Holden Frontera

Submitted: Saturday, Jul 03, 2004 at 21:55
ThreadID: 14354 Views:22111 Replies:10 FollowUps:7
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Evening all, Just asking opinions from current and previous Frontera owners. I am looking at a 2001 V6 SE Auto, 60000kms. Have you had any serious problems, things to look for etc? The one in question is a Holden certified used with the 3 year 175k warranty. We have done the "big trip" in a troopy and I use Cruisers for work in South west Qld, so are looking for a 4by that we can still get away in, but is also city friendly as well. It will be our only vehicle.

Thanks in advance for your replys. Any information greatly appreciated.
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Reply By: ross - Sunday, Jul 04, 2004 at 01:59

Sunday, Jul 04, 2004 at 01:59
There is a small article maybe 200 words in the July or August issue of Aust4wd monthly.I cant put my hands on it right now but I think they recommended the 2.8 diesel over the V6 on reliability concerns and economy.
AnswerID: 66352

Reply By: Savvas - Sunday, Jul 04, 2004 at 07:56

Sunday, Jul 04, 2004 at 07:56
I don't have a Frontera, but just personally I think I'd go for a Nissan Pathfinder in that segment of the market.

The Frontera has been dropped locally and parts seemed to be an ongoing issue for them.

The early Fronteras had a poor suspension setup for our conditions. It is built in the US and the original setup was designed for their smooth roads . Later models from about 2001 and on had a recalibrated setup for Aussie conditions.

The V6 is rock solid and the performance of the Frontera on road is amazing. Best in its class at the time.

AnswerID: 66358

Reply By: Member - Pesty (SA) - Sunday, Jul 04, 2004 at 10:40

Sunday, Jul 04, 2004 at 10:40
Member Vince ( I think?) Away at the moment, has just had to have his late model low milage, welded up around the firewall some where as the body was cracking up.
Personally I would be looking for something a little heavier, Pajero, Prado for example.
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Reply By: Member - Brian B (QLD) - Sunday, Jul 04, 2004 at 20:29

Sunday, Jul 04, 2004 at 20:29
Hi,

I have a late 2000 Frontera so I can give you some inside information.

Petrol engine is great and has heaps of power but is a bit thirsty around town and also in 4wd. Standard tank is a 70 litre. Mine is auto and the trasnmission is sweet. In fact mechanically it is a great vehicle and so far other than servicing I haven't had to spend any money on mine.

Its main shortcoming is that it sits too low and needs a decent lift kit to help it out. There are numerous places who can do this for you. The height problem is compounded by the fact that the fuel tank has been placed in front of the rear axle and acts like a flat anchor when you are in the soft stuff. The fix is a replacement tank which can be mounted up high behind the rear axle. I could never work out why the manufacturer didn't put it there in the first place.

Given this the car is very capable and has taken us to some amazing places. Mine is getting the two fixes I mentioned earlier once I get a few spare dollars.

Spares are not too hard at present and a lot of rodeo parts fit the car.

Go to isuzu.com and you will see it is still sold and going great guns in the USA but it is sold as the Rodeo over there. There is a possibility that GMH may be revitalising it and are currently looking at where it may be sourced from.

In the size range I think the Pathfinder is better although I am led to believe from a couple of mates who have them that fuel economy is about the same. The Pathy in my opinion is beter off road because it doesn't have the clearance problems.

I hope this helps you out and please give me a yell if I can help with anything else.

Cheers
AnswerID: 66430

Follow Up By: Large - Sunday, Jul 11, 2004 at 14:01

Sunday, Jul 11, 2004 at 14:01
Brian, thanks for your feed back on the Frontera. I was just wondering what places you have been able to get to?

Cheers.
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Follow Up By: Muddy 'doe (SA) - Sunday, Jul 11, 2004 at 14:12

Sunday, Jul 11, 2004 at 14:12
Brian,

Regarding the fuel tank placement, I think you will find that this is a US regulation to do with rear end crashes. All vehicles must have the fuel tank in front of the rear axle. The Holden Monaro had to be modified to meet this requirement before they could sell it as a GTO in the states. And I blieve it was also the issue that stopped the Commodore being exported to several US states as cop cars. (Apparantly the Yank cops are really impressed by Aussie cop cars).

Talking to Baz yesterday his Explorer has room for a long range tank behind the axle as the main tank is in the middle.

Cheers

Steven
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Reply By: Large - Monday, Jul 05, 2004 at 07:22

Monday, Jul 05, 2004 at 07:22
thanks all for your replies.
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Reply By: Spratty - Sunday, Jul 11, 2004 at 13:48

Sunday, Jul 11, 2004 at 13:48
Hi,
I have a 2001 SE auto with 44000kms and to date have'nt had any problems.
I agree it could do with better ground clearance but with that said it has suprised me with where it will go, even if it does sometimes bottom out, but if you go slowly it will go most places.
I tow a jayco camper with mine and it does it easily although I did fit some polyairs to the rear coils and its made a big difference laden or unladen.
Around town its a great 4wd to handle corner braking etc.
Average fuel is 14lt/100km and about 17lt/100km when towing.

Hope this is helpful any other Q's let me know.

Regards Spratty.
AnswerID: 67315

Follow Up By: Large - Sunday, Jul 11, 2004 at 13:59

Sunday, Jul 11, 2004 at 13:59
Thanks Spratty for the info. thanks also to Brian B. Good to hear feedback from people who own and drive them. What state are you in and where abouts can you get to in the Frontera? I'm in Qld. Haven't made a decision yet on if I'm going Frontera or not but they seem a well decked out unit for what we want and the budget we have.

Cheers and thanks again.
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Follow Up By: Spratty - Sunday, Jul 11, 2004 at 18:30

Sunday, Jul 11, 2004 at 18:30
Hi Large,
I live on the gold coast and have just got back from 2 weeks school holidays with wife and 2 kids, so getting off the tar is not always that easy as the missus goes white at the thought of it , however did get to Kroombit tops NP. 85km west of gladstone which turned out to be quite full on, fortunatley for me we teamed up with some locals who were out for a day drive so we sorted tag- a- long with them, much to the good wifes relief.
The 3 other 4wds we teamed up a Hilux,Jackaroo and Rodeo were very surprised to see me pulling up the rear after every descent and ascent, these trails in my and their opinoin was pretty tough going, I tell you the wife was'nt talking much at all just hanging on. It was a full day left camp at Lake Awoonga 9am got back at 6.30pm.
Have done some beach work down at Woolli but not a lot but did'nt have to many troubles.
My Yokahama super diggers have done the 44000ks and they've worn a lot better than I expected, next set in about another 10000ks maybe
BFGs or Yokahama GO11.

Hope this helps
Spratty
PS hope this follow up hits the mark,1st time on a forum
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Follow Up By: Large - Sunday, Jul 11, 2004 at 18:53

Sunday, Jul 11, 2004 at 18:53
Spratty, Thanks, very helpful.
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Reply By: Member - Brian B (QLD) - Sunday, Jul 11, 2004 at 14:55

Sunday, Jul 11, 2004 at 14:55
Hi Mate,

We live in Brisbane and have had our Frontera for just under a year. In that time we have done several trips to Fraser Island and have been able to get to everyhwere we have tried to get to. We get bogged at times but that's all part of the experience I think.

We also regularly go to Double Island Point and Rainbow Beach and there are a number of great drives in this area plus the beach. Both of these spots offer a variety of camping and accomodation options as well. These are two of our favourite places and they are great.

Off to Bundjalung National Park in Northern NSW shortly for a few days. I can't comment on that spot as yet as this will be our first trip. We are planning to stay at Woody Head camp ground while we are there so that should be good. I hope to get amongst a few fish while we are there. I gather it is about three hours travel time from Brisbane.

The only other place we have gotten to so far is Spicres Gap which is out near Cunninghams Gap.

Our intention is to start going further afield once we can grab some decent time away from work etc. I have just ordered a new camp trailer so that should help us get a bit better organised for some more serious touring.

Cheers.
AnswerID: 67321

Follow Up By: Large - Sunday, Jul 11, 2004 at 15:17

Sunday, Jul 11, 2004 at 15:17
Once again, thanks Brian for the reply.

We also live in Brisbane and those are the sorts of places we would like to get to. We were on fraser island 3 years ago in a troopy so it was good to hear you can do that in the Frontera. A couple of questions, are the front hubs auto engageing i.e. put in 4x4 and they lock in, take out of 4x4 reverse a bit and unlock them, or full time engaged? And have you had to replace any tyres yet? I was just curious to cost of replacements.

thanks.
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Reply By: Member - Brian B (QLD) - Sunday, Jul 11, 2004 at 16:38

Sunday, Jul 11, 2004 at 16:38
Hi,

You certainly will be able to do a large part of Fraser and all around Rainbow Beach and Double Island Point. I would suggest that the Northern areas around Ngkala Rocks etc would be difficult if not impossible in a standard Frontera however don't underestimate these cars as they can get to a lot of places you wouldn't think possible.

The hubs are automatically engaged at any time four wheel drive is selected. You can select 4WD High on the fly by way of a dash mounted switch at speeds up to around 90 KPH I think. Low is selected by stopping the vehicle and shifting into neutral and then selecting low range then the gear you want and away you go. Low back to high also involves stopping the vehicle, selecting neutral and then selecting high range and your gear and off you go.

I haven't had to do tyres as yet and mine has a set of Yokohama Super Diggers on at present. They are a bit noisy on the bitumen and I think I will go to BFG All Terrains when I change over. My son has them on his 80 series cruiser and they have been excellent.

I hope this helps you out.

Regards
AnswerID: 67330

Follow Up By: Large - Sunday, Jul 11, 2004 at 18:51

Sunday, Jul 11, 2004 at 18:51
Thanks for the excellent info!
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Reply By: Spratty - Sunday, Jul 11, 2004 at 18:37

Sunday, Jul 11, 2004 at 18:37
Hi Large,
My apologies I just realised I stuffed up on the correct way to reply and stupid me I followed up to myself. der!!
AnswerID: 67345

Reply By: Richard & Leonie - Wednesday, Jul 21, 2004 at 22:20

Wednesday, Jul 21, 2004 at 22:20
We have a 2002 Auto. Just got back from Cape York going up the Old Telegraph Road. Absolutely no problems with the car. We have TLM 2000 series suspension fitted with the front torsion bar wound up so the whole car is lifted about 70mm. We also had a second 75 lt tank fitted by Out of town 4WD in Newcastle. We do not have a snorkel and the maximum water depth we did was 700mm. We used a Michele Sacs blind bought from ARB Sydney South. Very easy to fit and remove. It created a great bow wave that kept the engine bay dry. I checked the airbox after and noted a little water had got in but it had drained out without even wetting the filter.
We used Cooper ST tyres (75 instead of 70's) and they performed well. Ran them at the 26 psi recommended by Holden on the dirt but put the rear up to 28 psi on the road. Dropped them to 18 psi in sand. We did not have space for a spare tyre casing or wheel so I look a couple of radial inner tubes with me. Luckily I did not need them. The closest place for spare Cooper tyres was Tyrepower at Cairns and i checked they had them in stock before we set out.
I did bog the car once in sand on the Stewart River but that was my fault going the wrong way. The standard fuel tank does tend to act like a dozer blade but I have learnt to try and ride high on deeply rutted tracks. This is just a matter of knowing where the wheels are. Being lighter than Cruisers and Patrols helps.
The car loaded weighed in at 2450 kgs.
Fuel consumption ranged from 13 lts / 100 to 17 lts / 100.
Changed the air filter on the way back at Cooktown.
Also fitted an Exide extreme battery before we left.
The only noise we had when we came off the dirt was from the air box where it passes through the inner guard. It squeaked and WD40 fixed it.
Hope this helps.
AnswerID: 68926

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