The power steering pump is faulty. It started making a whirring sound that vibrates through the steering wheel, started at around 2000km. Seems to quieten down when it warms up.
The 6 speed manual gearbox is clunky and doesn't like shifting down to second smoothly at any speed (poor synchro). Hate to think what it'll be like in a couple of years time.
This vehicle is leased by the Queensland Government and it replaced our 2004 Toyota Hilux. The Hilux had around 55,000km on the clock when it was returned and I'm positive it could quite easily have gone to over 400,000km if looked after. It felt bullet-proof. The SV6 would be lucky to see 100,000 without some sort of major repairs I reckon.
Performance is OK, but you have to keep the revs up. It doesn't have the lazy low-down effortless torque of the 4.0L straight-6 Falcon of which we also have a few of.
After having a VT Commodore as a company car a while back (see review titled 'Mediocre at best') I was a bit doubtful when it arrived. It is the sport pack, but there's obvious cost cutting like the fact you can't adjust the intermittent wipers. Instead they are speed sensitive so at 100kph on intermittent they are wiping almost as fast as if they were on full no matter how damp the windscreen is. Not good for wiper blade life. I was fumbling all round for the adjuster til I read the manual and realised it was only the higher models you can adjust.
Will get the power steering pump checked out at it's 15,000km service, if it doesn't blow up before hand. My 1993 626 has 260,000km and has never had steering problems.
It drives well on the highway and feels like you're driving a 4 door car except there is no space for anything behind the seats. It's the first car I've driven that has cruise control with a manual transmission. We won't be loading it up while we have it which is probably a good thing as I doubt that the independant rear suspension would hold up to much weight which is why these utes are normally referred to as 'show ponies'.
I'll update the review with comments if anyone is interested as to how this vehicle ages.
Don't make a habit of loading any IRS vehicles if you want good tyre life. :-) A Rodeo would be a better bet. Don't have much trouble with them. Good looking for a show pony tho!
Finally had the steering fixed at it's 15K service, pump had started growling and the dash was vibrating in unison. Apparently there was air in the system.
The gearbox seems to have loosened up a bit making it not so notchy although I've noticed the spring restriction between 1st and reverse has weakened so now am selecting reverse instead of 1st by accident more often. This could never have happened when we first got it, reverse was so hard to get because of the spring restriction.
Myself, I've just bought a Ford Focus TDCi 2L turbo diesel 6 speed manual. That gear box is an absolute honey compared to the truck-like thing in the SV6.
To the previous comment, yeah we should've got a Rodeo or Hilux (preferably diesel), but it would seem that the govt. fleet companies must get better deals on locally made vehicles as you will usually get a Commodore or Falcon first as these cost the least to lease even though they must cost way more in fuel. The read-out on the SV6 right now says it's using 12L per 100k's, and it's not even thrashed.
The ute has now got just over 23K on it, and the power steering is growling again, but only when it's cold. Until it warms up it sounds like it has a supercharger under the bonnet, but unfortunately the power doesn't increase!
The fuel pump seems to make a constant tone that resonates through the car, from the time you turn the key on. Quite noticeable when in stop-start driving.
Sometimes it's makes a loud noise while starting, as though the starter motor has something wrong with it.
Clutch pedal has started making creaking sounds.
We're trying to rack up as many k's on it as possible, so we can get rid of it ASAP, and get something Japanese instead, like we should've done before. Like I said before, I'd hate to own this when it gets a few k's on it. Some boy racer kid will probably spend his savings/inheritance buying it when it eventually goes to auction, God help him.
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