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?

[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.

[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.

[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.

[STINKY NINJA]

The same reason why there is always so many more holden fans at the drags/burnout comps.
Because more people like holdens than fords

[RAPID_BA]

People buy the better looking car. The ve is a nicer looking car than the fg. The only fg that looks better than a ve is the g6et. However I think the fg is the better car model for model but just doesn't look as good.

It's a repeat of the VT and au 6 cylinders, the au on merit was a great car but the vt looked heaps better and sold like hot cakes.

Ford only ever stepped ahead in the sales race when their cars looked better (BA, EF, EL). People don't care which car is actually better.

Just like in the social scene, you would take home an airhead hotty over a short stumpy buck teeth muppet who is a doctor.

[galaxy xr8]

Originally Posted by RAPID_BA

People buy the better looking car. The ve is a nicer looking car than the fg. The only fg that looks better than a ve is the g6et. However I think the fg is the better car model for model but just doesn't look as good.

It's a repeat of the VT and au 6 cylinders, the au on merit was a great car but the vt looked heaps better and sold like hot cakes.

Ford only ever stepped ahead in the sales race when their cars looked better (BA, EF, EL). People don't care which car is actually better.

Just like in the social scene, you would take home an airhead hotty over a short stumpy buck teeth muppet who is a doctor.

How many times do you need to be told that look's are subjective Hulk... (sorry Rapid) what you might think is a better looking car, other's will disagree.
Typical of you to sneak in the AU in your post aswell when clearly the Commodore outsold the BA as much as it did the AU, .

[JG34JA]

Originally Posted by RAPID_BA

People buy the better looking car. The ve is a nicer looking car than the fg. The only fg that looks better than a ve is the g6et. However I think the fg is the better car model for model but just doesn't look as good.

It's a repeat of the VT and au 6 cylinders, the au on merit was a great car but the vt looked heaps better and sold like hot cakes.

Ford only ever stepped ahead in the sales race when their cars looked better (BA, EF, EL). People don't care which car is actually better.

Just like in the social scene, you would take home an airhead hotty over a short stumpy buck teeth muppet who is a doctor.

Legendary GM designer Leo Pruneau suggested that in Australia, hard 'masculine' edges sell. Some of the best selling and market dominating Falcons were XD-E-F and then the E series shape (voted best looking worldwide design by Ford internal worldwide testing against contemporary BMW's and the like). Territory, upon release, had the same hard edges on the bonnetline as EB/XD (and that VE does), and one of the reasons it was signed off on was that it was 'better looking' than the Freestyle.

Ford's resurgence with BA combined the harder edges, aggressive marketing and spec wise, major 'upgrades' across the range.

[mik]

Originally Posted by RAPID_BA

People buy the better looking car. The ve is a nicer looking car than the fg. The only fg that looks better than a ve is the g6et. However I think the fg is the better car model for model but just doesn't look as good.

It's a repeat of the VT and au 6 cylinders, the au on merit was a great car but the vt looked heaps better and sold like hot cakes.

Ford only ever stepped ahead in the sales race when their cars looked better (BA, EF, EL). People don't care which car is actually better.

Just like in the social scene, you would take home an airhead hotty over a short stumpy buck teeth muppet who is a doctor.

sorry bud , better looking in your eyes .

[Hood-G6]

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

[xisled]

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

[Silver Ghia]

People are like sheep sometimes.

[kaniSS]

Originally Posted by Silver Ghia

People are like sheep sometimes.

Sometimes???

I asked 2 mates why they own a VE (SS & SV6 Sportswagon) They both said they liked the design.

[chookaradley]

Have a look at the entire range Ford vs Holden. Pretty much every reviewer in the country rates

# Fiesta better than Barina
#Focus better than Cruze
#Mondeo (WAY) better than Epica (or whatever midsize car they sell)
# Falcon better than Commodore
# Territory better than Captiva
# Ranger better than Colorado

Kudos to Holden, they are doing something right. Or Ford are doing something seriously wrong. I dont hate Holdens. For a large part of the 80's and 90's I think they prob had a bettter product. Its just hard to understand why theres such a massive discrepency in sales btw the 2 these days, to the point where Falcon is on life support

[4.0i OHC]

Originally Posted by chookaradley

I dont hate Holdens. For a large part of the 90's I think they prob had a bettter product.

Yup, the Opel Barina was a much better product than the Kia Festiva. As for anything else in the range at the time, are you sure? IMO in the AU-VT era the discrepancy between Ford and Holden was largest. Holden's local product hasn't been particularly great since 1988.

[chookaradley]

Originally Posted by 4.0i OHC

Yup, the Opel Barina was a much better product than the Kia Festiva. As for anything else in the range at the time, are you sure? IMO in the AU-VT era the discrepancy between Ford and Holden was largest. Holden's local product hasn't been particularly great since 1988.

All a matter of opinion I guess. As bad as the VN was the EA was worse, particularly in 3 speed centerpoint format. The buick V6 imho got better and better, was virtually indestructible in its final format VY. The I6 continued to suffer chronic headgasket problems throughout the E series. The AU was a solid car but even the most ardent ford fan would surely conceed it suffered majorly in the looks department when compared to VT. Thats just Falc/comm tho that doesnt account for whole range

[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

[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

[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.

[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

[desGT]

Originally Posted by 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

Agreed! Same reason, I still have my VX (S, Supercharged) with almost 280k on it and still going strong. I still like the car.

I have had mainly Fords, and am on my 2nd GT. BUT, going to move to a VF HSV Tourer not only because I want the extra space, but FPV royalled me when they brought out the 335 less than a year after the FG - same model, etc. Real bad planning and loss of a customer!

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by desGT

Agreed! Same reason, I still have my VX (S, Supercharged) with almost 280k on it and still going strong. I still like the car.

I have had mainly Fords, and am on my 2nd GT. BUT, going to move to a VF HSV Tourer not only because I want the extra space, but FPV royalled me when they brought out the 335 less than a year after the FG - same model, etc. Real bad planning and loss of a customer!

Thats not true... FG 315 GT came out April 2008, FG 335 GT came out October 2010...

So the FG GT 315 had 2.5 years on the road before they brought the new one out.

Look at what HSV did, brought the VEI Tourer out then replaced it about 5 months later with the VEII...

[4.0i OHC]

Originally Posted by desGT

I have had mainly Fords, and am on my 2nd GT. BUT, going to move to a VF HSV Tourer not only because I want the extra space, but FPV royalled me when they brought out the 335 less than a year after the FG - same model, etc. Real bad planning and loss of a customer!

You might want to check out what a certain car manufacturer did to their existing V8 customers when they brought out the VT II SS/HSV (equipped with the LS1) less than 2 years after the release of the VT I (equipped with the Aussie 5 litre).

Oh, and the 335 was brought out over 2 years after the release of the FG.

[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.