The classic/fave car thread

[Gointocarlton]

Daughter had a Golf and loved it too but VW service and support is horrendous.
They fight you on everything you try and get fixed under warranty and only want luxury car trade ins, plus never have enough stock. Where I live several of the brands/ dealers are owned by the autopact group and there in lies the problem...having three local VW dealers owned by the same people means no competition.Think they own around 30 dealerships in Aus selling various brands...

I have found VW service and support excellent thus far. Got into strife a while back when the sunroof got stuck open on a Sat shopping trip. Rang them, they told me to come in and they fixed it.

[Macca37]

The most unreliable car I have ever owned was a Mercedes Benz GLC 4 door coupe which I bought new in late 2017.  From day 1 I had  "crabbing" issues with the steering causing the steering wheel to shake violently when on full lock, either left or right.  Dealership told me it was within manufacturer's specifications and there was nothing it could do for me.

Research showed there were thousands of complaints, especially in the UK, where it was acknowledged that there was a design flaw in all rhd GLC models.  Finally late in 2018 in the UK  newly designed steering knuckles were supplied and fitted under warranty.

There was no warranty recall in Australia, and it was only when I brought the recall information in the UK to the dealer's notice that I had the problem fixed under warranty.  I also had numerous problems with the electronics and so I got rid of it late last year.

[Macca37]

On the other hand, between 2006 and 2017 family members and I had a number of Lexus sedans and SUVs.  We had zero problems with the vehicles and the service departments were outstanding.

[ElwoodBlues1]

The most unreliable car I have ever owned was a Mercedes Benz GLC 4 door coupe which I bought new in late 2017.  From day 1 I had  "crabbing" issues with the steering causing the steering wheel to shake violently when on full lock, either left or right.  Dealership told me it was within manufacturer's specifications and there was nothing it could do for me.

Research showed there were thousands of complaints, especially in the UK, where it was acknowledged that there was a design flaw in all rhd GLC models.  Finally late in 2018 in the UK  newly designed steering knuckles were supplied and fitted under warranty.

There was no warranty recall in Australia, and it was only when I brought the recall information in the UK to the dealer's notice that I had the problem fixed under warranty.  I also had numerous problems with the electronics and so I got rid of it late last year.

Not called the three point swastika for nothing and remember they are doing you a favor by allowing you to drive one of their cars.
Warranty recalls are based on money and how much its going to cost them, car makers will happily let people have accidents etc until their insurance threshold is reached and they have to issue recalls.
Real experience in the showroom too, SIL has one on lease through work and had to pick it up, you need to shower twice after listening to they BS feed to you and how important you are to them and how superior you are compared to other motorists now you own a Merc. My SIL is a western suburbs boy used to driving VL Holden commodores and had never experienced such an ordeal....

[DJC]

One of my colleagues had a BMW which she called the Bad Motor Wagen.  It spent more time at the stealers’ than on the road.

She was rapt when it was stolen but the thieves abandoned it when it broke down again and it was returned to her ?

[cookie2]

I used to watch a car show hosted by a mechanic on YouTube.  He hated Beemers and reckoned that they had a lot of cheap plasticy components that only lasted a few years and then cost a fortune to replace. Lesson, don't buy one second hand older than a couple years, especially with high Ks and less than perfect service record.

[ElwoodBlues1]

Car sales figures for 2022.....the winners first...apologies for the longer than normal post.
1. Toyota up 3.3% from the previous year and clear market leader with 231,050 sales.
2: Mazda down -5.3% but still with 95,718 units sold, made a real effort to improve their service as they did cop some bad press from memory over some legal issues.
3: Kia up 15.3% with 78,330 units sold, priced right and the best of the two Korean brothers with better service back up.
4: Mitsubishi up 13.7% after looking down and out after cross sharing tech with two perennial duds in Nissan and Renault with the Triton ute proving popular.
5: Hyundai...seem to have a lot of recalls and iffy engine problems(fires etc) but still managed a 0.6% rise in sales and sold 73,345 units.
6: Ford..living on Ranger and to a lesser extent Everest sales, down -6.7% @66,628 units sold, the other models in their range contributed around 8000 units only so Ford are just hanging on imho.
7: MG...Chinese cheapies selling well at nearly 50,000 units and up 27.1%.....can only see them selling more with their cheap EV's.
8: Subaru....36,000 units sold and sales dropped by around 3%.....20% owned by Toyota who have squeezed the innovation out of the company and will likely own more of a share over the years as they make Sub's more impotent with those horrible CVT transmissions and further reducing the model range.

Shock improvers apart from MG were Chinese mates GWM up 36%, RAM up 52%( the bigger the ute the more bogans in Oz seem to want them) and the renamed Ssan Yongs(cant remember the silly new name) and they are still rubbish but managed a a 32.4% increase in sales. Suzuki were up 23.5% in sales and while I cant confirm Id guess  thats on the back of the fetish for Jimnys and the crazy resale value prices they get.

Losers.......Nissan...down -35.8% and I'd say their future in Oz looks very grim with just 26, 491 units sold.
Ditto Honda...down -19% to around 14000 sales only and they are almost done in Oz, they screwed all their dealers over with fixed prices and have been on a downhill trend for a while now. Management have completely ruined what was once one of the best cars on the road and paying upwards of 40k for a new Civic wouldnt have many folk rushing to buy them.
Lexus down -23%...bean counters at Toyota HQ wont be happy, just too expensive for the average punter in a high interest rate environment .......same with Mercedes, BMW, and Audi all down.
Volvo and Porsche went against that trend and improved their sales, probably with their SUV offerings.
Jeep....one of my favs and they didnt let me down...-14.2%, spiralling out of control and out of business unless they stop churning out the Lemons they do at not so cheap prices. LDV doubled Jeep sales which tells you how well Jeep are going as LDV make some of the biggest crape boxes on the road and with equally crape service to back them up.

Sales figures show the love for big Utes is only getting stronger with four of the top ten cars sold in Aus being utes and the Toyota Prado rounding out the top ten as another offroad offering.
EV sales led by Tesla at around 19000 units but EVs still overpriced and only making up a small portion of the market but I expect the Chinese car makers to improve on that and probably corner the market especially when they start selling big EV Utes that can cover some real distance..
Source for my figures was CarExpert.com.au

[LP]

[member=57]ElwoodBlues1[/member]‍ thanks for the update, very interesting read.

I was reading someone's blog a few weeks back that suggested Mazda's poor strategic decisions over the last few years resulted in a lack of hybrid / EV offerings and also they pulled the Mazda 6 which was a better seller in some markets. The blog claimed they are about to launch a new strategy around a new generation of rotary / hybrid, not sure how that fits with the the market shift.

As much as I think it's a bit early, do you think the OS trend towards big EV Utes / Vans is ever going to have any impact? Personally, in a country like Australia with a massive area and very low density population I just can't see Pure EV being much use, the authorities would have to dot the landscape with Diesel powered generators which seems a bit pointless!

[Baggers]

No need to apologize for the long post, EB1 - terrific read and really appreciate the time you took to put it together.

For someone who is in the market to purchase a new (well, used, low Kms) vehicle very soon, your contribution was really informative... confirming a few makes to steer clear of. We intend to trade the 'his & hers' cars (Volvo S60 3ltr turbo & Volvo V40 2ltr turbo) for one vehicle. Do prefer the AWD vehicles will plenty of zing (0-100 under 7 sec, preferably around 6sec or less).

[ElwoodBlues1]

@Baggers...Subaru have always been at the forefront of AWD technology and they provide one of the better customer service experiences as well.
However they have had transmission and drive train issues of late and are not what they were. Depends where you live too and  what dealer support is available as well.
This is where Toyota tend to win out if you live away from the city and if I was going EV or Hybrid it would be a Toyota who have a larger dealer network and have a few more runs on the board especially with Hybrid technology.
@LP...agree charging stations will be an issue in Aus for remote areas.
Yep, Mazda got behind in technology and it's taken them a while to catch up. The Koreans and Chinese especially trick their cars up with the latest tech and bang for buck but Mazda are a steady company whose cars are generally reliable.
Agree in the EV front too and think that Hybrids are more value in Aus for the short and medium term.
Full EVs to me are still better suited to city drivers with smaller car needs.