1987 Holden Commodore VL review from Australia and New Zealand
"Do up the engine, and fly cheaply"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
Seized water pump, replaced the pump and discarded the thermostat. This problem will overheat your engine if you don't fix it, very bad for the Nissan RB30 engine, you will crack the cylinder head if you don't fix the cooling problems.
Had to replace bands in the gearbox.
Exhaust cylinder studs hard to remove from the head.
General comments?
As a car the VL is quiet and fairly comfortable, it is basically a crappy run of the mill Commodore with a very high tech, strong motor. Good power for excellent fuel economy.
The engine in these cars are virtually indestructible, excellent power can be made without touching the engine block or its internals. Just by upgrading the exhaust system you will get good performance, although the car in standard form is not a great performer, the engine is very welcome to upgrades, and won't suffer any drawbacks.
Power is so easy to get, keeping up or even thrashing newer VN - VS model Commodores (speaking from experience) is not a problem. I can keep up with an Ford EL XR6 with no chip or cam upgrades.
The key is power to weight.
The turbo motor is better, but if you're young, you just won't get the insurance cheaply. If you want a real performer from a ordinary car, then doing up these cars are a good start to really surprising the average traffic light warrior.
| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | Yes |
| First year of ownership | 1999 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 2001 |
| Engine and transmission | 3.0 ULP Automatic |
| Performance marks | 8/10 |
| Reliability marks | 7/10 |
| Comfort marks | 7/10 |
| Dealer Service marks | |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 8/10 |
| Distance when acquired | 98000 kilometres |
| Most recent distance | 152000 kilometres |
| Date of Entry | 7th March, 2001 |