They're Vauxhalls, what do you expect ? Ask a Melbourne taxi driver and they'll tell you why they use Fords (and now Toyotas). The Commodore is handsome, nice to drive and a nice place to sit but they reputedly go wrong - a lot. Sales have plummeted as Aussies have turned to Toyota, Kia, Hyundai, Subaru etc etc.
Mind you, the picture of the burning car is a last gen Camry.
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>> They're Vauxhalls, what do you expect ?
Look.
Don't go upsetting VxFan again.
You know how grumpy he gets if anyone criticises Vauxhalls.
Last edited by: Duncan on Mon 27 Apr 15 at 06:50
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Nah, nothing to do with VXfan, it's WdeB, he's turned into a grumpy old man since he went to Chile and met Mark :)
Pat
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Aye, thats true, he was a reasonably pleasant fellow before then.
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I thought that the run-out Commodore was exceeding its modest sales expectations Downunder? Has the equivalent Ford - Falcon - well beaten in the sales charts.
Subaru have just launched a new Legacy sedan which they believe will win over Falcon and Commodore drivers. Reckon they've missed the point: there aren't many Falcon or Commodore drivers left!
Rumour has it there will be another Commodore - a reworked Insignia imported from Europe! Gotta laugh...
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>>
>> Rumour has it there will be another Commodore - a reworked Insignia imported from Europe!
>> Gotta laugh...
>>
I read that too, FWD as well, not sure how well that will go down with the die hard Holden fans. I've been driven in a colleague's V8 HSV VF Commodore sedan and it was lovely: sonorous, fast, practical and handsome. But still... there is a suggestion that they go wrong a lot. I admit it, I'd like one, I could probably afford one (with man maths) but then....
The Falcon is clearly a face-lifted version of a 15yo design, they're reputedly good to drive, tough / reliable and economical (really - a 4.0 6Cyl is the base engine?), however they are like a reverse-tardis, there is quite dreadful legroom in the back of a really quite large car, way less than a smaller Mondeo. All transmission tunnel and bonnet I guess. The interior trim is circa 1996 Mondeo too, hard plastics and squiffy mouldings.
The market for these behemoths is dying, you get he impression that they were always designed on a shoe-string (witness the 15+yo Falcon base design) and now the sales volumes don't justify their existence. Kinda sad, even for the Holden (Vauxhall)
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>> They're Vauxhalls, what do you expect ?
Yawnnnnn
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>> >> They're Vauxhalls, what do you expect ?
>>
>> Yawnnnnn
>>
See?
I told you!
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Hey, I've owned Chevrolets (not the Korean abortion) and Opels, and never had too many problems.
Some people are just...
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In defence of Vauxhalls
I recently hired a 1.4 Corsa for a fortnight. My own car is a Six series Golf.
I was struck by how little difference there really is between the two vehicles in terms of perfomance and space and handling. Sure the VW has a feeling of quality in the cabin whereas the Vauxhall could be seen as more basic and functional but at the end of the day the two cars do the same thing and to be honest the price differential is very difficult to justify. The worst feqture of the Vauxhall was the gearbox which was rather notchy and difficult to engage but that might well have been because it had less thqtn 1000 miles on the clock.
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>>I was struck by how little difference there really is between the two vehicles in terms of perfomance and space and handling.>>
You must have been struck by something...:-)
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The point I was making is that whilst there is a difference it's hard to see why there is such a huge price differential or to put it another way the Vauxhall represents remarkable value for money.
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>>My point being, pretty much all cars have recalls for pretty much any fault.
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Except for being ugly :-)
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>> My point being, pretty much all cars have recalls for pretty much any fault.
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My Mk 2 Focus was recalled because of a possible fire hazard. The engine cooling fan and its controller were permanantly live and liable to corrosion. The fix was a new shielded controller, and a new loom to make it ignition switched.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Mon 27 Apr 15 at 19:27
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>> My Mk 2 Focus was recalled because of a possible fire hazard. The engine cooling
>> fan and its controller were permanantly live and liable to corrosion. The fix was a
>> new shielded controller, and a new loom to make it ignition switched.
Identical problem with a whole slew of peugeots. These days its as much about us being a particularly litigious society as it is about cars being more unreliable.
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>> a particularly litigious society
The cost of a recall is as nothing compared to the cost of an accident occurring and somebody being able to show that the company was aware that it might happen. All thanks to the joyous system of punitive damages being paid to the "victim" as invented by the US.
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>> a particularly litigious society
As FMR says, it's an American infection. Lawyers get rich, everyone else gets ulcers.
Litigation is nearly always a waste of time and money. Open and shut cases are very rare. Litigants are utter PsITA and no civilised person would want to be one if they could avoid it. Even if they had a good case they might prefer not to bother.
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>> Identical problem with a whole slew of peugeots. .
>>
It was a Peugeot 2.0 diesel engine with Ford branding.
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>> The point I was making is that whilst there is a difference it's hard to
>> see why there is such a huge price differential or to put it another way
>> the Vauxhall represents remarkable value for money.
Ok so why is there not one on your drive?
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Because I like big a*** SUVs. When last in the UK the nanny had an Astra. Always seemed ok And i got it pretty cheap given its condition and equipmen. Bit heavy on the steering, but that was the only negative.
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"Ok so why is there not one on your drive?"
That a question I've been asking myself. I suppose the answer is that the VW has a more quality feel about it and realistically the the difference in the price is not particularly material to me . If I was shopping with the primary object of obtaining value for money I would choose the Vauxhall.
If I could only afford the Vauxhall I wouldn't be particularly troubled.
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Holden Monaro V8. Oh yes...
Drove a thing in Australia that must have been some sort of Holden. Anyway it was a Vauxhall thing, glamour-free and past its first youth but semi-serviceable somehow. My daughter and her Aussie boyfriend met us in it at the airport. By the time we got to their gaff in Newcastle NSW we'd had to buy it two new tyres.
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Holden - Holden back the flames? - idle_chatterer
