Highest kms

[powerd]

I did a search but haven't found previous threads (although I was sure this has been covered before - correct me if I'm wrong.

My VT11 SS has now covered about 120,000km and is still running perfectly (at least in engine terms). Uses only small amount of oil, as would be expected with the regular long distance trips I do, and engine is as noise free as you can expect from an alloy engine with these kms.

So I am thinking of keeping it longer and refinancing. I would like to hear what sort of mileages others have covered without major problems. I'm not after stuff about oil consumption/piston slap, rather how generally durable engines/transmissions etc have been on high km cars that haven't developed these well known problems that only seem to affect certain cars.

I have recently had to replace the power steering pump which just started spewing out fluid one day. Diff still clunks as it has after numerous attempts to fix it. But nothing else has been a problem, apart from build quality and general refinement.


But I like the power and comfort, so if it will run reliably to 200,000 I might keep it another 3 years. It gets serviced by the book at a very good dealer.

What has been your experiences of higher mileages?

[YIIR8]

LimoLS1 has >450K on his and still going !!

[Speedy Gonzales]

110K and still going strong, car is so much responsive, faster, and fueling well.

Dramas have been power steering hose leaks, brake shudder (swap to slotted rotors), diff clunk (swap to 3.46 ratio), front link pins/rubbers changed, rear tail light wiring looms, drivers side door lock and a tick which I thought was a lifter was carbon buildup on piston crown.

Atm lights behind dashboard might need replacing, starting to fade.

Now with LS2 coming along, might have to get the cheq book out and build something faster :burnout:

These LS1s are awesome given the amount of abuse the drivetrain and motor can take, if everything is maintained and serviced, you should see little issues.

[Febs]

so if it will run reliably to 200,000

I'd be surprised if it doesn't run reliably to double that.
My VS V6 has over 200,000 on it and still runs beautifully. I'd be expecting a hell of a lot more out of an LS1.

(I test drove a WH with 270,000km on it earlier this year. It seemed fine too).

Cheers,
- Febs.

PS: I also drove an EF Falcon that had "been around the clock". :) 3 gearboxes and 6 heads....and it was using 1l of oil per 1000km. :)

[IIV8II]

Yeah, Limo LS1 (a Melbourne limo driver who hangs out here) would have close to 500K on his by now.
I got into a Camry taxi one day that had 944K on it - one auto gearbox at 180K, one set of CVs ... AND THAT'S ALL.. according to the owner/driver

[Ls1CorpCruiser]

ditto :D

LimoLs1 has a July 1999 WH2 Caprice which is running Gen3 and A4 trans apart from a few minor issues this car is "as new".

Last time I saw it he was up around 495,000k and still going strong... the car has been in Steet Machine Best Commodores latest issue and is no show pony. It is a work horse.

His formaer business partner's Dec 1999 WH2 has done around 485,000k's and is also going strong.

There are quite a few of these cars in the 200-300,000k region. The way I'm going I will be there soon too. The Grange being a work horse since 1st August this year has just clocked 12,000k's this weekend.... :rolleyes: :eek: :confused: :rolleyes: :confused: :eek:

btw the high k cars are retunring 10-12l/100km weekly avg and the Grange is now around 11-13l/100km.

Cant really ask for better than that.

[SV8VY]

A little off topic...sorry ,but can any one tell me if the car would need a re tune after doing a certain amount of km?

[SSbaby]

A little off topic...sorry ,but can any one tell me if the car would need a re tune after doing a certain amount of km?

Probably isn't strictly 'required' but by the same token, it can't hurt it, especially if you've altered a few components on the car relating to induction and exhaust after the original tune.

A well serviced car will always look after you. The LS1 is a durable engine and as owners have proven, will give the owner enduring, reliable performance if properly maintained.

[Space Pope]

Go have a look on LS1TECH.COM. 'Sepos' virtually live in their rides and aren't shy about giving them the odd flogging (in fact, the odd flogging when the motor is nice and hot is one key to a happy healthy motor). There are plenty of guys there with bragging rights for high milers.

As said, look after the motor with regular oil and a filter and you can expect a pretty decent shelf life out of your stock LS1.

[powerd]

Thanks all

Think I willkeep it and continue to enjoy the occassional punch in the back from the V8 grunt - might even invest in a tune and exhaust.

Cheers

[Haza]

My '97 Falcon Ex-Taxi has 550,000kms on the clock and still going good. No major work has been done to it.

[Swordie]

If the motor got anything less than 300K I would be very disappointed. Most cars if looked after properly should reach this mark. My mothers old 120Y that was thrashed made this mark.

The only things I would think would not make to 300K would be highly strung motors.

[evanjames]

120000kms!
I'd be a bit disappointed if my commodores used oil after 120000kms. Hang on...they do! Highway running is good for an engine it shouldn't use any noticeable amount of oil.

As seen in my vz post, my fleet of commies (bought for resale prices not reliability) especially vt through vy have had more down time (and done fewer kms) than my ea and eb falcon fleet. I like the commodore but just to stir up a hornets nest i will comment that FROM MY EXPERIENCE (not stories, not one off examples etc etc) as both business cars and taxi fleets, the falcon is by far the more reliable car. Less oil use, better oil pressure, less suspension dramas (oh boy - don't get me started on them), no crazy self dis-assembling interiors. Much fewer diff dramas (which doesn't make sense since they are essentially similar), autos that lose first and reverse because they take 5 seconds to engage gear (from new) and when they do they break (at least I get 200000kms out of the foulcon auto). Also, the extra torsional rigidity of the falcon (espec in BA) means less rattles (a commie trait) and fewer stress cracks around rear suspension mounts and front end and rear quarter seam weld)

The commodore however, is more economical (petrol not oil, repairs etc) and makes better use of its interior room.

I am not bagging out commodores. I love them. i just see a funny side to people spruking about their reliabilty (espec compared to falcon/camry/120Y)

I stand to be corrected but one off examples aren't idicative of much. Anyone else own a couple of dozen at a time?

[evanjames]

thats v8 and v6. I forgot to mention. Sorry if I upset. The mighty commode has many strengths to be proud of.

[SSbaby]

120000kms!
Much fewer diff dramas (which doesn't make sense since they are essentially similar), autos that lose first and reverse because they take 5 seconds to engage gear (from new) and when they do they break (at least I get 200000kms out of the foulcon auto). Also, the extra torsional rigidity of the falcon (espec in BA) means less rattles (a commie trait) and fewer stress cracks around rear suspension mounts and front end and rear quarter seam weld)

Diff drama's? Well, maybe the Holden LS1 puts out more grunt than your entire Falcon EB V8 fleet, combined. :lol:

[Ghia351]

Diff drama's? Well, maybe the Holden LS1 puts out more grunt than your entire Falcon EB V8 fleet, combined. :lol:

I know your jesting, unfortunately its not a unique first hand experience as a talk with the head mechanic for an exclusive Commodore-only taxi fleet run from a depot in Bay Road Highett discussed with me last week.

[evanjames]

i was talking about the six. Beats me why it happens though. Could it be the irs?

[evanjames]

i keep feeling like i should apologize. I feel like i just bagged out a family member. forgive me commodore

[SSbaby]

Rather than getting into another tiring F V H slanging match, I won't mention anything about the BA's brake problems, intermittent stalling problems, diff clunk issues, oil consumption problems, paint blemishes, IIC failures, uneven tyre wear issues...as this is a Holden forum. :lol:

[Ghia351]

Rather than getting into another tiring F V H slanging match, I won't mention anything about the BA's brake problems, intermittent stalling problems, diff clunk issues, oil consumption problems, paint blemishes, IIC failures, uneven tyre wear issues...as this is a Holden forum. :lol:

Go the PM way and we'll really have some fun :lol: especially since every one forgets VTI.

[GM350]

Over 150k and won't be seeing any dealers.

[powerd]

The info is getting more interesting.

I didn't bother to detail all the warranty problems I have had with the dubious quality of the Commodore - I've had a string of japanese cars(Subaruas Liberties (incl turbo) and others from new previously - and the Commodre qualiuty is crap.

But it has only let me down once on the road when it was three days old (!!!!) and apart from the power steering has not been troublesome in terms of breaking down or needing to go to the dealer between services. That's what the area of concern is - not wanting the hassle of a breadown or eatra dealer visits. The crappy quality and other niggles I can live with for the next year or two so long as the car is completely reliable. Then it will be back to Japanese car - Liberty B4 or similar, or perhaps something euro, but none of them have the power I want in the price range I want to spend.

[VYBerlinaV8]

The info is getting more interesting.

I didn't bother to detail all the warranty problems I have had with the dubious quality of the Commodore - I've had a string of japanese cars(Subaruas Liberties (incl turbo) and others from new previously - and the Commodre qualiuty is crap.

But it has only let me down once on the road when it was three days old (!!!!) and apart from the power steering has not been troublesome in terms of breaking down or needing to go to the dealer between services. That's what the area of concern is - not wanting the hassle of a breadown or eatra dealer visits. The crappy quality and other niggles I can live with for the next year or two so long as the car is completely reliable. Then it will be back to Japanese car - Liberty B4 or similar, or perhaps something euro, but none of them have the power I want in the price range I want to spend.


I'm the same, except I haven't owned a turbo. The quality of my VY Berlina V8 is not even close to that of my 4 year old Daewoo (Korean!), which is disappointing. When my lease is up I'll be back to Japanese for sure. I know it's not the same, but new cars shouldn't need to be constantly fixed. I'll have to take a big power cut, but that's the price of reliability, it would seem...

[Swordie]

I can't complain about the quality of my VY, it's been great. I’ve come from a long line of driving old shit boxes so my expectations are lower. I've had better things to do with my money in the past than spend it on new cars. If I had been used to driving new ones I may of been allot more fussy. For the size, power and features there is no better cars than the local Holden and Fords.

My wife’s 1993 Honda Civic with 135K has fantastic quality, it feels like new to drive. This car feels allot more stable at 150 Km than a than a VT Exec. The only issue is the safety technology is out of date, no ABS or airbags. My wife loves Hondas and is waiting for new sedan to come out, unfortunately the current shape is to ugly for her, she may go for Euro if time runs out.

[SV99]

Dads VXII wagon has just gone back. Smack on 2yrs old

100,000 kms 2yrs.

wonder how long the new VZ will take too get there ahahha.

[evanjames]

we all seem to be a bit quiet. I guess we should have faith that hfv6, gen 4 ls2 and ve will take care of alot of the quality and reliability troubles we fans have to suffer.

[SV99]

the new HFV6 is good :-p new car is 3 days old 1500 kms :cool:

[smutster]

I just sold my 91 BMW 735il for the 00 VTII Calais. I can tell you if it was easy enough to slide the 5.7 into the BM i would have kept it 320k on the clock and no major mechanical issues and not a rattle to be heard + to have dual climate control, Sunroof, power seats and 10 speaker stereo it was almost perfect but i luuurve the 5.7 and i do not regret the decision everytime i push the smile pedal.

Smut

[Hados]

Why would you drag up a 18 month old post to tell us that? :cussing:

[saaz]

My VQ series 2 5 litre has 350,000kms on it (I bought it with 195,000kms on the clock, so previous maintenance may not have been what I would have done). Rear main seal leaks (as expected) and a lifter noise, but otherwise runs fine. Lately I have had to add a little oil in between 10,000km oil changes. Steering rack replaced recently as was the power steer pump. As it needs suspension bushes, shocks, trannie will need work in the next year or so, paint needs tidyin up, etc etc I am replacing it with a 2004 WL 5.7 with 13,000kms on the clock. If properly looked after from that mileage I would expect a lot more thaa 350,000kms from the WL. My old XF 3.3 auto on gas got to 470,000kms when I sold it.