Will your next car be an Australian car?

[samftr]

One thing I must ask tho, why do people insist on upgrading their vehicles every few years?

Apart from salary sacrifice or a company vehicle etc.
But for a normal family hack I cannot see the validity of replacing something that performs its task without question or qualm, costs less to run *since you aren't paying off a new vehicle. etc.
??

[andrewts]

If you can afford it, and you like new cars, then why not? Admittedly, Falcon's are probably the worst for doing this because of their resale, but I know what you mean. I guess some people like to get rid of them before they have to do a pink slip? lol

[FlipXW]

yes, hopfully a new orion xr8 in the family.

[bnvw]

I bought my XR6 when i was 18 brand new for $38,000

Insurance is agreeing to 22k this year, I've had to take it back to Thomson Ford at least 7 times (That's a real figure) for callbacks on breaks, steering, air con and the list goes on.

The fuel efficiency is a crock of **** from what I was told when the dealer sold me the car, also contrary to the little sticker that said 12.5L/100kM, The build quality of the interior is up to **** now that a couple of years has got one.

the car only has 46,000kms on it and its making all kinds of noises, even though I only use quality parts and service every 6,000kms.



As much as I love my car I have to say Ford has SEVERELY dissapointed me with this car, and i will be very very releuctant to go with them when I get my new car next year.

Would love to hear any one elses bad experiences (or good) with the BA XR6 N/A.

[samftr]

Well that can be the case too, but in my experiences upgrading to something new has been fraught with the danger of buying something POO, then having to deal with the local fraud stealer (or whatever branded vehicle you may have bought) with any warranty issues arising out of it.

Say you bought back in 88, a brand spankers ea cfi 3 speed auto, with the sky blue paint for 20 grand or whatever they were, (I know of a few who did, last new car they bought)

then upgrading to a vr and having engine bearing issues/electrical/transmission probs
moving onto another brand and buying a magna fwd and you end up with the valve stem seal problem or say fast wearing piston rings and the hack uses oil.
ok we move along and buy

well you can see where I am going, but as long as you are in the warranty period it should be all peachy.

It certainly is an expensive exercise upgrading a vehicle every few years that costed initially around 34,000km mark loosing 10 grand or more every few years. I fail to see the benefit in doing this, unless the said vehicle is under some sort of salary sacrifice/tax offset etc.

[samftr]

Read a few posts back about My mates experiences with his mk 1 ba xr6 turbo, two drive shafts, bent rotors, 1 differential, one power window motor, and the 6 stacker only ever accepted one cd and that was the end of it.

Surprisingly he is keeping it, and ford are going to look after him with regards to fiddling with it to make it the car it should have been from the start.

this is the same bloke who got a brand new eb series 2 when they came out, and it caught fire on the story bridge. So he got it pushed off by a 4wd and got ford to fix it, but he got his money back on that...

once bitten
twice shy you could say.

I gave ford another go (after spending 6 grand on repairs on a heap of garbage ea). with the ef falcon, I must say I am quite happy with it to date with me doing 71,000 hm of fairly harsh driving it has been a really reliable car to own. Everything works, it is fairly economical and way better on fuel than the ba xt. (quicker too hehe)
Horses for courses?

[Fordoldie]

[QUOTE=samftr]One thing I must ask tho, why do people insist on upgrading their vehicles every few years?........... [QUOTE]


Because we can

[blueoval]

Originally Posted by samftr

One thing I must ask tho, why do people insist on upgrading their vehicles every few years?...........

because driving enthusiasts like the variety. I for one have tried to keep a car more than 3 years and find it considerably difficult to not feel the wallet twitching for something else or better. Sadly, satisfaction for most will never come, unless you have an original GTHO or a collectable of some kind etc. We all want to have that little extra 'something'. We will always strive for something better.

On the other hand, people have to upgrade if their car was a POS to begin with.

[samftr]

fair enough then. Some people in my family have had their new cars since 1978, and only just upgraded :p . I bet the money they saved there went a long way into the add ons the newie. Its a buyers market, so in any case I would buy something relatively new (say 6 months or what not) but has already lost the initial you lose when the car is driven off the lot.

[phillyc]

I think what is built in Australia is unique and offers good value for money.

The performance on offer from the Aussie cars is great, they have plenty of space for friends and family too.

My AU XR6 VCT has been a treat to own and love driving it. So have the other people that have had the chance to drive. I have not had any problems with it. The only thing broken was the headlight switch plastic knob. $15 or thereabouts.

The downside is around town economy but with the regular long trips we do which average 8L/100 and the mod cons plus sprawling space just make it so worthwhile. The upside is the excellent reliability thus far.

[fordxrtfan]

Yes definately - 2007 BF MKII XR6 Turbo (should be arriving in 2 weeks, fingers crossed)

[SVR73]

Originally Posted by phillyc

I think what is built in Australia is unique and offers good value for money.

The performance on offer from the Aussie cars is great, they have plenty of space for friends and family too.

My AU XR6 VCT has been a treat to own and love driving it. So have the other people that have had the chance to drive. I have not had any problems with it. The only thing broken was the headlight switch plastic knob. $15 or thereabouts.

The downside is around town economy but with the regular long trips we do which average 8L/100 and the mod cons plus sprawling space just make it so worthwhile. The upside is the excellent reliability thus far.

Well I totally agree with you. I have the same car (98 galaxy blue) with the bi plane spoiler and ticky bodykit and what an awesome looking car they are
Before this one, I had a forte and although I seriously modded it, it was nothing compared to the XR.
Every time I get into the drivers seat is a real joy.
there's decades to go before it will hit 150,000 km too.

As for buying a new car every few years, I understand why businesses do it but personally, there's nothing on the market that takes my fancy to replace the hilux daily driver and the XR.

Cars are either too heavy, ugly, spastic plastic, too small for my big feet and long legs and don't have any style.

We need motor cars with some aggressive sports looks and equal performance
Sure a GT is closest to that atm but yes - too heavy