1992 Holden Commodore VP BT1 5.0 EFI from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

Cheap performance car that will desire the dollars

Faults:

Battery went flat the first time I drove it.

Temperature gauge works when it wants to.

Burnt out the clutch packs in the Turbo 700 Trans, extremely common fault, $1800 Re-con.

Hood-lining starting to sag, very common.

General Comments:

Smoothest engine I've owned, heaps of torque and extremely quick.

Handling isn't the best.

Poor fuel economy, but worth every penny.

Excellent looking modern car for age.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 1st March, 2004

1992 Holden Commodore VP 3.8 from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

A perfect balance between performance, reliability and space

Faults:

Brake lights got stuck on - problem with switch.

Automatics shifts are very rough, especially when cold.

Windscreen Wiper Control has fallen off, unable to fix, must replace unit.

Can be very sluggish at initial acceleration on cold mornings.

General Comments:

This car is wonderfully gutsy, and gives the impression that it could go forever.

Although it has had lots of minor faults, I feel this is to expected with the high mileage.

The car meets every challenge I could throw at it.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 27th September, 2003

1992 Holden Commodore from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

A semi-fast lemon!

Faults:

The temp gauge only worked when it felt like it.

The odometer just stopped one day, and then a couple of months later, it just started up again on its own.

The car slowly deteriorated over the 9 months that I had it, and it made a myriad of noises, from the suspension to the steering.

The cassette stopped working, and the remote central locking only worked sometimes. Not when you wanted it to work.

General Comments:

The car was fairly quick, but it was a rough ride for a modern car. You would expect more performance from such a big engine, but that's what you get with companies that use out of date technology.

Up against Japanese cars of the same vintage and even older, this dinosaur just does not cut it. In the hills it handles like a car of twice its age, and has way too much body roll for its own good.

All the options in the car started to fall apart, and I think that the whole car was built of poor quality all round, and is not a car to desire and aspire to own, as I found out after I had owned one!

My advice to anyone looking at buying a VP; take your money and buy a Japanese car. You can get one for the same price if you shop around, and you will get a better package all round. Forget "are you a Ford or a Holden man", it is now "are you a Toyota or a Nissan man", as these cars are of such better liquidity, and all the die hard Ford and Holden fans would not even know, as they are so one eyed to import cars, that they would probably not even consider test driving one. Well if you are like that (as I used to be), you are the only one missing out, as now that I have seen the other side, I will never go back to "Australian" cars ever, as they are too inferior for my liking.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 30th December, 2002

2nd Sep 2003, 04:41

Good to see a Holden/Ford fan has seen the light. I couldn't agree with you more. People who are fanatical about the big 6 or 8 cylinder model Holdens or Fords are just blind fools. Sure, the parts availability is very good in Australia, where these 'junk' cars are made, and they may deliver good performance (ie; hooning power) for the price, but that's pretty much all the virtue these cars have. They are such poor quality and they generally have poor reliability.

I had a Ford Cortina. Actually we had five of them. Four things they all had in common were; a) they all burned considerable amounts of oil, b) they lost coolant all the time and we couldn't find the leak, c) they were rust buckets and d) they were generally not very reliable after they turned 10 years old. All 'Aussie-made' cars seem to be like this.

These 'big engine' Holdens and Falcons are boorish, Aussie made, low-grade garden variety rubbish. All these cars are not worth a pinch of salt in the end, even if you look after them really well (unless you're lucky and get a rare sports model or something).

I bought my own first Jap car, an '85 Supra (that was in very good condition) and I have not looked back. Pardon my language, but I will not go back to the Aussie excrement. We also have two Daihatsu's, they are 15-20 years old and virtually not a drop of rust in them. They don't burn any oil and don't lose any water either. And we got these cars cheap!

I have now replaced the Supra with a smaller car, a 2.2 litre '93 Camry. Sure the suspension/handling is poorer than the Supra, but the point here is; reliability. It's just "turn the key and go" reliability. I don't have to keep opening the bonnet every day to see how much water/oil has been consumed. These Toyota's I've had hardly burn/drop oil, or at all, and don't lose water at all. And they have little to no rust on them...

If only more Ford/Holden fans could break through the veil and go for the quality, rather than quantity...

Miklos73@bigpond.com.