nstg8a]

Probably not a bad machine but if you really want a crummadore why not an LS1 vx?

Running and rego costs.

It's over 1k a year for rego in qld for a V8. And I learnt with my fg that I like the sound of an 8 way too much.

[falcon4life]

Not worth it, nice tide e series xr6 is whhere it's at or even just a b series xr

[staunchxr]

For that price range you can get a nice XR6 turbo seen a bf 6 speed around 8 not long ago and ba xr6 turbos have dropped right down just last week i found a couple on gumtree for around the 5K mark iirc I m sure the calais would be a nice daily but I know which one id choose My old supercharged statesman was around the 300,000 mark and still went great and was nice and comfy sorry I m not more help cheers

Seen a few cheap xr6ts and to be honest I wasn't impressed, I don't think the b series is ageing particularly well, plus I'd be too tempted to mod a xr6t. Same yard has a ba xr6t for 9k I think.
Cheap xr6ts are cheap enough that they aren't necessarily treated as well as they should be. Calais is a grandpa car, so hopefully hasn't been abused as much. (I hope lol)

I agree they would be rough for that price and it sure would be hard to not mod it ( ahh ill just get a front mount ) haha but yeah Calais should be mint mate are you able to get any pics of it? would be nice to see i like the look of the vz Calais think they look nice with a set of wheels. I 100% agree with the V8 statement when i had my 8 always seemed to take the route with a tunnel and would drop her back a gear to hear that sweet sound

hope it works out for ya mate and its a nice car cheers

[Ef_frmnt]

Supercharged V6 is the worst possible commodore engine you could buy. If you feel the need the get a Calais then buy a standard six.

[nstg8a]

No real need for a commodore, just seeing whats around in my price range.

Just as much chance il buy something small. But I feel like a change from falcons, its pretty much all I've had since I've been in aus.

[Nikk O'lass]

Buy the Calais, they are a powerhouse that decimates all.

[staunchxr]

No real need for a commodore, just seeing whats around in my price range.

Just as much chance il buy something small. But I feel like a change from falcons, its pretty much all I've had since I've been in aus.

Stick with whats good mate haha

Well just today i found a ba mk11 XR6 Turbo 6 speed for $7500 on gumtree plzzz have some
will power and buy that and just don't mod it for a while!! such a good car for the money...

[Henry]

I've got a VX Berlina S/C, it's effortlessly torquey and comfortable. No world beater and to be honest probably as quick as a stock N/A BA. Chews the juice for the lowly power output (171KW)and 14L/100 around town, about 10L/100 on the highway.

If you wanted a bit more punch a blower pulley upgrade is easy. They are much nicer to drive than the standard ecotec as they are so torquey you barely go over 2 grand to accelerate in top gear. As for being the worst possible engine, well on paper not much of a gain in power over the stocker but in the real world the torque difference is very noticeable. Being a Calais it also has all the fancy climate control and all the fake walnut you can handle. Would be a nice car to own.

I've never seen an XR6T as cheap as discussed here, though if you did get one that cheap you could be sure that it would have been thrashed and abused by some deadshit and probably need the asking price again in repairs and maintenance to get it decent again.

[misk]

if you can find one cheap with the standard mods getting it running 12psi or so with a good diff ratio they are fuckin fun to drive!
a mate had one with 4.11s that made around 200rwkw - i know it doesn't sound like much, but the power delivery made it a great car to drive.

obviously different to a turbo car, but you can find a supercharge VS for around 6k so they can be a decent car for street driving as long as its got the right mods.

[staunchxr]

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/vincent/ ... 1019183714

There you go henry 6 speed XR6 Turbo looks immaculate being a second hand car might need a few things
but that's the fun of owning cars also it's a ford it can handle the punishment

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/tanah-me ... 1019676083

This one has lowish k's and looks stock great daily plenty more theres even one for $6K on there..

[Henry]

Hmmm yeah they are cheap, one is out of rego. There has to be a reason why they are so cheap. If they sold it in parts it would be worth more than that.

[NUT347]

The thing is, 4 speed xr6ts are bound to have troubles.

Also, one eyed fans ftl. Saying it can handle it is a massive understatement.

My xr6t had 98000kms and over boosted and threw a rod. The gearboxes are made of plastic, I bet the turbo is noisy on those high km ones.

[staunchxr]

Well all I m trying to get across here is who in there right mind would buy a friggin vx calais over a xr6 turbo?
you will have V8 fuel economy for V6 power, I might have mixed my words up there but i m sure any calais commodores
been thrashed as well.

Fair enough josh you had a bad experience with yours but surely the 6 speed manual for $7.5K is worth buying over the calais..

I m no expert but i just can't believe how cheap they are these days hell of a car for the money!!

[ausedwagon]

what about a ba or bf ghia? 4-8k and you can get a nice clean car.

[Henry]

You do make a fair point Staunch, the Falcon makes it look like a dead set tractor. The Dunnydore has suspension technology from a Datto 1600 ( with toe control links) and an all iron pushrod v6. The auto box is pretty crude compared to the Ford's. However, It does perform better than the sum of it's parts and they are also cheap and easy to repair. The XR6t could just be a bargain, but the one in Townsville shows 21K on the clock and already has a new clutch and turbo.....

[NUT347]

As nstg8a said as well, BAs haven't aged well.

I bet that Calais would be in alot better condition throughout then a 7.5k 200000km xr6t.

The point I'm getting at, a shitbox Calais can be picked up for $2k, much like a $7.5k xr6t.

Would you buy a $500 AU xr6 and say its better then the Calais?

[misk]

how is it a tractor?
stop being a goose and treat the car asif it was a ford, then re-write your post...

[Henry]

how is it a tractor?
stop being a goose and treat the car asif it was a ford, then re-write your post...

Mate I own one I should know. All I was getting at is that it's primitive compared to an XR6t but performs better than many would think. If you read all of my posts you would see that I was actually defending the thing, if I thought they were a POS I wouldn't have bought one myself.
Tractor is a slight exaggeration obviously. An all iron pushrod engine with a roots blower on top : hardly cutting edge but like I said it's still nice to drive regardless of any lack of technology. Clear enough for you?

[nothin suss]

I've serviced a few and they are quite simple to maintain.
As for reliability issues thousands of P-Platers drive them, that's a pretty good test!

I've had a BA and two BF2 wagons now as dailys and they are great, very basic tho but holding their price.

[wicksy]

My two commodores I had the first one had 335000 on it and second 220000 and they never let me down and I drove them pretty hard too haha only thing I had to replace was the heater t piece and batteries but otherwise no dramas from me

[misk]

how is it a tractor?
stop being a goose and treat the car asif it was a ford, then re-write your post...

Mate I own one I should know. All I was getting at is that it's primitive compared to an XR6t but performs better than many would think. If you read all of my posts you would see that I was actually defending the thing, if I thought they were a POS I wouldn't have bought one myself.
Tractor is a slight exaggeration obviously. An all iron pushrod engine with a roots blower on top : hardly cutting edge but like I said it's still nice to drive regardless of any lack of technology. Clear enough for you?

sorry, even though i was reading all posts in this thread i missed the post that said you owned one lol.

[SnipeZ]

My two commodores I had the first one had 335000 on it and second 220000 and they never let me down and I drove them pretty hard too haha only thing I had to replace was the heater t piece and batteries but otherwise no dramas from me

You got lucky then


Cheers

[nstg8a]

It's all irrelevant now anyway, I ended up getting a wheezer powered barge...

Pretty much the exact opposite of what I wanted

Fwiw, the Calais was mint, I've seen 20k b series in much worse condition. Also I think the reason the salesman was being a **** was he possibly already had a better offer on it than what I was prepared to pay. It's now sitting up the back of the yard with a sold sign in it.