Impulse buying is bad, well most of the time. While browsing Facebook I came over a group ad for an Adventra LX8 VZ 2005 model, while only having online outside pictures to go by the vehicle was only located 10 minutes down the road from me!
I certainly wasn’t prepared to spend $5,500 on an unplanned purchase plus lets be honest another $2,000 would need to be spent on getting it on the road, lifted & perhaps some new tyres for the tracks…still – I had to look. A day later, it’s in my driveway. Whoops.
Unfortunately though, these cars never come almost in ready to drive condition unless you’re paying top dollar. The vehicle had a strange ticking bump noise while it drove, the battery was dead with no life at all, SRS airbag light is on, SVS warnings up and interior not so great condition. I also noticed on a drive around the rear end was swaying a little more than usual when the road surface had a dip in.
Put in a 68 MF Century Battery dropped the oil and put in some 10W-40 Semi Syn as recommended by some, filter and pulled off all the tyres to have a proper inspection. Was expecting surprises but actually it seems just things I will otherwise need to replace anyway in preparation to take it into the Great Victorian Highlands. On closer inspection it looks like the tyres had some damage to them from being driven on while flat so I swapped the 4 with a spare AT set I had, size a little big but lift is on its way so fine as a temporary solution to identify faults.
All in all after all the changes, quick oil change and a clean up of all the CV’s and brakes, the Adventra drove silent and smooth on the road. I think tomorrow I’ll drop the transmission pan and refill with some DEX IV.
Too late for school holidays but hopefully in the next few weeks this will get a chance to visit a track to tackle.
