Need a car to tow a horse float, but never owned one of those models before and thats what im looking at getting. Anyone got any pros or cons with either? I know simple things like the straight 6 in the fords have more torque so better for towing, and they are a bigger car. But i had a bad experience with a few EA's so im not too keen on fords, but then that was an EA... Basically just after personal experiences etc when it comes to owning, repairing and reliabilty of those commies and the falcons.
VRSS will tow your horse float no worries...if you don't mind the added expense of a 5.0L V8 Looks a million times better than the falcon's as well.
Please note that the VT is the next model after the VR/VS and therefore more expensive. Any of them should make a reasonable tow vehicle.
My old housemate has an EF....POS in my opinion. He's had more problems than me with the zed. And a VT Commie is a lot newer and should be able to get one for 7k-8k now. Plus it looks nicer...even though its starting to become outdated. Not bad given that its taken 10 years for the car to really start to look a little over the hill.
thats the stuff im after!! hmm ive never trusted a ford and i have always owned commies, and we hired a falcon, EL i think, to tow a float a few months ago and it started running funny... but drive-wise it towed the float nicely tho. i was thinking a v8 but the car will be basically just a tow vehicle and maybe a shopping trolley so i cant justify spending the extra to get the 5L. Sure the VT is newer but there are issues with main seals blowing all the time, and they chew out the tyres at the rear due to the IRS. Im thinking i can save $3k by getting a VR/S rather than a VT, as long as they are reliable. Anyone know the difference between the VS having ecotech and the VR not having it? Like is there a power difference or just the emission bullshit? Im not fazed on looks coz i just want it to blend into general traffic... just has to be a colour that suits a red horse float tho
I had a VN which never caused me any hassles at all and then I jumped straight up to the VX which was a quite a nice car and a perfect daily driver. I've driven a VR and wasn't much difference to the VN. Unfortunately I've never got behind the wheel of a VS or VT, but for my money...every commodore is pretty much the same. I feel like you feel the car more in the older models and to be honest, I like that in a car. I hate the new cars coz you just don't feel like your driving them...I feel very detached.
i will say the same thing I always say when asked ford or holden. What do the taxi companies primarily use and why. Answer - Ford because of beter build quality. Also you are right the ford six has bundles more torque. I also assuming as this will be a tow vehicle you'll want auto (not that there are many manual 6's). If this is the case stay away from the holdens, there auto ratios are rediculous. 60 in 1st, 100 in 2nd, 160 in 3rd and who knows in 4th. Worst gearbox for using on the highway, at 100km/h you try and pass the thing redlines in 2nd before realising it needs third the becomes gutless and off you crawl at about 2500rpm. Finaly the fords are cheaper because they are less popular in the market, stupid V8 supercar series glamorising holdens, there so far from the same car its not funny yet people still get them confused.
If you go holden get an older model with the hydraulic gearbox, runs much better than there electric one, not sure when it changed though sorry
How much were you prepared to spend? My friend bought a car from a government fleet auction (Fowles). He bought a VT series 2 commodore for 6500. Thats roughly a 3-4k saving over the market value. Admittedly the car had high kilometres (about 160,000 for a 2000 model i think) but the car had full service history. It had a few minor scrathches on the side due to other people opening their doors into the car but other than that the car was really good. He's had the car for about a year now and has had no problems with it. Other than general maintenance he's had to spend very little on the car. Unlike the Z, it seems that the Commodore can be serviced by almost any mechanic and the prices for a service and parts are good. The petrol consumptions pretty decent i think he averaged around 12-14L/100km but that depends on how you drive I guess. My friend has a heavy right foot. For what they are, a family car, the commodores are good. I'm not sure about the towing capicity though. Might have to check that up on carsales.
id either go a vl/vk commie or an el falcon....el's are bloody light in the arse end though and prolly find one for around 3-4K
Actually.... I asked a few taxi drivers why they drove fords and got the answers of - Back when the taxi used to be kingswoods and falcons, the kingswoods turned into VB commies and they were too small to get the 'average' 5 people in comfortably. so taxi drivers all bought the bigger, roomier falcons. When the commies were finally chaged to be roomier, VN onwards, the taxi drivers stuck with the model of car they were used to as they can do nearly all their own maintenance etc and know it inside and out, as compared to having a commie which they havent learnt all the 'tricks' on.
Fords are cheaper, that's why taxi's use them. Notice that the police force (up until the xr6t's came out anyways) used commodores...hmm....
Ford actually do a 'taxi pack' for the taxi fleets as they realised they had a hold in the market and wanted to keep it. So yeah they are cheaper. Holden used to buy the contract to suppy the cop cars im pretty sure, but with a limited number of fords bought as well. But ford blew it when they brought out the 'sports shift' auto, as it was deemed to dangerous to have in a pursuit car as the drivers might stuff up the gear shift due to this difference. Dunno what happened now tho, seeing the BA XR6T's are out in force, maybe it is coz the 'sport shift auto' is now pretty much standard on the new cars?
I have au falcon and it tows my 1500kg boat very well.Very reliable. Boring to drive though. My old fairmont ef had a few dramas caused by poor maintenance.
This has changed They don't do any work on their own cars there all fleet controlled now. I still feel that ford have better build quality and I've had two of each. VS VP EL ED
