I have dreamed of owning one of these. I have the money to buy one in good condition with <100k miles for around 15k.What would I be in for besides difficult to source parts.
>>29140831Don't know much about that. In fact, I know so little I can't even tell the model or year from your picture, but did you already look up common problem areas, common points of failure, and the recommended maintenance schedule?
>>29140834No, I just assumed they would be like owning a Pontiac G8, but with more rare parts.
>>29140831>good condition>15k
>>29140831No real problems except finding some parts like bodywork spares. US cop cars had super basic vinyl interiors, getting luxury seats from Oz would be worth it for me.
>>29140831parts wouldn't be difficult at all to source, Holden made a pledge to support cars 10 years after their exit in Australia. The problem is that was 2017 and official parts support will be ending next year. So if any time is the time to buy, it would be now to get it sorted/hoard parts while you can since OEM will be replaced by the aftermarket. But even if that was the case those cars and the swb versions are still extremely common sights on Aus roads, with an unusually high retention rate compared to other models, implying that owners dont want to get rid of them. So with that sort of support you should have no problem sourcing suspension parts, panels or electronics for years.The only thing bad ive heard about them is their cylinder deactivation fuel economy tech that screws up camshafts with high mileage/high idle hour vehicles, but in that case you have plenty of parts domestically in the US to either repair that or delete that system. Otherwise even with other parts considered theyre fantastic cars, really one of the best GM has made in the past 20 years
>>29141317>>29141314These were sold as Buicks and Daewoos in Asia and sold very well. There will be Chink aftermarket parts for them available for a long time. Dude that used to work at my local oil change place had a Caprice he was swapping a Chinese market Buick interior into.
>>29140838not even the same enginesfor starters, V6 or V8?the V6 in the Caprice is actually much better than in the G8 and is paired to a far less flimsy transmission and a timing chain not prone to failurethe big gamble of the PPV is like >>29141317 said is the fact the aussie L76/77 V8s have active fuel management and that is an issue because the high idle times of cop cars at low oil pressure means that the AFM lifters aren't getting the lubrication they need so they eventually fail and typically FUBAR the engine unless you can catch it immediately so if you pull the trigger on a Caprice V8 I highly advise you budget a couple extra thousand to delete the AFM lifters unless you have the ability and means to pull out lifters, lifter trays, headgaskets, head bolts, swap in a camshaft from an LS3 or equivalent, and tune the car to delete the AFM system then you can get that down to maybe a tick over a grand if you can DIYwhile you're in there install a catch can and replace the oil pump with a better one as well since the front timing cover will already be offcheck the wiring as well to see how hard the cops butchered the harness pulling out the radio, sirens, lights, computer, etc.
