Whats stopping people from buying the Falcon?

[Auslandau]

Originally Posted by z80

The Mercedes system is absolutely perfect.

Engine starts the moment you take foot off the brake pedal, by the time your right foot is on the accelerator the engine is fully functional.

You get what you pay for.

Perfect you say? By the time my right foot is on the accelerator the engine is fully functional ..... been like that in all the Falcon I have driven over the past 30 years! Never failed me yet.

Are these reason that people aren't buying the trusty old Falcon? Do people expect this type of technology in the family sub 38k market? Its great to say that Mercs have this BMW's have that etc but $ for $ are we expecting just a tad too much for the shopping trolley?

[b0son]

Originally Posted by Buntz93ED

Which is why the LPG falcon needs to be advertised as a petrol car replacement.

there already is a petrol replacement. its called diesel.

[Windsor220]

Originally Posted by Auslandau

Do people expect this type of technology in the family sub 38k market? Its great to say that Mercs have this BMW's have that etc but $ for $ are we expecting just a tad too much for the shopping trolley?

The Mazda 3 has this now and is under 30k. I have driven one and the stop/start is very good.

[Buntz]

With Journalism like this.... What's stopping people from buying the Falcon? :P

http://www.humeweekly.com.au/news/lo...d/2422215.aspx

http://parramatta-advertiser.whereil...on-the-wall-1/

http://automotivediscovery.com/five-...alcon/9211697/

[F6E]

In a nut shell - "Value for money"

The performance Fords/FPV's offer unmatchable performance value for money, no question, you need to drop $150K on a Euro/Jap to match the GO !

but

The base models arent competing on a performance criteria and get smashed by the imports in the same (or lower) price bracket offering 2012 tech features, Jesus even low rent Kia have keyless entry (big TV Ad campaign atm), better warranty, etc. Big boofy taxi is "nowhere" in the value/features for your dollar.................Wife & 2.3 kids, a $30K Honda Accrod Euro has to be a no-brainer vs a FalCodore ?


.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by F6E

The base models arent competing on a performance criteria

agreed. 195 - 215kw from the entry level engines is a bit ridiculous really. only about 3% of buyers would ever fully utilise that power and only for a very small % of time. the extra power does allow them to run taller gearing to make economy gains but its not like they are massively more economical than falcons of 10 years ago.

i could imagine the uproar on AFF if the next falcon 6cyl 'only' had about 170kw!!

Originally Posted by F6E

and get smashed by the imports in the same (or lower) price bracket offering 2012 tech features, Jesus even low rent Kia have keyless entry (big TV Ad campaign atm), better warranty, etc. Big boofy taxi is "nowhere" in the value/features for your dollar.................Wife & 2.3 kids, a $30K Honda Accrod Euro has to be a no-brainer vs a FalCodore ?


.

its not my cup of tea, but tech will be the next big thing in cars. gen y is all about tech. if someone brought out a car that had internet connectivity and you could personalise your instrument cluster background and console screen (if it had one), download your music straight to your car etc they would sell like hot cakes.

i'm only 35 and to me things like that aren't imortant in a car but many would consider me an old fuddy dud already

i think the falcon is ok, but if you look at some of the things people are upset that it hasn't got, they aren't big things. they are just the little things, and i guess these are what get you after a while.

personally i love my falcon and think it does more than enough. then again, i'm obviously easily pleased. i don't even have an android mobile phone, but it still has the ability to make calls.

[Buntz]

Originally Posted by F6E

In a nut shell - "Value for money"

The performance Fords/FPV's offer unmatchable performance value for money, no question, you need to drop $150K on a Euro/Jap to match the GO !

but

The base models arent competing on a performance criteria and get smashed by the imports in the same (or lower) price bracket offering 2012 tech features, Jesus even low rent Kia have keyless entry (big TV Ad campaign atm), better warranty, etc. Big boofy taxi is "nowhere" in the value/features for your dollar.................Wife & 2.3 kids, a $30K Honda Accrod Euro has to be a no-brainer vs a FalCodore ?

.

NO the value is there. You get a big comfy car that's quite good on fuel. It's just that times have changed. People in this country have more choice than ever. Medium cars are as big as large cars.... and light FWD fuel efficiency wins out over heavier RWD niche luxury.

The reason that people aren't buying the Falcon is: Ford, Australians, and Australia. Ford won't export it. Australians want more for less in everything they pay for... but won't stop buying things they don't need. And Australia has too many many brands for so few sales, It's so remote from export potential, and the standard of employment is higher than that of the U.S.

Falcon needs the world... and IMO.... the world needs Falcon. (But with global tech packages for export.)

[Buntz]

Originally Posted by prydey

agreed. 195 - 215kw from the entry level engines is a bit ridiculous really. only about 3% of buyers would ever fully utilise that power and only for a very small % of time. the extra power does allow them to run taller gearing to make economy gains but its not like they are massively more economical than falcons of 10 years ago.

i could imagine the uproar on AFF if the next falcon 6cyl 'only' had about 170kw!!

That's because safety brings weight. Airbags, and sensors and special computers... all need the engine to cart them everywhere in the hope we never use them.

Plus 195kw is fine. Ford could sit on that from here till judgement day. What do we all love from the straight six? Huge linear silky torque curve. Yeah...

[Wretched]

Originally Posted by prydey

its not my cup of tea, but tech will be the next big thing in cars. gen y is all about tech. if someone brought out a car that had internet connectivity and you could personalise your instrument cluster background and console screen (if it had one), download your music straight to your car etc they would sell like hot cakes.

Ah the A8 already offers this. I'm sure the 7 series does too.
Many of the luxury models + top performance cars offer the ability to scroll though custom dash boards via LCD screen.

[buggerlugs]

Have a look at all the post's on here regarding new model cars coming onto the market. For such a small nation we are so spoilt for choice. I'd say both the Falcon and Dunnydore days are numbered..........

[turbodewd]

Originally Posted by buggerlugs

Have a look at all the post's on here regarding new model cars coming onto the market. For such a small nation we are so spoilt for choice. I'd say both the Falcon and Dunnydore days are numbered..........

Youre wrong. The Aus govt subsidies are less generous than foreign subsidies. There will always be fleet sales which is a core buyer of large sedans, eg police, taxis.

And then there's me who prefers the Aussie product - nothing comes close for the bang for buck. Economy, power, safety, space, functionality - wallops the import offerings. A Subaru Liberty comes close.

[Torment47]

Originally Posted by onfire

What's stopping people from buying a new one?

I think the Price is a big reason why people won't buy a new car and the fact that the value drops of allot when they go to re-sell it..
Hence why allot of europeon car companys are offering more for new cars ( E.g Warranty,free servicing etc..)

[bad moon rising]

Originally Posted by Torment47

I think the Price is a big reason why people won't buy a new car and the fact that the value drops of allot when they go to re-sell it..
Hence why allot of europeon car companys are offering more for new cars ( E.g Warranty,free servicing etc..)

falcon resale is absolutley crap, who wants to sprend 35k on a new xr6 to have it 2 years 60000km later only be worth 12-15k on trade in. the warranty also isnt good enough,just look at hyundai (dont laugh) 5year unlimited km warrenty, reasonably cheap to initially buy and service. why pay more on a falcon to lose more? if ford had a 5year unlimited km warrenty theyd go broke within 3 years just with diff bush and ball joint warrenty claims.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by bad moon rising

falcon resale is absolutley crap, who wants to sprend 35k on a new xr6 to have it 2 years 60000km later only be worth 12-15k on trade in. the warranty also isnt good enough,just look at hyundai (dont laugh) 5year unlimited km warrenty, reasonably cheap to initially buy and service. why pay more on a falcon to lose more? if ford had a 5year unlimited km warrenty theyd go broke within 3 years just with diff bush and ball joint warrenty claims.

So BMR, the best thing Ford could do is limit the number of cars sold and make them a bit more expensive,
that would have a big knock on effect of better resale value too, more desirable versions would help.

Perhaps EcoLPi allows Ford to pursue fleet sales without hurting the retail market's mostly petrol sales...
Finance is another area Ford should look at, full retail with ultra low interest rate on leases...

[XR Martin]

Originally Posted by b0son

there already is a petrol replacement. its called diesel.

Err Mercedes has admitted that its getting harder and harder for diesels to meet emission standards and they think in 10 years time it could be uneconomically viable.

[atmoxr6]

Originally Posted by bad moon rising

falcon resale is absolutley crap, who wants to sprend 35k on a new xr6 to have it 2 years 60000km later only be worth 12-15k on trade in. the warranty also isnt good enough,just look at hyundai (dont laugh) 5year unlimited km warrenty, reasonably cheap to initially buy and service. why pay more on a falcon to lose more? if ford had a 5year unlimited km warrenty theyd go broke within 3 years just with diff bush and ball jointwarrenty claims.

just done 10 thous klms in 7days worth of driving on trip to bris and back home in w.a in my '09 xr6 zf 6spd over the xmas holiday's. in my opinion nothing worth the value of the falcon/xr especially, would have done the trip as well.

[bad moon rising]

Originally Posted by atmoxr6

just done 10 thous klms in 7days worth of driving on trip to bris and back home in w.a in my '09 xr6 zf 6spd over the xmas holiday's. in my opinion nothing worth the value of the falcon/xr especially, would have done the trip as well.

dont get me wrong, if you were going to buy one and keep it for 10 years i think its a fair buy but if you bought an fg and were going to trade it in for an fg2 when it comes out thats when the resale figures really start to hurt. they just drop value so quick. on the 2nd hand market there is definatley some bargains to be had.

[bad moon rising]

Originally Posted by jpd80

So BMR, the best thing Ford could do is limit the number of cars sold and make them a bit more expensive,
that would have a big knock on effect of better resale value too, more desirable versions would help.

Perhaps EcoLPi allows Ford to pursue fleet sales without hurting the retail market's mostly petrol sales...
Finance is another area Ford should look at, full retail with ultra low interest rate on leases...

i think from a marketing point of view the limited edition models seem to be a good thing. just look at the bf cobras and 40th anniversary gt's, the sold out quite fast and 6 months later people were paying more for a 2nd hand one than what a new one was worth, they had good resale. its just unfortunate if you just buy a for example xr6 fg before you warrenty have even expired your cars value has dropped 50%.

i think the eco lpi is a great motor. i think one of fords biggest issues in selling any of the models is there advertising. il be honest i dont remember seeing an add on tv for a eco lpi, none for the supercharged gt yet, very few for the f6 etc etc, yet every 2 minutes there a add for a exciting add for a mazda3 or ss commodore. they need to let buyers know what they have, how fuel efficient they are and how they compare to the competition.

[prydey]

depreciation is a fact of life, esp with cars. personally i think resale on FG is pretty good. 3yr old FG xr6's are still fetching over $20k.

whats a tv worth in 3 yrs? whats a computer worth in 3 yrs?

[jpd80]

I know a manager that had a bad experience with West Brisbane Franchise this week,
had his FG attended by RACQ once and towed to Service Dept twice with starter motor not working.
Checked by them, no apparent fault....

I went the second time to pick up the car as a favor, only to be greeted with,
"FG starters never give trouble, we can't find anything wrong so I can't keep the car."
"You realise that this is the second time this car has been in here in as many days
and if you haven't fixed the fault, this manager is going to be more than upset with you...

He replied. "that's fine....."

No wonder that company is switching nationally to Toyota, apparently this company
has been getting that sort of treatment for a while now and not from one place.

So sad, I tried my best but the attitude is just terrible........

Sometimes reality is a jarring reminder that a company is only good as its representatives..

[bad moon rising]

Originally Posted by jpd80

I know a manager that had a bad experience with West Brisbane Franchise this week,
had his FG attended by RACQ once and towed to Service Dept twice with starter motor not working.
Checked by them, no apparent fault....

I went the second time to pick up the car as a favor, only to be greeted with,
"FG starters never give trouble, we can't find anything wrong so I can't keep the car."
"You realise that this is the second time this car has been in here in as many days
and if you haven't fixed the fault, this manager is going to be more than upset with you...

He replied. "that's fine....."

No wonder that company is switching nationally to Toyota, apparently this company
has been getting that sort of treatment for a while now and not from one place.

So sad, I tried my best but the attitude is just terrible........

Sometimes reality is a jarring reminder that a company is only good as its representatives..

it is a bid hard sometimes diagnosing an intermittant fault, if the car is towed in, taken off the tow truck and it starts, what should they replace bem? pcm? starter motor? ignition barrell?
i can understand that sometime service advisors at dealers sometimes come across with a bit of attitude and i agree that isnt fair for the customer, but if a car doesnt fault at the dealer what do you want them to do? if they replace parts with "guessnostics" and the parts are recalled and no fault is found with them the price of the part and labour is rejected and the dealer has to foot the bill.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by XR6 Martin

Err Mercedes has admitted that its getting harder and harder for diesels to meet emission standards and they think in 10 years time it could be uneconomically viable.

People probably said the same thing about petrol engines in the 1940s, that in the year 2000 we'd have nuclear powered cars or some crap.

Just let technology improve, the diesel engine will be around for a lot longer yet.

[stevz]

Originally Posted by XR6 Martin

Err Mercedes has admitted that its getting harder and harder for diesels to meet emission standards and they think in 10 years time it could be uneconomically viable.

Shouldn't that be economically unviable?

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by bad moon rising

it is a bid hard sometimes diagnosing an intermittant fault, if the car is towed in, taken off the tow truck and it starts, what should they replace bem? pcm? starter motor? ignition barrell?
i can understand that sometime service advisors at dealers sometimes come across with a bit of attitude and i agree that isnt fair for the customer, but if a car doesnt fault at the dealer what do you want them to do? if they replace parts with "guessnostics" and the parts are recalled and no fault is found with them the price of the part and labour is rejected and the dealer has to foot the bill.

The RACQ mechanic bumped the starter and it worked right away....his advice was to replace the starter. :Shrug:
The dealership promptly dismissed this request twice....

I understand that it has now been replaced by a non-dealer......

Sorry to derail thread.........I'll stop now.

[falconnut]

Bad ford dealers.

Honestly their reputation is terrible and i am glad i have had very limited contact with them (needed genuine parts and tools unfortunately)

[SVR73]

I think as each year goes by, it will become not viable for more and more of the aussie people to buy a new car every 3 to 5 years or at all
I dont see the point of doing it when buying a car you really love the look of and enjoy driving can be completely overhauled and made almost like new again after say 300 to 500K for less than the cost of a new car.

their not making many good looking cars now. no flair or character at a
ll
falconnut - theres nothing that attracts me at all in the ford range, or any companys range worldwide. too conservative and mediocre. even supercars dont cut ut. give me a falcon thats really racey looking. swoopy look with the sportiest handling and engine ever. then I'll buy one.

[falconnut]

Dont worry, if we come out of the global recession(s) ok than we'll all go buy new cars.

[vbvbvb088]

I was walking past a melbourne Ford dealer and saw the salesperson showing a black FG... opened up the boot and (I think - so happy to be corrected) and I saw the underside of the bootlid with the panel bracing... not a clip on felt (grey) carpet thingy....

[Boza]

for me its the size growing as a kid we had an xd then an xf and the a ea which from being 6 months old was atotal piece of crap I remeber being stranded with mum all the time. so the old man went and got a wide body camry and that thing lasted like theres no tomorow only issue we had was a failed water pump in 4 years of having it. now my parents are on there second honda accord bought new.

When I asked the old man what made him go jap with the camry in the 90's and never looking back he said bang for buck and releibility.

They bought there last euro when the current one was coming it was a run out model for 31k and honestly craps all over anything ford offers currently build quality wise and fuel economy wise aswell.

honetly I have a ba but after driving the honda in car parks and inner city the size of the car is also very appealing as its not to big and not to small

maybe the quality and price issues are putting people off

[XR Martin]

Originally Posted by vbvbvb088

I was walking past a melbourne Ford dealer and saw the salesperson showing a black FG... opened up the boot and (I think - so happy to be corrected) and I saw the underside of the bootlid with the panel bracing... not a clip on felt (grey) carpet thingy....

Yeah its crap, but Commodore and Camry are they same.


EL Futura came with it standard in 1996