My(company) VZ Crummydore!!! - Page 2

Sapper · 18-05-2007, 08:08 AM

I might point out that neither the falcon or commodore DTE functions are ever going to be particularly accurate. This is due to the wire and float systems that they use for measuring the fuel level in the tank. This float will change level as the fuel moves around when you corner/brake/accelerate. This restriction on the accuracy of the fuel level reading will affect the accuracy of the DTE reading.

AussieJason · 18-05-2007, 09:09 AM

My VZ work car is not too bad. Has had several problems like some Falcon models but overall is ok.

I just travelled almost 500km yesterday and that is when I hate the VZ: Long distance travel. Awful ride comfort, gutless engine, fiddly cruise control setup, average handling at best.

Again like I said, not bad abound town, but I miss my BF going long distance.

jimmy_c · 18-05-2007, 09:16 AM

Honestly I dont mind either before I brought the Ghia I was looking at Berlina/calais v8s and all sorts of things. But after my father having Commodore company cars for 10yrs I wanted something different. Over this time the ones we have had, have been fully serviced (inc fuel).

As per other people have said my main gripe is the sloppiness of the gearbox with out using the power button.

I think so far the VZ has been the best sorted out of the VT-VZ and so it should as its the last of them.

VT-VX1 with the horrible rear suspension issue (wearing out tyres) was highly annoying esp. when you have a 2t trailer to tow.

I am happy with my BA but hey nothing is perfect. The spark plugs are annoying to change, the ETC and TPS fail more than they work and a few trim issues.

But hey they dont cost as much as a Rolls.

4.9 EF Futura · 18-05-2007, 09:23 AM

A mate of mine bought a VZ wagon for the wife to lug the kids around in. I thought it was quite nice, when you consider it in the context of a quiet, smooth family car.

Ford doesnt have too much of an avenue for bragging rights when it comes to auto construction!!

azzss · 18-05-2007, 09:26 PM

A much of a muchness i reckon, I've got a VZ SS M6 sedan and thats been a good car so far. I had a VS berlina V8 and it was a very good car. I've got mates also who have got falcons and had a good run out of them also. I wouldn't mind a spin in a XR6T to see how it compares with my SS as i've herd good thing about them. At the end of the day, you'll have ya ford blokes saying falcons are the better car and holden blokes saying commodores are the go. It's all good i reckon!

devilcv8 · 18-05-2007, 09:54 PM

I have 119,000 km on my leased VZ SV6 in 15 months and it is still a nicer car to drive than the BF wagon I drive for work, and that only has 11,400km on it. Fortunately I only have another 10 work days of the falcon.

My choices for the next vehicle (based on may pricing) are
SS-V at 23k
XR6T at 18.8K
XR8 at 19k
above pricing is per annum and includes everything, fuel, tyres, servicing, fbt etc.

The Taipan · 18-05-2007, 10:10 PM

We don't get many commodores in our fleet cars. We have two falcons, and currently just received a Crewman. We have two Camry's, three 'rollas and a Elantra, one VZ and one Ashtray. The boss gets the VZ. I hate driving any of the toyota products. The corrolla just isn't made for my body. There is not a comforable driving position and the seat has no support under the bumb - it feels like a toilet seat! The Camry is roomy, and able to get comfortable in, but handles so badly its not a feeling of safety and control when you are at the wheel. The Hyundai, is a refreshing suprise - one of the favourites by far. It certainly is no dynamic genious on the road, but easily preferable to the corrolla and that's without knowing that its purchase cost is lower...

The highlights would have to be the falcons. We have a white and a purple XT. The purple one is certainly a much better example of the two, although its handbrake is not able to hold even on the most gentle of slopes! The white car is a bit of a dud, but its still more joyful to drive than the other vehicles. The biggest difference is the steering feel, handling, gearbox, power, driving position, vision, ergonomics, fit and finish (on the purple one), grip, room... the flaws are few and far between. The worst car would have to be the crewman... they got rid of a hilux ute as noone drove it because the rear vision was so bad (these vehicles do a lot of city parking) - so some clown thought a crewman with a canopy would be better?!? Now we have the longest car on the Australian market, with a canopy option, and normal sedan mirrors. As for the car itself - I hate the gearbox, its totally clueless - and I am not a huge fan of the falcon 4, but its better than any in this fleet, steering, totally gutless and unresponsive engine - frighteningly so, poor vision, and awkward driving position. Holden topped that with easily the worst fit and finish of the fleet. It actually surprised me how bad the crewman was, as I had previously assumed it would be similar to a commodore in most ways. Worst of all was the choppy ride, combined with the dismal handling - it didn't want to change direction at all. I have seen boats with better handling!

S

Jock260 · 18-05-2007, 10:25 PM

Holdens have been in our family for about 10 years now, and out of all of them (VT series 1 SS, VX Series 1 SS, VY Series 2 SS, And know back to another VY SS Series 2) We've never had any major problems, probably because they have all been manuals, but we did own a VZ Exec for about 10 Months between the series 2 ss's and as you have mentioned the auto is terrible, it clunks, it doesnt change when you want to, it changes when you don't want to. And the lack of torque was also a big downer, even my 1983 Xe has more torque than the alloy tech in the VZ's. And the smell... even when your over taking and have to give it a bit, it just reeks inside. And not to mention it sounds like **** too.

The Taipan · 18-05-2007, 10:33 PM

In Holden's defence, I have recently had a couple of days doing a Holden Definsive Driving course through work. We played in VE's at that time, and I must admit, this is the best holden I have ever driven by far. I would consider it to have many advantages over the BA (and BF although I haven't driven the BF itself) Falcon, however if it came to a choice, the major considerations would be over the gawd-awful holden engine/gearbox, and price - who was willing to work a better deal...

S

AussieJason · 18-05-2007, 10:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Taipan

In Holden's defence, I have recently had a couple of days doing a Holden Definsive Driving course through work. We played in VE's at that time, and I must admit, this is the best holden I have ever driven by far. I would consider it to have many advantages over the BA (and BF although I haven't driven the BF itself) Falcon, however if it came to a choice, the major considerations would be over the gawd-awful holden engine/gearbox, and price - who was willing to work a better deal...

S

As you said the VE is the best Holden, but I am still undecided if I like the handling or not from my limited time driving one. I would at least say it is pretty good.

In my opinion the BF is streets ahead of the BA (I have owned both), though many BA owners may disagree !

Rollin · 18-05-2007, 11:08 PM

Quote:

8/ ABS. Comes on too easily and it sounds and feels like gravel in between the disc and rotor......

Does the car have stability control? If it does it is likely the steering rack is not centered and the steering angle sensor is reading the car is turning a car much harder than it really is, or a lot less hard than it really is.

This, combined with the Yaw-rate sensor will make the Stability Control module think the car is sliding and it will attempt to control a non-existant slide.

I've encountered this problem many times with VZs. If the car doesn't have stability control then it much just be Krap haha.

Quote:

Ford doesnt have too much of an avenue for bragging rights when it comes to auto construction!!

Probably depends on the car. The box in my 177,000km old ED is much better than pretty much every 6/auto commodore I drive at work.

P.S. Don't get me started about the F*&^&*^*%&(&^*)(_)_()(&*^&()*&(KING Fly by wire throttle on VZ/VE! OH MY GOD!!! The HSVs are the worst of the lot.

I haven't driven a BF, and don't particularly like the BA setup but it is still light-years ahead of the Holden offering.

Cable accelerators FTMFW!!

Rollin · 18-05-2007, 11:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Taipan

In Holden's defence, I have recently had a couple of days doing a Holden Definsive Driving course through work. We played in VE's at that time, and I must admit, this is the best holden I have ever driven by far. I would consider it to have many advantages over the BA (and BF although I haven't driven the BF itself) Falcon, however if it came to a choice, the major considerations would be over the gawd-awful holden engine/gearbox, and price - who was willing to work a better deal...

Quote:

Originally Posted by AussieJason

As you said the VE is the best Holden, but I am still undecided if I like the handling or not from my limited time driving one. I would at least say it is pretty good.

In my opinion the BF is streets ahead of the BA (I have owned both), though many BA owners may disagree !

You guys obviously never tried changing lanes then, or actually seeing around a corner you were taking. The size of the A/B/C pillars and the boot height is absolutely ridiculous - (and again, the HSVs are even worse)

A 12 year old kid could stand directly behind the car and you wouldn't know until you heard the thump when you reversed over the top of them...it makes reverse sensors mandatory rather than a luxury.

High waistlines: ie VE, 300C, AH Astra, ZC vectra, Focus, even BA/BF might be the current trend, but they are REALLY stupid when you are actually trying to see out of the car when reversing or changing lanes.

I'll hop off my soapbox now.

:

**Linz** · 18-05-2007, 11:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rodp

It's better than the other way around. Our company prefers Ford and we have a pool car that e-mails fly when someone uses it (and it promptly runs out of fuel showing 75km to empty).

Never had that problem with my BA-XR8. I've had it into single digits but am not willing to do a Kramer on it. :P

"Not that there's anything wrong with that"

ti0350 · 19-05-2007, 12:50 PM

When it came time to get rid of our old VS we were very opened minded about what we wanted to buy and I was really keen to buy a Ford for a change.. I talked to several friends of mine who've owned them and all of them had problems.. One mate sent his brand fairmont back 10 times in the first months to get stuff fixed so I regretfully decided to look at Commodores as well..
We bough a VY 2 SS and are very damn happy with havent had a problem with it the auto in it.. We find the seats comfortable on long trips (even my mate with a BAGT agreed with this) The VY SS's must have got more features then the VZ exec becuase my car a little craddle inside the door to the fuel tank for me to put my cap on when I fill up.. Hope the new Ford is better would like more then one brand to choose from when we get rid of the VY...
The VZ you drove sounds like a lemon and sounds like it has more probs then my old VS, I used to get 13l per 100km in 100% city traffic with a stuffed gear box..

shedguy · 19-05-2007, 02:13 PM

Every time I get in my boss's VY I feel uncumfortable .... worse when I have to drive it! That's why I have the XR6 ... I reckon alot of it is "in our head" !!

Having said that ... a mate of mine is on the verge of sueing GMH over his piece of s*** VE .... 22 warranty trips in 4 mths!! And I got annoyed when Ford said NO!! to a new diff ... ( 2 weeks out of warranty ..

: )

Rodp · 19-05-2007, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by devilcv8

I have 119,000 km on my leased VZ SV6 in 15 months and it is still a nicer car to drive than the BF wagon I drive for work, and that only has 11,400km on it. Fortunately I only have another 10 work days of the falcon.

My choices for the next vehicle (based on may pricing) are
SS-V at 23k
XR6T at 18.8K
XR8 at 19k
above pricing is per annum and includes everything, fuel, tyres, servicing, fbt etc.

Damn, what do you do in your private life that you average 250km per day, 7 days per week?

devilcv8 · 19-05-2007, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rodp

Damn, what do you do in your private life that you average 250km per day, 7 days per week?

I travel between Bega and Canberra quite often, 2 to 4 return trips a week, thats 400 odd kms each return trip. Last year at Bathurst I drove Canberra to Bathurst and back on saturday, and sunday. When Brocky died I did a trip upto bathurst, then went to Melbourne and back for the Sandown memorial.
basically I enjoy driving. hell, I even went for a 1300km round trip to pick up a part I got on ebay

Swordie · 22-05-2007, 09:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1tufel

i drove my bosses VE berlina, and i have to admit, they are rubbish.

That's a surprise when the VE received Car Of The Year.

Rollin · 22-05-2007, 11:24 PM

Yeah...so did the camira....now that's a top car!

BF > BA > VZ > VE*

(If ED is not allowed to be included, otherwise it would be ED > *.* ) :p

XR8-260 · 22-05-2007, 11:36 PM

So did the dunnydore VN back in 1988. These car of the year awards don't mean jack squat.

Swordie · 23-05-2007, 07:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rollin

Yeah...so did the camira....now that's a top car!

BF > BA > VZ > VE*

(If ED is not allowed to be included, otherwise it would be ED > *.* ) :p

I actually drove a Camira from Victoria to QLD and back many years ago. They were a good in their time. It would sit on Newel at 140 and feel quite stable.

Should we take no value in the BA winning the award?

Swordie · 23-05-2007, 07:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3

So did the dunnydore VN back in 1988. These car of the year awards don't mean jack squat.

Don't forget the P76 defense as well.

FPVWEPN · 23-05-2007, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1tufel

i drove my bosses VE berlina, and i have to admit, they are rubbish.
there is tons of slack in the accelerator pedal(petal), it feels so cheaply made. i really dont want to spend $50000 on a car made from plastic. as stated above, rattles get annoying, billion dollar baby? they got ripped off. Traction control comes on way late lol, it was pouring rain, i went around a roundabout and it got sideways before anything happened, and then i lost total control of the car (not spin out, it wouldnt respond to any of my inputs)
i like the dash, its a cool layout, and it is very comfortable. i was doing 60k's on a bumpy road and couldnt realy feel a thing.

depends what your after really. i know i'm not a fan.

Note: i am in no way biased, i have owned commodores, fords, and now a subaru.

Traction control is not ESP ****head

Bud Bud · 23-05-2007, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EdFairmontGhia

I was lucky/unlucky enough to drive around for a few months in a vy sv6, which was supposed to have all the bells and whistles of a sportier holden. I found the tiptronic gearing to lag quite a bit, (even though this was the first car i had been in with the tiptronic), but this was confirmed after taking a spin in Ghia5L EB with a home made tiptronic which seemed alot more responsive.... Maybe i'm biased or maybe i expected too much from the (back then 03) new holden????

This is why you just can't reliably believe anything you read on the internet, especially on one eyed car forums etc. I wonder how many believe people here read this quote and now believe that the vy has tiptronic shift? Even worse, I wonder if some people actually believe everything they write or do they just write for a reaction?

Gotta love the "home made" tiptronic!

The first commy with tiptronic is the VE.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rodp

It's better than the other way around. Our company prefers Ford and we have a pool car that e-mails fly when someone uses it (and it promptly runs out of fuel showing 75km to empty).

Never had that problem with my BA-XR8. I've had it into single digits but am not willing to do a Kramer on it.

My BA left me stranded on the Lonsdale freeway 1 km short of the servo I was going to. It showed 14 km on the trip computer. I have never used that thing as a guide ever again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rollin

You guys obviously never tried changing lanes then, or actually seeing around a corner you were taking. The size of the A/B/C pillars and the boot height is absolutely ridiculous - (and again, the HSVs are even worse)

A 12 year old kid could stand directly behind the car and you wouldn't know until you heard the thump when you reversed over the top of them...it makes reverse sensors mandatory rather than a luxury.

You might be right. If this trend continues and the spy pics of the Orion clearly show this trend continuing as well, then perhaps there should be some sort of ADR concerning visibility. This could include reversing sensors or even rear cameras etc. "LCD and remote camera" technology is very cheap these days.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shedguy

Having said that ... a mate of mine is on the verge of sueing GMH over his piece of s*** VE .... 22 warranty trips in 4 mths!! And I got annoyed when Ford said NO!! to a new diff ... ( 2 weeks out of warranty .. )

You went to the wrong dealership! Had our BA diff replaced in under 5000 km under warranty, no probs!

vztrt · 23-05-2007, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bud Bud

This is why you just can't reliably believe anything you read on the internet, especially on one eyed car forums etc. I wonder how many believe people here read this quote and now believe that the vy has tiptronic shift? Even worse, I wonder if some people actually believe everything they write or do they just write for a reaction?

Gotta love the "home made" tiptronic!

The first commy with tiptronic is the VE.

Didn't the late VT platform commos have a padle shift tiptronic?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bud Bud

My BA left me stranded on the Lonsdale freeway 1 km short of the servo I was going to. It showed 14 km on the trip computer. I have never used that thing as a guide ever again.

Common problem that should be fixed under warrenty as its a simple resistor to give the DTE more accuracy, I've had mine on 0 and it didn't run out of petrol.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bud Bud

You might be right. If this trend continues and the spy pics of the Orion clearly show this trend continuing as well, then perhaps there should be some sort of ADR concerning visibility. This could include reversing sensors or even rear cameras etc. "LCD and remote camera" technology is very cheap these days.

The B series isn't that flash either, I've almost hit cars going into roundabouts as there were hidden behind the a-pillar.

Bud Bud · 23-05-2007, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vztrt

Didn't the late VT platform commos have a padle shift tiptronic?

Sorry vztrt you are right. The VZ 5 speed did have a paddle shift mode. I was referring to tiptronic as it was intended by Porsche, that is a floor mounted manual that negates the need for a H-pattern shift and clutch operation. The vy did not have either paddles or tiptronic floor shift mode. It also did not have a 5 speed auto in its vy range in 03.

Thanks for the heads up about the resistor. I will definitely get this looked into next service.

FalconXR6 · 23-05-2007, 06:34 PM

This is funny, as it's the same thing I'm going through now.

I've got a BA MKII XR6 Turbo and a VZ Commo company car (had a VE for 2 weeks) and I have to agree with all the comments.

The smell of teh VZ when thrashed.
The lack of torque.
Throttle response in the VZ is shocking.
Steering feel is a joke.
Handling (as with all pre VE Commo's) is dangerous.
Auto is horrid with heaps of slip.
Gearing is just plain stoopid. Way too tall for what the motor is capable of.
Interior is O.K. on the VZ, better than VE, but is still a bit-za and nowhere near as good as BA-BF.
The stereo is pathetic.
The stalk mounted cruise control is cheap and horrible to use.

How this thing is / was Australia's favourite car has got me stuffed!

I'll be busting my balls to get a BFII when the VZ shitter's lease is up!

XR8-260 · 23-05-2007, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Swordie

Should we take no value in the BA winning the award?

You actually take these coty awards seriously? Don't get me wrong, these awards are nice to have, but at the end of the day I don't pay too much attention to them.

stevz · 23-05-2007, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FalconXR6

How this thing is / was Australia's favourite car has got me stuffed!

How someone can write so much one-eyed utter crap has got me stuffed.

uranium_death · 23-05-2007, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3

You actually take these coty awards seriously? Don't get me wrong, these awards are nice to have, but at the end of the day I don't pay too much attention to them.

1982 JB Camira and 85 Magna are fine examples of Cars of the Year gone wrong.

The fact that the VE got COTY when really, it is hardly ahead of the Falcon overall (if at all) shows that the award IMO is not particular accurate. The EF/L Falcon was no worse than a VR/S. I would have taken an XD-F over a VC-L anyday of the week. But those awards disagree.