22nd May 2006, 22:01

I have a 2002 s model, manual transmission, and I find that on average I will get between 14-16lt per 100km. I have never been able to achieve the results that you have of 12Lt/100km.

SP.

27th May 2006, 03:09

I have 2002 Frontera SE Auto and have also had concerns re: fuel economy. Best I have ever got is 12.9ltrs/100kms and had the same concerns with the fuel gauge as the most fuel I have been able to fit in is 62ltrs approx. But all this aside I still love my Frontera. Perfect size, great performance etc.

M.T.

5th Dec 2006, 15:49

I have a 2002 Frontera wagon (3.2litre V6) and your fuel concerns are more to do with the fuel sensing unit mounted in the tank that is not calibrated properly or is defective. I too was experiencing inaccurate fuel consumption figures i.e. fuel used compared the refill quantity not adding up. After returning the vehicle to the Holden dealer and having the fuel sensor unit replaced, all was well again. I have comfortably achieved 750 (plus) kilometres to a tank of fuel and have never had any further reliability issues with this vehicle - very good 4x4 (much underrated).

2nd Jul 2007, 00:13

I have a 99 S Frontera, great car apart from the lack of ground clearance and also, over 2 years of driving, the best economy I can get is 8.2km/litre (whatever that converts too. I do have one small problem at the moment, occasionally the vehicle wants to rev way to high or alternatively so low that it stalls when I put my foot on the clutch, any ideas?

19th Jan 2008, 12:32

Holy crap john, $6500 for a new gearbox? I am selling my 99 frontera asap. Sorry, but I can't help with your problem.

4th Mar 2009, 00:50

Auto gearbox has just died on me - bought 9 months ago 2000 Frontera SE with only 86,000 k's. Last saturday heard a ticking noise from gearbox, went away the next day but I didn't drive it. Got it looked at 3 days later, front sump full of metal - it will die any day... Can either trade it in (and lose a stack of cash) rebuild for at least 5K, or throw in a 2nd hand box (apparently these are crappy auto boxes that can't take the torque) which is a lottery and still 3K...

25th Jun 2010, 18:29

We have a 2002 Auto Frontera, bought second hand with 80000km on the clock. It only has 135 000 on there now - it is used as what hubby calls "a soccer mums car" driving the kids to school etc, so not real hard on the gears or the car in general.

Since buying it, we have had to repair the air conditioning unit, the accumulator twice, front axle and suspension (over $4000 out of pocket, with all this), and now a gear box.

The noise you have described sounds the same as mine, ticking when driving. Told Hubby, but he couldn't hear it, drove fine the next morning then all of a sudden I lost first gear. Took it to the dealer, (it is still under used car warranty, though it is not proving too worthwhile so far) They said it can be driven till it blows up the gear box or rebuilt for around $3-3500. Either way, if we sold it or rebuilt, we would be losing a heap of money. It has now been at the dealer for 2 weeks getting the gearbox rebuilt for the grand total of $5 700. Unbelievable.

We bought it for over $20 000, have spent over $10 000 on repairs, and it is only worth $10 000 now. Sadly we got one big lemon with this car. Hubby researched it thoroughly before buying it, but obviously we should of looked more.

10th Aug 2010, 04:31

2001 Frontera gearbox problems, oil like mud. Changed twice, still the same, we would lose low end gears for a second or two and the same in reverse. We did an alternator and the battery was disconnected. After this, for some reason, all the low gears came back as normal, but reverse is slow to pick up and almost gone when backing up any sort of slope. It's like the clutch is slipping but it's an auto. The car is in as new condition.

Any help please?

Cheers Kev.

8th Oct 2010, 07:24

Kev, sell it!!

I have had mine since new, and have taken awesome care of it, but a simple checkup ended up in my car going to 2 different car places to be fixed, including an auto electrician. It ended up in Holden, and they put new gear box in for nearly $5000. Now my 4wd gearbox just crapped itself 18 months later :( $2500 for gearbox, not sure how much to fit it, but when I was looking, everyone said "good luck".

5th Dec 2010, 01:37

We own a 2002 MX SE Frontera. It has been a good reliable car.

Yes it does like to drink fuel, but I don't think it is excessive or over the top for this type of vehicle.

The clunk from braking and accelerating just means the slip yoke needs re-greasing. The service manual notes that, so the mechanic should be doing that regularly anyway.

Ours has now done 115k, and the gearbox is fine, no problems to date with anything other than the engine light coming on. Assume it will be an oxygen sensor, will let you all know how I go with that.

We just recently took it for a good drive through creek crossings and very muddy conditions. It performed quite well, we had a ball in it.

Happy motoring "to date anyway".

7th Dec 2010, 17:14

Hi there, I'm looking at buying a 2001 Holden Frontera MX S 5speed. Could anyone tell me what to check when test driving the car?

9th Dec 2010, 04:57

Hi, I have just bought a Frontera.

Things to look for: check when starting the engine. It shouldn't need priming before starting. If so the fuel reg is gone (very common) about US$50 and easy to fix. If it has high revs could be either IAC valve or dirt in the power steering pump switch. Check whether the timing belt has been done (over 160k). The general condition underneath... see if it's been offroad or just highway car. If it's been offroad, check the inspection cover under flywheel if it's been sealed. If not, there is a good chance there's sand/dirt in with flywheel.

There's a good start for you and good luck... I looked around and there are some real dogs but I picked up a pretty good ('99 S 140k kms) for roughly $7K. My advice is for the age of Frontys stay away from the autos. If they play up it can cost $$$$$, whereas manuals not as much goes wrong. Just replace a clutch and fluids.