Why do people keep buying VE commodores?

[chookaradley]

Ok so I know this might not be the done thing in our forum but I have to ask why do people keep buying this car over an fg falcon, surely it cant just be better marketing? My mates o8 SV6 has just gone bang at 117,000kms and its not an isolated incident.

Ive worked on dozens over the years and have rarely seen a reliable one. My mate is struggling to find a second hand engine coz there just isnt any around. In fact one wrecker told him they sell them as soon as they get them, where as the ford I6 gets sold for scrap usually coz they cant sell them!

#Timing chains stretch
# Engines sludge up despite religious servicing
# Engine has NO torque, 3.6SIDI is better
# Vision out of them is shocking
# Omega interior makes XT interior look luxurious
# Radiators, heater taps and water pumps leak

Brand loyalty it would seem is alive and well, but the FG is a far better car, and some people need to wake up and smell the coffee!

[T4ME]

Repost.

[Road_Warrior]

The FG may be a better car, but at the end of the day people buy what appeals to them, and Holden marketing does a very good job at generating that appeal. What you should be asking is: why arent the usual usupects in the motoring media picking up on all of this?

[Hood-G6]

I serviced one yesterday. 45k oil filter sludged up, timing chain noisey. Drained ~3l out and put nearly 7l back in

[chookaradley]

Ive read pretty much all reviews on FG vs VE Road Warrior. Have to say 80% give the win to the FG by a narrow margin. Generally VE steers and handles slightly better and has a better seating position. FG according to most reviewers does everything else better. IMHO the margin increases significantly as the two cars start to put on some kms

[PHANTMXR6]

I work with a couple of guys who have recently (in the last 12 months) bought brand new Commodores. One a Maloo and the other an SS.

I asked them if they compared them to anything else and why they bought a Holden.

Their answer "because it's a Commodore"....................

Not because it looked better or sounded better or went better or was better on fuel.

Purely because it was a Commodore.

[xisled]

The only reason it sells is because its a ve Holden and the fg is a ford.

[chookaradley]

The diehard commodore fans will always buy commodore, and the diehard falcon fans will always buy falcons. Its the other 75% of large car buying consumers that I dont get. Put simply their should not be such a large discrepency in sales between the 2.

[Silver Ghia]

People are like sheep sometimes.

[gtxb67]

some of us know the car we want long before we drive it
i will never have a holden and more than likely never a gm product either - that doesn't mean i will always buy a ford, but if i was looking for a brand new car for myself (and not my wife), then an fg would be very high on my list

i know many people similar to myself but who are holden fans, so obviously they would not think about a ford when purchasing

[galaxy xr8]

I thought in the private sector of the large car segment, the Falcon outsold the Commodore, it was only fleet's and such where the Commodore made up it's sales ?.
If so then people do buy FG's over VE's.

[gtxb67]

Originally Posted by galaxy xr8

If so then people do buy FG's over VE's.

they have good taste, i guess

[Bonn]

It's certainly a sad state of affairs.
Last year, work had me in hire cars for a while, which were either XR6 FGs, or SV6 VEs.
The VE's were a bastard to attempt bluetooth phone pairing.
When test driving my FG this year, bang - it connected instantly - another sweetener.

The V6s come across as very clunky, and the transmissions are so last century. The ****y spoiler position makes rear vision a thing of the past, and the mags look like puss, along with the pedestrian colour options.
Just a few observations.....
Cheers
Steve

[compact 351]

wow we have a ve sv6 commodore and we have a gtp,the reason we went to commodore is cause we didnt like the au,after owning a ford and a commodore i wouldnt put **** on either as they both have some problems,as for the ve being slow i dont think so

[chookaradley]

Originally Posted by galaxy xr8

I thought in the private sector of the large car segment, the Falcon outsold the Commodore, it was only fleet's and such where the Commodore made up it's sales ?.
If so then people do buy FG's over VE's.

If thats the case why is the take up for fleets do high with commodore?.Ford provide a 4cyl option as well as a six, resale about the same, you would have to say purchase prices line ball. Again no logical reason

[ivorya]

They sell because..

1. They chase fleet sales.
2. They discount the crapper out of them
3. They premote the car as 'Australian's Own'
4. No Aussie Jurno will ever bag this vehicle. Even when parts of the door trim, glove-box fall off during the test.
5. Ford and Falcon I6 have a reputation of being extremely thirsty. My Boss and collegue hired a FG XR6 recently, major holden supporters. They came back and raved at how little fuel was used, how it felt so much better than the VE they had hired the wk previous.

[chookaradley]

The poor fuel economy of the I6 is a myth. I remember about 3 years ago carsales I think they took a VE Berlina 3.0 SIDI and a FG G6 to Bathurst, did 161 laps at the speed limit. Guess what.. The Falcon was more economical. Even the current SZ Territory is criticised for its economy, yet its better than Kluger, Captiva, CX9 in petrol form

[WPR1]

Ignorance!!

[Brazen]

My VE is one of the most solid and reliable cars ever I have ever had. The big issue with the FG is the seating position, you are immediately put off by the car before you have even turned the key. My FG2 is a column shift and seems to feel a bit better as I can splay my legs out to compensate a bit. But how did the FG ever get signed off with that low steering wheel and high seat? Amateur hour.

And the styling, all the proportions of a EL Falcon. Falcon is the more modern drive, if only it looked it!

And don't forget some consumers simply don't know any better and buy the more crap car.

[Windsor220]

Originally Posted by galaxy xr8

I thought in the private sector of the large car segment, the Falcon outsold the Commodore, it was only fleet's and such where the Commodore made up it's sales ?.
If so then people do buy FG's over VE's.

I'm not sure who ever came up with that on here but it turned out to be false. When the breakdown figures were shown, Commodore beat Falcon in every segment.

[Dusty1]

Is it because Holden wouldn't sell a rubbish vehicle?

I haven't driven a Commodore in a long while. When I did I didn't like it. But Holden don't sell rubbish do they?

I can't think of an average Ford, but the Epica, Riva - yeah...average.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by chookaradley

The poor fuel economy of the I6 is a myth. I remember about 3 years ago carsales I think they took a VE Berlina 3.0 SIDI and a FG G6 to Bathurst, did 161 laps at the speed limit. Guess what.. The Falcon was more economical. Even the current SZ Territory is criticised for its economy, yet its better than Kluger, Captiva, CX9 in petrol form

I notice Drive never went back to Bathurst to compare the VE SIDI 3.0 against the FG II Ecoboost 2.0.

[onfire]

Here we go again.

[robbyj]

exactly^ if they were rubbish they would be recalled. This has not happened.

People who are holden buy generally buy holden. People who are ford generally buy ford. Id take a stab and say there is more holden then ford fans.

So when the VE appeals to them, and are in the market, they will buy a VE.
Even if a few ford fans tell em they are crap.. the FG is far superior.

[jpd80]

This is a hard little period for Holden but VF promises to be a very good car technically,
so all the jibes leveled at VE will be mostly a thing of the past. There's a new game
starting up in a couple of months time and Ford better be ready.

[2011G6E]

Yawn.

Ever actually driven a VE? Directly hopped out of a VE into an FG? It's honestly hard to find a bad new car today, and if you aren't badge-blinded, there's really a toss of a coin between a VE and a Falcon.
The salesman at Holden when we were looking at an SV6 and wondering whether to buy it or an XR6 (but ended up with the G6E), he said that unless a potential customer brought it up, they didn't actually mention the "small" engine was only 3 liters to head off any preconceived notions about what it would be like. I've driven them, and they go just fine.

We're talking street cars...not racing cars...we're talking about family cars that Joe Average is going to buy. I would bet hard cash that 90% of buyers off the street could care less about 0 to 100 times or quarter mile times or power and torque...as long as it's pleasant to drive, comfortable, roomy, nicely equipped, safe, and reliable, they could care less about the other stuff.
When you mention "performance", they don't think "quarter mile", they think "how long between fuel stops".

I love a spirited drive as much as the next guy and have always been keen on doing up cars and motorbikes, but when we were considering the two cars, I never even recall asking about power outputs or torque of the various motors on offer, apart from saying we wanted a six cylinder. I was more interested in price, features, trade in offer, warrantee, servicing costs, and stuff they were willing to throw in.

[mik]

Originally Posted by Brazen

My VE is one of the most solid and reliable cars ever I have ever had. The big issue with the FG is the seating position, you are immediately put off by the car before you have even turned the key. My FG2 is a column shift and seems to feel a bit better as I can splay my legs out to compensate a bit. But how did the FG ever get signed off with that low steering wheel and high seat? Amateur hour.

And the styling, all the proportions of a EL Falcon. Falcon is the more modern drive, if only it looked it!

And don't forget some consumers simply don't know any better and buy the more crap car.

The high driving position i suspect may be to also cater for women folk.

[grandpa_spec_F6]

Me: "It's faster than a VE, it's more fuel economical than a VE, it shifts better than a VE (auto), costs less, insurance and rego is less so why isn't it a 'better' car?"

My mate: "Because it's a Ford" <-- Drives a Nissan

[2011G6E]

Interesting one about the "fat pillars". Look at any modern cars and pillars are "fat"...especially ones with airbags and other safety stuff.

Our WB ute still has the same basic architecture as the original HQ ute that was praised for having the "thinnest A-pillers of any production car" at the time, and they're still noticeably thin.
Modern crash safety requirements would scotch a new car having pillars that thin...

[paule11]

Originally Posted by chookaradley

Ive read pretty much all reviews on FG vs VE Road Warrior. Have to say 80% give the win to the FG by a narrow margin. Generally VE steers and handles slightly better and has a better seating position. FG according to most reviewers does everything else better. IMHO the margin increases significantly as the two cars start to put on some kms

This is exactly what I thought Hired a SV6 I usuallly get an XR6.
I was impressed with the braking and handling was not impressed with the engine was a pain when overtaking foot to the floor and it doesnt go foot hal f to three quarters down and it goes better.