No more Aussie cars- starting to really notice it

[hackney]

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

I believe this sort of behaviour is now the exception, not the norm. It might seem more familiar to people on a car enthusiast platform but overall people seem to make more ad-hoc short trips and have excuses for why the longer hauls don’t happen. Look at the places people used to foray to regularly from Sydney in the 1990s, now Charlie Bravo Foxtrot with respect to the distance and effort. Weekends at Nelson Bay, day picnics at Terrigal or Bowral, lunches at Broke, Mount Vic, Barrenjoey… Journeys of that duration and commitment are talked up but usually canned with some excuse.

It’s so much easier to fly these days, especially very long distances.I just cannot be bothered.Fares have risen, but if you are savvy you can still save a few bucks.It’s the same as hotel accommodation, it fluctuates.

[PooDog]

Originally Posted by hackney

Chinese parts are in a lot of vehicles, whether they are made in Japan or any where else for that matter.It is not new.Even ZF as most Ford owners know we’re made in their Chinese factory.My old G6E Ecoboost had the Chinese ZF HP26.I had @ the same time a XR6 Ecolpi ute,with the German made ZF unit.Even my old AU Futura had Chinese wiring in the engine bay,but never gave any trouble. The FGX XR8 variants had the stronger German unit, the rest of the range had the Chinese unit, which I believe was a lighter unit.

Originally Posted by PooDog

Was quite surprised when I had problems with the boot release catch on the FGX pulled it out to lube it all up ......made in China stamped on it

True .....from what i've noticed the only vehicles not affected would be the Japanese ones ?

[hackney]

Originally Posted by PooDog

True .....from what i've noticed the only vehicles not affected would be the Japanese ones ?

No,incorrect, Japanese vehicles also have parts made in the PRC.It is not that uncommon.

[PooDog]

Originally Posted by hackney

No,incorrect, Japanese vehicles also have parts made in the PRC.It is not that uncommon.

Had not noticed that

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by hackney

Chinese parts are in a lot of vehicles, whether they are made in Japan or any where else for that matter.It is not new.Even ZF as most Ford owners know we’re made in their Chinese factory.My old G6E Ecoboost had the Chinese ZF HP26.I had @ the same time a XR6 Ecolpi ute,with the German made ZF unit.Even my old AU Futura had Chinese wiring in the engine bay,but never gave any trouble. The FGX XR8 variants had the stronger German unit, the rest of the range had the Chinese unit, which I believe was a lighter unit.

Not quite. The chinese ZF was a HP21, not a HP26. For FG-X, all NA 6's went to the HP21 as well as the Ecoboost 4, while all turbo's and V8's kept the HP26.

Originally Posted by PooDog

True .....from what i've noticed the only vehicles not affected would be the Japanese ones ?

There is not a single vehicle on the market you can buy today that doesn't have a significant number of parts sourced from China. Not 1.

The parts supply from there has become dominant, so manufacturers basically have no choice for certain parts.

[Sprintey]

Originally Posted by zilo

It's the cheap chinese bits they put in aussie made cars in the end that brought the overall quality down.

Cheap drivetrain and suspension components, window regulators, seats and suspension bushings to name a few. Whilst the original production runs may have started well by the end they were just sourcing crap from China.

I remember having a discussion with PDR driveshafts in Geelong a while back about some new CV components and the advice was to use second hand Unidrive parts if it was a choice rather than current chinese imports.

Extend that to the Fortera tyres that were OEM fit on AWD Territory

And having these cars as older cars now, I reckon the amount of customers turned away over the years by those window regulators is not a few.

[Sprintey]

Originally Posted by zilo

Totally agree with you, flying is a humiliating experience these days and much more of a risk of Covid than having your own cocoon.
The chance of getting a cheap airfare seems to have faded as well.

Yep, in my case it's immune suppression so flying isn't an option for the time being (nor cruise ships!), no more money spent on that part of the economy from me. Plus, avoid the airport/flying cargo experience. And baggage handlers playing footy with your bags!

Money wise we've both driven and had family members fly back and forth east to west recently, and if driving is $800+ in fuel in petrol AWD Terry, and flying with less notice $600 to $900 a shot, then going with 2 people in car is on par - plus you get that bubble.

Taking 4, it's half the price, and with an I6 you don't have to worry about dusting the VDJ, so should be relatively pain free on mechanical.

This is exactly the space where simple, big-engine-d Aussie cars shone in the past, you can go back to 1950's, 1960's, 1970s XW GS and V8 and no speed limits!), 1980s and to an extent 1990s to see how well they stacked up vs expensive air travel.

[Sprintey]

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

I believe this sort of behaviour is now the exception, not the norm. It might seem more familiar to people on a car enthusiast platform but overall people seem to make more ad-hoc short trips and have excuses for why the longer hauls don’t happen. Look at the places people used to foray to regularly from Sydney in the 1990s, now Charlie Bravo Foxtrot with respect to the distance and effort. Weekends at Nelson Bay, day picnics at Terrigal or Bowral, lunches at Broke, Mount Vic, Barrenjoey… Journeys of that duration and commitment are talked up but usually canned with some excuse.

I reckon there's actually a couple of factors that are seeing MORE of those kind of trips.

Firstly, lots of us surf, snowboard and 4x4, so the trip up to Nelson Bay for Sydney surfers would be easy and done often. Quick missions to the mountains still happen.

The darker side has happened to some truly beautiful beaches/spots that we love. As soon as a bloody instagram influencer discovers the beach, it's completely inundated with lemmings and their cars 4x4 rigs the next weekend, and those of us who love it give it a miss for a month or so. But there will be others that keep coming back.

The result of this is overall increased traffic to a lot of the day trip spots.

For example, Lancelin and it's Navy bombing range to the north up to Wedge Island in the 1990s was beaut, desolate and a way to escape Perth's surfing crowds. If you look at it now, the dunes are a 4x4 circus, there's 4 wheel motorbikes everywhere on the tracks north of the town, and many day trippers with boards onto it as soon as swell and wind are decent.

There's overall more 4x4s (hello, covid!) in people's hands too in comparison to the 1990s, so they venture further afield.

My observations as a coast and mountains lover, anyway.

[hackney]

[QUOTE=Bossxr8;6764348]Not quite. The chinese ZF was a HP21, not a HP26. For FG-X, all NA 6's went to the HP21 as well as the Ecoboost 4, while all turbo's and V8's kept the HP26.

Yes of course, it was the HP21 which came out of ZF factory in China & was used in the Ecoboost. Correct all the standard sixes also used the HP21.
There is not a single vehicle on the market you can buy today that doesn't have a significant number of parts sourced from China. (Couldn’t actually remember!)

[hackney]

[QUOTE=Sprintey;6764363]Extend that to the Fortera tyres that were OEM fit on AWD Territory They were actually developed in conjunction with Goodyear specifically for the Territory.

[hackney]

[QUOTE=Bossxr8;6764348]Not quite. The chinese ZF was a HP21, not a HP26. For FG-X, all NA 6's went to the HP21 as well as the Ecoboost 4, while all turbo's and V8's kept the HP26.

Yes of course, it was the HP21 which came out of ZF factory in China & was used in the Ecoboost. Correct all the standard sixes also used the HP21.
There is not a single vehicle on the market you can buy today that doesn't have a significant number of parts sourced from China. Not 1.

[Vesper Martini]

Originally Posted by Sprintey

Extend that to the Fortera tyres that were OEM fit on AWD Territory

They had no choice since South Pacific tyres that made the Goodyear's closed.

But what was it that made the Chinese ones worse?

[Sprintey]

Ah, I meant that as example of a part that was developed here I think, and later was produced in China. We've used Forteras the whole way and they are good for 70,000 to 80,000 and are a good tyre for the car. There was around a $70-$80 retail save per tyre once they shifted to Chinese production. I can't say the tyres are any worse once shifted, in this case.

[zilo]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

......There is not a single vehicle on the market you can buy today that doesn't have a significant number of parts sourced from China. Not 1.
.

If you exclude Taiwan then I reckon US built Tesla cars might be close.

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by zilo

If you exclude Taiwan then I reckon US built Tesla cars might be close.

In your dreams.

[Vesper Martini]

Sounds like another Victim of Elons propaganda..


A recall incident reveals that a huge part of Tesla's business is handled by China.
https://www.gizchina.com/2022/02/25/...made-in-china/

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by Vesper Martini

Sounds like another Victim of Elons propaganda..


A recall incident reveals that a huge part of Tesla's business is handled by China.
https://www.gizchina.com/2022/02/25/...made-in-china/

LOL Zilo.

Elon loves China, why would his cars not be chockers full of chinese parts like every other car on the planet is?

[hackney]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

LOL Zilo.

Elon loves China, why would his cars not be chockers full of chinese parts like every other car on the planet is?

You ‘read’ my mind!

[zilo]

Originally Posted by Vesper Martini

Sounds like another Victim of Elons propaganda..


A recall incident reveals that a huge part of Tesla's business is handled by China.
https://www.gizchina.com/2022/02/25/...made-in-china/

I did qualify my comment on US built Teslas, not Shangai built.

[zilo]

Originally Posted by hackney

You ‘read’ my mind!

I will tell you again, I do not want to be your friend, stop following me everywhere.
I don't want any more girlfriends that drive chinese fiestas....

[Cobra]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

Beyond zero. GM have pulled all resources except for North America and China. They have next to zero presence anywhere else, nor do they care to.



Living in geelong there are falcons and territories everywhere. Might be a few more years before their presence drops to a noticeable degree.

I still see Commodores everywhere in Adelaide.

[Sprintey]

Saw the rare and thought-to-be-extinct EL ex-Taxi in Taxi Yellow with unpainted bumpers driving up Gt Ocean Rd today. What's that - 20 years after being in service?!

Looked very nice and lowered a bit.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Sprintey

Saw the rare and thought-to-be-extinct EL ex-Taxi in Taxi Yellow with unpainted bumpers driving up Gt Ocean Rd today. What's that - 20 years after being in service?!

Looked very nice and lowered a bit.

AU Falcon in Victorian Taxi Yellow gonna be iconic like NYC's Ford Crown Victoria yellow cabs I reckon.

[Magna]

There's still heaps of Camry's on the road in Melbourne, they were locally made until 2017.

You even see the occasional wide body Camry dating back to the EB era!

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by Sprintey

Saw the rare and thought-to-be-extinct EL ex-Taxi in Taxi Yellow with unpainted bumpers driving up Gt Ocean Rd today. What's that - 20 years after being in service?!

Looked very nice and lowered a bit.

E-series owners club had a cruise down there, so it most likely would have been among that bunch. Has NOFARE plates if I remember correctly.

[Sprintey]

Yep, lots of good Aussie metal down the coast recently. Mint HQ Premier, and beautiful HQ Kingswood red with black vinyl roof also spotted.

[stock1991]

Had to take a pic of this, lighting is bad but the car was immaculate

[roKWiz]

Spotted 1 of the 2 yellow taxi's still working around Wang yesterday.

[xkxlxm]

On Monday in the city (Melb.) I saw a yellow Ford taxi (looking very nice and clean) and I also saw a yellow ex-taxi Ford which had someone in the back seat; maybe it's being used as an uber car now?

[willo56]

Originally Posted by xkxlxm

On Monday in the city (Melb.) I saw a yellow Ford taxi (looking very nice and clean) and I also saw a yellow ex-taxi Ford which had someone in the back seat; maybe it's being used as an uber car now?

Caught a FG Falcon taxi the other day from airport - asked how many k's it had clocked up so far - 750K