Daily driver. What to do. HELP WANTED

[tommyk123123]

Hi everyone,

I'm back! After a failed XF ford rebuild (bend chassis) I'm back into a ford.....well kinda.

Let me explain...Ford the last 3 years I've been daily driving a VE 2008 commodore. Currently has 305xxx km. Head issues at the moment, coolant dropped, car went hot. Topped up and bled system, added stop leak to radiator....so far no issues...no signs yet if coolant mixing with oil, so might have caught it early, or might be 1km away from death...

The plan was to get a newish car for 15k but didn't want the high expense considering I dislike alot of today's cars, either CVT transmission or over engineered and can't work on it myself etc.

This all brings me to last week. Checking out FB marketplace and found a 2006 ford falcon BF 4pd auto. 132xxx genuine KM. Recs checked it. Actually was sitting out the front of someone's house for 5 years no rego. Guy bought it changes tyres and maintenance and sold it off as he is now disabled and can't get in and out ( he bought a territory)....at least that's the story we were given.

Checked codes, nothing there and nothing archived. Tyres brand new. Brand new black ops exhaust. New ball joints, rotors, pads,. Inside is immaculate so is the engine bay...so I do believe they're genuine KM... Have been driving around town with no problems....got the whole thing with 6 months rego. $3000. It's almost a 20 year old car, but running a 190 Barra you can't really complain....if it even last my 3 years, it's a fair deal.

Now on to my question. I daily drive.100km to work return trip. Per year I clock up about 25-30 thousand KM on a car. So I have to play the long game. Any car over 200,000km I'll be over 300,000 in a few years, no needs to have relatively low KM which is why the ford was a great steal.

Options 1) I could sell this commodore for maybe like 1000 bucks but with the high 305,xxxkm and potential head issues. Body damage, it's black and all the Knicks and scratches are obvious. Air con doesn't work...but drives solid....

Options 2) Do I drive the new ford to work everyday and leave the Commodore on the street and just use it to run around town, but then I'm paying 2 regos....

Options 3) keep driving the Commodore and run it into the ground, when it dies i have the ford ready to go. (Issue is what if it lives on until 400,000km which is another 4-5 years of double rego.

All or any opinions are appreciated. Naturally it seems like an easy choice to sell the Commodore and have the ford.....but it's just so god damn reliable!

[ToryMikey]

My vote: Sell the Commy.

Once you've done so, do a full transmission flush on the Falcon and install an external oil cooler - that will mean the transmission never milkshakes and I would bet dollars to donuts the transmission fluid hadn't been changed in a decade. It's probably the only real major point of failure in a Falcon of that era.

Also, only use Castrol TQ95 fluid.

[tommyk123123]

Originally Posted by ToryMikey

My vote: Sell the Commy.

Once you've done so, do a full transmission flush on the Falcon and install an external oil cooler - that will mean the transmission never milkshakes and I would bet dollars to donuts the transmission fluid hadn't been changed in a decade. It's probably the only real major point of failure in a Falcon of that era.

Also, only use Castrol TQ95 fluid.

Fantastic idea to use the Commodore sale (would be cheap) to fund a transmission service. Any extra cash from the sale could just go back into the ford.. not that it needs anything at all but would be handy if the shocks blow out or when rego comes around.

[Citroënbender]

Where are you located? Commodore might be of interest as-is.

[Sprintey]

Looks like you've got a good Falcon there.

Have an uncle who does option 3 (retired doctor too, I think he just likes getting the most out of equipment) - he will buy a cheap Volvo wagon, run it till it stops, then repeat.

[Swordie]

VE is a nice car. If you can restore / fixed it to a reasonable level without spending lots I'd keep it. The BA could be the main daily. I have a both a Ford and Holden, I enjoy driving both of them.

If cooling problem on the VE is not head it might be the radiator.