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28-09-2007, 06:51 AM | #1 | ||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
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Did anyone watch the TV last night about the new VE Ute , apparently it's "the Safest Ute Ever Built" , but , here's the catch , it's going to be the "Most Expensive to Ute to Repair". :
Out of their $1B budget for the VE , $1M (I think it was) went into re-designing the Ute ? and repairs "could" cost up to 3 times more than the earlier models with similar damage because of the NEW design . Ok , they're trying Highlight the safety of the new vehicle , but I think mentioning it will cost triple to repair it , the insurance companies are going to just love that : also the buyers . Wonder what the premiums are going to be like ? The guy they were interviewing said " This will cause a lot more "Write-off's" because of the repair costs " . I don't know about you , but I would "get a little turned off " purchasing one . Not because it's a Holden , but any car if it was going to cost 3 times more to repair . If it was a Roll's , Jag or something Exotic , you might expect it , but VZ to a VE ? I don't think that will be a "Big Selling Point" Norm
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XB Futura 302 , Wife ED Fairmont ,1994 Polynesian Green. Daughter No 1 KJ Laser , Daughter No 2 KH Laser Keeping FORDS in the family (Embarressment :yeees: , Son now has a "Camira" : ) "Look Right , Look Left , Look Right , BEFORE crossing Roads"
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28-09-2007, 08:07 AM | #2 | ||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
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Mate is trading his BF2 Fairmont ghia on one in 2 weeks. It's ordered and i know the last thing he's planning on doing is any damage to it.
Think he was more turned off thinking how little his ghia was worth to trade, and how much worse it will be once the new falcon comes out. I'll ask him about his premiums when i see him next, but i can't imagine them being too rediculous. |
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28-09-2007, 08:16 AM | #3 | ||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
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I smelllll BS.
I'm insured with GIO, i pay $832 pa for a manual BA XR6 Ute, rating 1, no claims, under 25. Just got a quote to insure a VE SV6 ute, manual, with 19's, PRICE QUOTED, $772! So blows your theory out of the water IMO. |
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28-09-2007, 08:20 AM | #4 | |||
cross breeder
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Like xk-xf's?
http://www.ozfalcon.com.au/ |
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28-09-2007, 08:36 AM | #5 | ||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
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I see it as a Positive because, Firstly you are safer if you have a major bingle & secondly after getting out with less injury they will write it off & give you a new one which is always better than a fixed one
I was not keen on the VE Ute until recently in the last Wheels Mag it looks & sounds good (apart from the rear) which apart from the dual exhaust looks funny. Think the Orion Ute will be Nice |
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28-09-2007, 08:47 AM | #6 | |||
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If they can stop them snapping in half!!!!!!!!!! Was at a flashy function in the palladium at crown a few weeks back and a guy who was on our table sitting next to me who's been heavily involved in durability testing of the new models. He was enjoying having his beer topped up so frequently that he didnt realise how much he'd had i'm sure because he started to spill all manner of things that he shouldnt have been. Apparently........ in durability testing so far Ford have had 2 utes break in half in the center where the chassis joins into the cabin. One was a tornado that had minimal weight in it for its life in testing - about 300kg, and the other was a base model XL which had been carring it's one tonne payload. Quite disturbing when its so close to release, and from what he mentioned it's stirred up some manner of fuss within Ford with a lot of head scratching, explanations and quick thinking required. |
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28-09-2007, 08:58 AM | #7 | ||
Banned
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schmidty that sounds like utter untruths that you have typed.
as if. as for the ve repairs cost i dont think this is major considerations for many potential purchasers. they will go for overall package, if it's the better car it will obviously sell in the same manners. |
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28-09-2007, 09:23 AM | #8 | ||
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The large cost of repair is due to the side of the ute (from the base of the A-pillar to the tailgate) is one complete pannel. That would be a nightmare to fix. First thing I said when I was at the launch
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28-09-2007, 09:30 AM | #9 | |||
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Care to make a bet on that?? I was very hesitant to take it as truth, but without going into details it was confirmed from a source high enough in PD up to know the truth behind it. |
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28-09-2007, 09:32 AM | #10 | |||
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I am a bit concerned now mine might break lol |
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28-09-2007, 09:36 AM | #11 | ||
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The tornado was sagging majorly in the middle, only really being held up by the top of the tub leaning against the back wall of the cabin as it sagged and was pulled out of testing because it was deemed as being too unsafe to continue. The initial reaction when they noticed it sagging in the middle was that they are paid to test the durability and to basically see what it takes to destroy stuff so they kept driving it at first.
XL apparently went in a bigger way. |
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28-09-2007, 09:48 AM | #12 | ||
hmm eyebrows
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I believe that it cost GMH $100mil to make the VE ute. That means we are at the $1.1b baby.
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28-09-2007, 09:58 AM | #13 | ||
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The entire side of the VE ute is one panel (nose to tail) - this was one of the reasons they gave for the expensive repair cost.
Edit - Grum beat me to it.
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28-09-2007, 10:24 AM | #14 | ||
BACK IN AN FG TURBO
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i dunno.....sounds kind of unbelievable....like it would have to bend the driveline and everything to break in the middle....he was probably drunk and talking BS...but who knows, hopefully they fix it lol.
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28-09-2007, 10:30 AM | #15 | |||
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28-09-2007, 10:32 AM | #16 | |||
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28-09-2007, 10:45 AM | #17 | |||
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28-09-2007, 10:46 AM | #18 | |||
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I heard the Ve almost broke in half when they tested it with a carton of Beer :
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28-09-2007, 10:49 AM | #19 | |||
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Sounds like he was that ****ed he was dreaming...
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28-09-2007, 11:17 AM | #20 | |||
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28-09-2007, 11:32 AM | #21 | |||
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Ok, well call is what you will, but without incriminating anyone, i asked in passing a friend who is high enough up to know. I threw out a few of the basic bits of info that i had been told the previous night, and he finished the story off with the same information that i had been given the night before. He's a bloke that will never let the slightest bit of info slip, but he said it was actually a bit scary that they had experienced such major issues so close to release. So i got the same story from 2 staff, one who drives them daily, one who's quite high up and very involved with the orion. What do you base your claims of BS on other than hoping its not true? I understand that this info coming from me is in no way as credible as it was when it came to me from a loose lipped PG driver and someone who is very much involved in and carries responsibility in the orion project. And yeah, the durability testing is very harsh and the conditions are simulated are for the most part above and beyond what any normal example is going to face in its life. Like the PG driver said to me, they're paid to go out there and see what it takes to break things, and break them they will so that they know just how well they're going to stand up to joe public. |
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28-09-2007, 12:06 PM | #22 | |||
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Is talk of a 7 Litre soon, wonder if it will make it to the Ute? |
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28-09-2007, 01:02 PM | #23 | |||
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28-09-2007, 08:10 PM | #24 | |||
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I personally dont care if they break or not, not a big concern as I wont be buying another one ever again,
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28-09-2007, 08:26 PM | #25 | ||
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there was a au 1-11 Ute or tray down my way that was bent severely i know it had some kind of roof rack's on it and he went through the bottleO hit the racks and it bent were schmidty is talking about there were Heep's of people talking about it down here this was when it was near new. like i said AU series 1-2
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28-09-2007, 08:44 PM | #26 | |||
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My mates got a Datsun ute and its smoother then mine.
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28-09-2007, 08:52 PM | #27 | |||
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Ask anyone on the Forum who's had damage done to their car , I don't think Anyone would say they "planned" to do it ? That's why it's called "an accident" . Very curious statement , that one . Norm .
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XB Futura 302 , Wife ED Fairmont ,1994 Polynesian Green. Daughter No 1 KJ Laser , Daughter No 2 KH Laser Keeping FORDS in the family (Embarressment :yeees: , Son now has a "Camira" : ) "Look Right , Look Left , Look Right , BEFORE crossing Roads"
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28-09-2007, 11:27 PM | #28 | |||
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yeah norm i was just getting at the fact that if an accident were to happen, he doesnt care what it costs to fix, or how hard it is. We all pay insurance to not have those hassles. I had a woman back into my ute this week. Bad timing because it's put me out of the drivers parade at Bathurst. But look how superficial the damage is, i punched a bit back out, but i've had 3 quotes ranging between $2300 and $2800 to fix it. I couldnt care if it cost $10k, its the insurance companies job to sort out. |
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28-09-2007, 11:46 PM | #29 | |||
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Chassis flex has always been an issue on AU - B series utes. If you have a look under one, there's plenty of space. The chassis could drop 6 inches before the tail shaft would foul on anything above it. It'd be more the tail shaft dropping out of the back of the gear box that'd be to worry about than the tail shaft fouling on the body. And there's bugger all weight behind the rear axle or in front of the front, look at all the weight in the cab, portion of the motor behind the front axles and gearbox etc. It was always going to go down in the middle. They're no light weights either. My XR6 ute weighs more than an XR sedan. A sedan has the body structure all as one integrated cell. Crudely a ute is 2 different structures grafted together. Front half basically half a sedan with 2 chassis rails shoved and grafted into the floor of the front half. That's the weakest point of the whole vehicle, and the point that failed. I've had 1 cubic m of road base in my old mans one tonner and i actually considered shovelling some out on the side of the road because the chassis was literally flexing like a leaf spring as we drove down the highway. Quite nerve racking. And as for your theory about putting a few tonne in front of the axle, ummm, you've just found the perfect way to snap a falcon ute into many pieces. |
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29-09-2007, 12:31 AM | #30 | ||
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[QUOTE=schmidty]yeah norm i was just getting at the fact that if an accident were to happen, he doesnt care what it costs to fix, or how hard it is. We all pay insurance to not have those hassles.
[\QUOTE] Oh ,Ok schmidty , I see where you're coming from .(written word sometimes has a different context to the spoken word). What I put in the original post was a quote "Roughly" what the guy told the Interviewer . ( Must be right , It was on TV ) Bugga , Bad timing or what ? , you drove last year didn't you ? Sure doesn't take much to run up the $$$ these days . The Mrs hit a Roo at less than 80k's (Canberra PeakHour) a year or so ago , this was $4,000 worth of damage. Not too bad from outside , most was "in behind" Norm
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XB Futura 302 , Wife ED Fairmont ,1994 Polynesian Green. Daughter No 1 KJ Laser , Daughter No 2 KH Laser Keeping FORDS in the family (Embarressment :yeees: , Son now has a "Camira" : ) "Look Right , Look Left , Look Right , BEFORE crossing Roads"
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