Holden rodeo 3.5l petrol, good or no good?

[Roffy88]

Hey guys
My bro is lookin at buying a new car and has come across a holden rodeo with the 3.5 petrol motor. i dont no much else as i havnt had time to talk to him, but if anyone knows anythin bout these type of car any info would b great, like are the r petrol guzzler? or have many issues? power wise? ill try get the year model asap.
thanks chris

[Roffy88]

and it a 04 model, thanks

[chunks]

Nah bit of a dud of a motor mate. Normally shagged around 150k especially if servicing hasn't been done on time. I personally would avoid them.

[SilverBulletBM]

They guzzle fuel and have a habit of guzzling oil too! Quite common to do big end bearings, I would avoid them unless it was given to me, even then I'd sell it ASAP

[Northside 4x4]

I tried to talk one of my good friends out of exactly the same buy your looking at.
Within 4 months, it has cost her.
An engine rebuild, gearbox rebuild, new fuel sender unit, wheel bearings, front diff rebuild, ecu, and on the list goes.

Weather she brought a dud/unserviced POS is entirely within reason, but from what I have seen over the years these are all common problems with the rodeo's.

Although she has spent nearly double what the car cost her, she wont admit its a POS money pit. Something about pride and a woman is never wrong I reckon

[purplebus]

i had a bloke try to trade a 4x2 v6 in that was a few months old and done less than 10 000kms years ago. I said he will loose heaps of coin on it as it was brand new car still. He replied with " If i have to pay for the fuel for another year it will cost me more ". he even had cruise control fitted to try and save some $$ on petty.

[turbo gu]

lucky to get 350kms out of tank on the open road
very thirsty is an under statement

[drr]

Worked at a holden dealership for a while, the rodeo V6's weren't great. Very thirsty and some used oil as people have mentioned. Also be careful if you're cleaning the engine/doing water crossings. We managed to wreck an ECU by washing the motor (mounts on top of intake manifold). Rebuilt a couple of gearboxes also. I would stay clear of them.

[BlueSuzy]

Love the juice!

Had one for a work vehicle in qld, overloaded pos, Drank fuel like nothing else ive seen.

Same goes for the 4x4 v6 fishibishi tritons.

[chimpboy]

My brother had one for work. Not great, thirsty as everyone already said plus a fair bit of warranty work when he had it... he got rid of it as soon as he could.

[sudso]

I had the earlier 3.2V6 quad cam (same motor as 3.5) just a smaller bore etc. It was dual fuel too. Went like a cut snake, got 15-17lts per 100kms on petrol, averaged 325kms on 50lts lpg. That was on 33's too. Used about 1lt of oil every 5-10K. I was'nt always kind to it either, I took it on tracks it wasn't built for and even mud drags (came second against an EFI RB30 Shorty too in the modified class.) I bent an exhaust valve stem once, think it happened while on the rev limiter spinning up a mossy granite boulder New valve was only 30 bucks from Holdens. Never had any real issues with it apart from that.

[Bingham]

fuel as everyone has said with these is pretty dam terrible....

in saying that my new gu 3L is pulling maybe 13 stock 17L/100 moded roof rack and then up 27+l/100 loaded up cape....... Discraceful really

I have lost faith in the new Hiluxs after work stories and cape reality but the slightly older shape in diesel or something maybe worth a look over the rodeo depending on your budget.

[bakerboy]

yeah they chew the fuel, they also go through the 4wd computer (push button style setup) and they cost a few dollars, cant comment on how many km's per L or if they are any good as this one is used at surf club and over 5 years has only done 22,000k's

pull a mean skid though

[hj 45]

350 - 400 kms from a tank on the highway. Glad I didn't have to pay for the fuel.

[sudso]

350 - 400 kms from a tank on the highway. Glad I didn't have to pay for the fuel.

They're only only a 70lt tank stock. Mine was. I put 120lt Long Ranger in and got 1100kms average on the highway. Off road was better again, around town was worst.

[GQ4.8coilcab]

I can vouch for how bad they are on fuel. I get around 300kms on petrol but 400kms to a 70ltr gas tank. I love it its cheap to run great work ute. I know they do big ends but my brothers a mechanic. If you put it on gas or it has gas, there a great work ute as you can get them pretty cheap now.