Thinking of Monaro, many questions

[surfluds]

Hi all,
I am looking at a Monaro after 4 years of owning a Vectra Vxr, so I will be looking at selling that soon also.

I am guessing that stock parts and running would not be so different than the Vectra, is that true?

Do these cars have any problems on speedbumps if taken slowly.

Do I need to take it easy as I have never driven rear wheel power, are there courses to learn a bit of aggressive driving?

I live in Cornwall, any one ideas of good garages, servicing, meet ups for advice and tips?

Will be getting the underside sealed as I live in salty town and it will be my daily driver, is this advisable?

TIA Mike

[MonaroMad]

I live in Cornwall and have a VXR, you'd be welcome to have a gander at mine.

[surfluds]

I live in the Penzance area and am of this week to look at a 14000 54 plate Monaro that's on auto trader. I am so stoked been waiting a while, would like to keep in touch for tips. Where do you go for garage work, have you had the underside sealed?

[ArnieVXR]

Keeping it for more than a couple of years? Get it properly under-sealed. Budget £600-900.

[maccavvy]

they are a very different beast to a Vectra.
you have to be careful if coming from FWD and have never driven RWD before

Parts are available from Monkfish and walkinshaw.some parts from ebay and specialist breakers.

speed bumps aren't much of an issues unless really lowered. the lowest part of mine is the exhaust

any underseal will be a bonus. classic cars and 4x4 places seem to offer good deals . unless you fancy doing it yourself.

[rusty88]

maccavvy said:

speed bumps aren't much of an issues unless really lowered. the lowest part of mine is the exhaust

Best taking it easy on the "single lane" speed bumps as I may have caught my gearbox on them once or twice, and mine is on standard suspension.

[rusty88]

This might be useful, wish I'd read it earlier (buying guide).
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[throwyourbike]

In my experience parts can be pretty expensive, so go in with your eyes open.

Before I bought mine I heard time and time again that "servicing and parts are cheap because it's a Vauxhall" which isn't strictly true. Probably cheaper than the German equivalents but definitely not in line with the likes of the Astra or Vectra.

After 4 years of ownership and 20k miles, my servicing and repair bills total about £3,500-£4,000.

[S11MON]

I have a monaro vxr and the vectra vxr, the vectra is the daily for the wife and there is a noticeable difference in cost of parts. The OEM stuff for the vectra is what you would expect. Somethings on the monaro can be pricey, I've sourced bits from the states which have been twice the price here. On the whole I've had my monaro for 5 years and the cost to run is much cheaper than its competitors and sounds better. Also some of the Vectra vxrs are suffering with chain issues/failure so that's a 2k concern if they've not been replaced!!