1 Billion Dollars Buys You 2 Recalls

[boot_it]

Because nissan got it right in the early ninety's. Thats why they were partially sold off to Renault.

Everything they made was full of unicorn giggles, and other happy fun stuff.

Their just PERFECT aren't they.

Cut holden some slack, they have made a world class car on a shoestring budget.

And please note i drive a skyline and have never owned a holden so i'm not biased.

And here is a quote from that article...

More than 32,000 new vehicles have been recalled in Australia since September to fix safety-related faults, according to Government records.

National recalls had been made by Holden, Honda, Jaguar, Chrysler, Renault, Alfa Romeo, Mitsubishi, Ford, Nissan (ohh no's teh nissans as well) and Subaru

that 32,000 recalls are for aussie sold cars not grey imports like 32 (execpt 500 imported r32 gtrs) ,33 ,34 ,stagea,etc

well the only site i could find was www.thedogandlemon.com with recalls for japanese cars (such as skylines) and its only got 9 recalls since 1989 and most of the recalls affected r34-35 skyline (1 affected the r32)

its just not the ve comodore the the prevous models aswell that have stupid recalls

they have been building the ve for 6yrs so its not like havent had time to iron out the bugs

can some one post up a good site for recalls on grey imports plz

[dangerous_daveo]

LOL! Yeah actually I remember a Nissan recall... On the ex-trails. My old work had them. There was some problem with the fuel tank and its had the potential to just explode or something so they had to call in quite a few... This was over 2 YEARS!!! after my work had, had the cars!!! It took them that long to work it out!

And porka... well they were making the largest profit (percentage wise from memory) of any car manufacture a few years back. I think they would have the money to make sure they had 'no' problems.

Be realistic, it just no posible to get it 100% right. We are talking production models here too, not the test mules...

[Oblivion]

At least it was only the seat belt ay, not like it is a safety aspect of the car......

But they have done well with the sales, will give them that.

[monaroCountry]

Recalls aren't good but Holden’s response has been excellent so far.

Recalls for a series 1 car is now days a given, yes even with Toyota. The media frenzy with Holden’s recall has been appalling. It’s really biased reporting, Drive et al have left out other recalls from other manufacturers.

Some dodgy practices from Toyota and co have gone unreported in Australia. Examples below.

Failure to issue a recall for Hilux Surf SUV haunts Toyota

NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE, TOKYO

Friday, Jul 14, 2006, Page 10

An investigation by the Japanese police into an accident involving a Toyota sport utility vehicle (SUV) threatens to turn into an embarrassing scandal for the carmaker, which has built its success on a reputation for reliability.

On Tuesday, the police in Kumamoto, a small city in southern Japan, accused Toyota of failing to recall the type of SUV involved in an accident in 2004 that injured a family of five, despite having known for years of a fault in the steering assembly. Toyota started issuing recalls for the vehicle, called a Hilux Surf in Japan and a 4Runner in the US, two months after the accident.

Executives probed

The police asked local prosecutors to investigate three current and former executives in Toyota's head office for possible negligence in their decision not to issue the recall earlier, or to take other safety measures, said Akitoshi Takahashi, an officer in the city police traffic division.

He refused to identify the three, but said prosecutors were reviewing the request before deciding whether to file charges. The Kumamoto district prosecutor's office declined to comment.

Toyota discovered the design flaw in 1996, after customer complaints prompted an internal inquiry, but decided that the problem was not big enough to merit a recall, a spokesman, Paul Nolasco, said. It issued a statement on Tuesday saying it believed that the "three individuals concerned addressed the matter appropriately," but also promised to cooperate with the investigation and to strengthen its quality control.

Still, "Toyota views this as a serious case and a serious accusation," Nolasco added.

Toyota Tundra – Brakes

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/...dra_brakes.html

There doesn't seem to be much question that a design flaw in the Tundra causes the front rotors to warp and wear our quickly. Toyota has issued a technical service bulletin but dealers aren't exactly eager to alert customers to the problem. More often, they string them along until the warranty has expired.

Toyota Tundra Recalled to Disable Front Passenger Airbag Switch

By Joe Benton

ConsumerAffairs.Com

July 13, 2006

In an odd twist of automotive safety, the Toyota Motor Corp. will recall nearly 160,000 Tundra pickups to disable the front-seat passenger airbag cut-off switch because the trucks do not have the required lower anchorage and tethers for children known as the LATCH system.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) rejected the Toyota petition to waive a federal safety regulation that requires most vehicles built after September 2002 and equipped with the front passenger side airbag cut-off switch to also carry the anchorages and tethers.

Disabling the switch will comply with the NHTSA order but auto safety experts question the decision and warn the move will not make the Tundra a safer vehicle, at least for children.

Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety characterized the Toyota decision as a "a clear and present danger to the children who ride in child restraints in the front passenger seats of those vehicles."

Installing in the LATCH system would cost Toyota more than deactivating the airbag cut-off switch but deactivating the switch means the airbag will always deploy and the right front passenger seat will always be unsafe for a child.

Children are at high risk of death or injury from airbags that deploy and child seats are not allowed in front seats that don't have an airbag cut-off switch.

Toyota does not know the cost of the recall but estimates that the repair will require approximately two hours of labor suggesting that disabling the switch will cost the automaker more than $16 million in labor alone if all the pickup owners respond to the recall.

In June 2005, Toyota acknowledged that 156,555 Toyota Tundra pickups from the 2003-05 model years did not comply with the child seat anchor safety regulation.

The automaker asked NHTSA to waive the regulation and spent more than a year trying to convince safety regulators the company was not required to install child-seat anchoring systems.

In the ruling, NHTSA took no position on whether Toyota could comply with safety regulations by simply deactivating the switches. Toyota has already disabled the cut-off switch in the 2006 Tundra in an effort to comply with the regulation.

[thorpe84]

damn they are ugly looking things too! especialy the flared wheel arches they look like a try hard astra 4wd turbo

as for being creative, well if you get to creative then the car will look like shit, remember the AU ford. YUK!!! i spose they just figured out a blend of every other car on the market then badge it holden.

i have never been a fan of holden in the first place and i dont think i ever will be

[Paradizzle]

damn they are ugly looking things too! especialy the flared wheel arches they look like a try hard astra 4wd turbo

as for being creative, well if you get to creative then the car will look like shit, remember the AU ford. YUK!!! i spose they just figured out a blend of every other car on the market then badge it holden.

i have never been a fan of holden in the first place and i dont think i ever will be

lol, the HSV's are tough.. they need to be lowered, but once it is it will look extremely tough. The negativity towards Holden gets higher and higher with each thread produced on it. The HSV VS GTS does 0-100 in under 5 seconds not to shabby for 75k or so.

http://www.drive.com.au/Editorial/ArticleD...ArticleID=19402

[phunky_monkey]

Good to see there are some half intelligent people on here without an unfounded vendetta against a brand. Maybe you'd all enjoy cars a lot more if you opened up your minds and realised there are good cars out there that aren't made by Nissan...

But hey, what do I care!

[PHATR32]

yes, not too bad for $75,000

[dangerous_daveo]

yes, not too bad for $75,000

There are a lot of other cars for more money with way less kit, that arent a whole lot better. And why do people buy them, cause its all about the badge...

[2BNVS]

having friends with como's i personally hate everything about them (fords too) my uncle has the gtp i do not understand 85k worth all optioned up not for that...bring on an r34 gtr vspec anyday over those cars... and still have pocket change for mods, (2000 model+, 11 sec 1/4s, with luxuries

ben...

[DRFT]

I find it funny how people think a car manufacturer is crap because it has Recalls for it's cars.

I work at a Toyota and Subaru dealership as an apprentice mechanic and half the bloody cars they sell have recalls.

Off the top of my head:

Corolla/Echo: Headlight switch

Prado: Front lower control arm, Rear axles

Kluger (and prado I think?): Brake master cylinder

04-05 WRX: Rear brake caliper dust boots

Liberty (model before current): Rear swaybar

Liberty GT (new model): Wiring recall

Outback/Liberty (Model before current): Rear door handle, Auto trans recalibration

These ore off the top of my head. There are probably more. I don't hear anyone bashing Toyota or Subaru here?

[Midol]

The VE is ugly.

I like the AU look, I've got an AU as my daily.

[Paradizzle]

The VE is ugly.

I like the AU look, I've got an AU as my daily.

hahahaha never speak again, ever!! You calling the VE ugly... and you drive an AU ford.... What is this world coming to.

[Midol]

Lol...

Looks are subjective. I find the VE ugly and find the AU nice... Not one of my mates like the look of the VE and all are Holden fanboys...

Plus, the AU got given to me... I didn't pay for it But it has grown on me.

[R34 Rampage]

Recall so what? The VE HSV series are a beast of a car. What else can do sub 5 second 0-100 times stock for under $100,000 and pull up from 100km/hr in less distance than a BMW M5 or Lambo Gallardo? Even skylines have had recalls, I believe the R34 had at least two involving its abs sensors or something like that.

The VE getting recalled is no big story, what about the current Mercedes E-Class which had most of its durability testing done on computer rather than in real life harsh kilometre tests? That car is a timebomb for future electrical problems.

Edited November 14, 2006 by R34 Rampage

[phunky_monkey]

having friends with como's i personally hate everything about them (fords too) my uncle has the gtp i do not understand 85k worth all optioned up not for that...bring on an r34 gtr vspec anyday over those cars... and still have pocket change for mods, (2000 model+, 11 sec 1/4s, with luxuries

ben...

I'd prefer a R34 GT-R too, but you have to understand they're different cars for different purposes. You'd be hard pressed towing a GT-R with another GT-R... or fitting in 5 6ft+ adults... or taking clients out etc

Different horses for different courses.

For what I payed for my clubby I could have had a 33 GT-R, FD RX-7, S2000 etc, but then I couldn't tow my other car could I?

[Pax-Ottomanica]

Expect the 2008 Falcon to look like this... All i can say is, Holden has fkd up big time. They spent $1 billion for something that looks like a BA Falcon.

I was reading the Motor mag, Ford CEO said the 2008 Falcon will look ALOT like the 2007 Mondeo

Car companies don't usually like to talk about new cars two years out from their likely on-sale dates but that's what Ford found itself doing last week when it hosted the Prime Minister at its Melbourne technical headquarters last week.

The main thing Ford wanted to trumpet was its new role as an Asia-Pacific and African region engineering and design centre.

However, the $100 million in funding that John Howard and Victorian Premier Steve Bracks came to announce was primarily aimed at Falcon and Territory. The money comes with conditions. Ford must give local automotive component manufacturers a shot at winning future supply contracts and it must also make a concerted effort at winning export deals for the Falcon and Territory.

In reality, the only places where there appear to be sales opportunities for large rear- and all-wheel-drive vehicles - either as built-up cars or in the form of technology transfers - are the US, the Middle East and China. These are all left-hand-drive markets.

Perhaps unintentionally, Gorman's budgetary conservatism was confirmed in Ford's own press release that announced a "significant" investment of $1.8 billion over the next 10 years, most of it to go into future development of the Falcon and Territory.

While that sounds impressive, it's less than Ford has admitted publicly to spending in the last 10 years on local model development.

Ford sold just 563 Falcon sedans last month as the entire large-car segment slumped 20.2 per cent compared with 12 months ago.

Much hope within the local car industry rests on the arrival of the all-new VE Commodore and the sales stimulus it may bring to the entire large-car segment. The VE is believed to be costing Holden about $1 billion, not including the upgrade of its Elizabeth plant in South Australia to build the car, or the construction of a new engine plant in Melbourne.

The next Falcon will present fresh sheetmetal to the world when it goes on sale from about March 2008 (it is said to have hint of the Iosis show car, pictured above) but underneath the mechanicals will be an evolution of the current Falcon.

One thing Gorman did rule out in these fuel-conscious days is a four-cylinder Falcon. By contrast, Mitsubishi Australia boss Rob McEniry has said such an option is being considered for the Adelaide-built 380. "You can fit a four-cylinder in a Falcon ... but it would have trouble getting out of its own way. That's not what we are selling, we are selling a performance vehicle," Gorman said.

"I still don't believe people are going to run away from what is really a great product here; package, performance and safety are still very important to the Australian consumer."

Limiting the spend on the next Falcon also makes sense considering the amount of work that has gone into the car in recent upgrades. The $500 million BA in 2002 included substantial changes to sheetmetal, drivetrain and suspension. It was a premature investment required by the unsuccessful AU Falcon launched in 1998.

Last year, Ford spent another $200 million on the BF upgrade, concentrating on refining drivetrains to meet new emissions regulations, introducing a new six-speed automatic on upper specification models and improving refinement.

The look of the mainstream Orion sedan has been signed off and already exists in clay form. Ford Australia design chief Scott Strong said its exterior draws strong inspiration from Europe.

"They have taken into consideration the very dynamic styling direction you have seen now in some of the European products that will join the next-generation Falcon in the showroom," Strong said. "It is a very dynamic, exciting car that picks up some of the DNA of the European Fords."

Through all this, the future of the Fairlane and LTD luxury cars remains doubtful. Combined sales have fallen below 100 a month and at that level the cars appear doomed. Export contracts seem to be the only hope.

"We are working on this [exports] but there is nothing to confirm or deny," Gorman said.

Edited November 15, 2006 by pretender-

[phunky_monkey]

I don't think it will look like that, and if it does, it'll need the big rims etc to look any good. If you get a povo pack it'll look like absolute arse

[Pax-Ottomanica]

This is how it looks with hub caps on (how ever u spell it)

[dangerous_daveo]

This is how it looks with hub caps on (how ever u spell it)

Looks like a cross between the civic hatch back, and the new camary.

And the camary is a REALLY ugly looking car.