If only Ford had ... - Page 3

Mr Brooksy · 31-08-2015, 10:27 PM

Ford should have come down mercilessly hard on their dealer networks. Threshing the wheat from the chaff as it where, and concentrated on customer satisfaction. Falcon/Territory is a great car, yes with some issues each model, but public perception is a big killer! If the place you go to buy a great car treats you like rubbish, 9 times out of 10 the avg Joe will never return and tell all social media networks about it, and if someone does have a legitimate problem fix it. Don't fob them off like an insurance company to protect investors.

There is nothing in our market like Falcon and Commodore, and those of us who love those types of cars are being left with no option but to go elsewhere.

At the end of the day though, it's the end. Over, finished, final.

The question will be for me anyway will Ford bring anything to the market for my needs in the future?

**Gothefalcon** · 31-08-2015, 11:48 PM

Made an RTV Wagon
Made an AWD Wagon
Made an FG - FG-X Wagon
Continued making Wagons in all levels (Base, Futura, Fairmont, Fairmont Ghia, XR, RTV & "FG" equivalents) with all drivetrain options available

Made an AWD RTV
Made an FG - FG-X RTV

Made an FG - FG-X Fairlane/LTD

Made an LPI Terry
Made a V8 Terry
Lifted the Terry at least an inch and put a hi/low range transfer case in

Fitted sunrooves in the Factory (with rolled steel edge on the roof, not an aftermarket trim ring)
Made them standard on the High series Falcon & Terry.

Had more interior colour choice across the range
Used better quality materials from BA on.

Cared more about customer complaints

Advertised the local product range, like they used to do in the 70's & 80's

Sold their spare parts at reasonable rates.

Trained ALL their service techs, spare parts Dudes and Sales Staff to actually know their product back to front (Not bagging the good ones.. but they are few and far between)

Sacked anyone who used the old "they're all like that" excuse as a way to try and say faulty and crap designed parts are OK.

Hung in there until now... when the dollar is down again.

(realise some of these are just me not wanting my world to change)

D

jakkes · 01-09-2015, 01:20 AM

not dropped the v8.
fuel injected the 351 cleveland and further developed it into the 2000's instead of getting the lame lowest kw engine ford U.S had in there v8 stable

347 mont · 01-09-2015, 01:57 AM

kept the V8's going in the 80's
sealed the seams to prevent rust
had more competitive cars in the 90's to rival the HSV's
tried to make my AU Ghia lighter
kept designing and making cars in Australia ok getting a bit ahead of my self on that one

I6DOHC · 01-09-2015, 07:27 AM

Allowed the PD team to finalise the Direct Injected Barra I6 - and then they should have brought it to market with ridiculous base power & economy....then turbo'd it.

Does anyone know how close they were to actually getting the DI version of I6 complete? If so what were the stats?

superyob · 01-09-2015, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CyberWasp

If only Ford had of made more comfortable seats in the 70's and 80's to make out in. There would have been a population explosion big enough to make the Australian Car Market big enough to justify staying here and producing more cars.

I would argue that my ZD Fairlane bucket seats are more comfortable than - Oh I get it, you mean bench seats for nefarious purposes...

wicksy · 01-09-2015, 10:43 AM

a V8 wagon to compete with the SS

Spammy · 01-09-2015, 12:48 PM

been able to stop people buying small hatchbacks and SUVs

Which should have been easy, as they have somehow managed to stop people buying Ford produced small hatchbacks and SUVs.

Sprintey · 01-09-2015, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by STINKY NINJA

Used better plastic for the rear demister button and cruise buttons on my eb,just breaks my heart that one,absolutely tears at my heart strings,i can let everything else slip...
;)

Still traumatised by this myself. If only...
Console yourself that your EB has a plastic/carpet lining on the inside of the boot lid; after the AU those were gone...

so let's add 'de-contenting' if it hasn't been done already.

(I tried a little autoglym on those offending plastic switches, helped a bit)

V8 Ghia Mike · 01-09-2015, 07:49 PM

Put decent power into the E series V8s.

Skipped the AU.

G8E....I love the power but miss the rumble when turning the key each morning.

Runman · 01-09-2015, 08:49 PM

ED XR6 brakes were rubbish, so was the ABS system. Tickford and Ford should have fixed these things.

Dash mounted handbrakes........What?

Realised the AU was not a good looking car before they released it.

Made bucket seat bolsters that don't wear through just by getting in and out of the car.

E series alloy head redesign

duaned · 01-09-2015, 09:06 PM

Sorted the diff bushes, prevented milkshakes from occurring, sorted out the crap driving position, and not put an 8 year old interior in the FGX.

Ford17 · 01-09-2015, 09:13 PM

... Possibly held out a little longer - the Aussie dollar is set to go to US 60 cents soon.

Imported cars might not be so cheap in the near future.

XR Martin · 01-09-2015, 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Runman

ED XR6 brakes were rubbish, so was the ABS system. Tickford and Ford should have fixed these things.

Dash mounted handbrakes........What?

Realised the AU was not a good looking car before they released it.

Made bucket seat bolsters that don't wear through just by getting in and out of the car.

E series alloy head redesign

Apart from the EL GT, brakes were always ****house up until the AUII.

Sprintey · 03-09-2015, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ford17

... Possibly held out a little longer - the Aussie dollar is set to go to US 60 cents soon.

Imported cars might not be so cheap in the near future.

Yep, this was always going to happen. How about a crowdsourcing to buy the panel stamping and engine plant for the FG X or VF (at this stage I don't care which) and we can continue pressing our Aussie dinosaurs out and become a Cuba of the south seas?

venomxr · 11-09-2015, 06:35 PM

If only Ford could have designed a T-Bar for the NL Fairlane which didn't come apart.

malazn mafia · 12-09-2015, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sprintey

Yep, this was always going to happen. How about a crowdsourcing to buy the panel stamping and engine plant for the FG X or VF (at this stage I don't care which) and we can continue pressing our Aussie dinosaurs out and become a Cuba of the south seas?

+1. Would contribute in a heartbeat to not have to choose from a modern Thaiyota, Hyundai, Kia, BMW, Mercedes or Foreign FWD Ford in the future. Come on Australia, we could make this happen. Even if it was just an XH ute or BF3 wagon, would be nice volume sellers, these things don't break. And with a little but of tailoring perhaps a BF3 awd turbo wagon would be possible.

Sprintey · 12-09-2015, 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by malazn mafia

+1. Would contribute in a heartbeat to not have to choose from a modern Thaiyota, Hyundai, Kia, BMW, Mercedes or Foreign FWD Ford in the future. Come on Australia, we could make this happen. Even if it was just an XH ute or BF3 wagon, would be nice volume sellers, these things don't break. And with a little but of tailoring perhaps a BF3 awd turbo wagon would be possible.

Hey Malazn Mafia how about considering a Jag then, RWD, alloy body architecture, handling prowess, current 3.0V6 supercharged is a howler and rumours of development of an Ingenium inline 6 in the future... sounds very Falconish.

I consider the IRS Falcons (AU on) as Australia's Jaguar, much mechanical allegory when compared to the Jags of the golden era.

**98TLS** · 12-09-2015, 08:31 PM

Wish they had attached a sticker to my XYGS that said "Best kept for 35 years"

**DFB FGXR6** · 12-09-2015, 08:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sprintey

Hey Malazn Mafia how about considering a Jag then, RWD, alloy body architecture, handling prowess, current 3.0V6 supercharged is a howler and rumours of development of an Ingenium inline 6 in the future... sounds very Falconish.

I consider the IRS Falcons (AU on) as Australia's Jaguar, much mechanical allegory when compared to the Jags of the golden era.

Jaguar were also consulted on the development of the AU I6 VCT engine

Falcman0o7 · 13-09-2015, 09:40 AM

Exported the XR6T to the states. They love the things! Could have saved the falcon

Falcman0o7 · 13-09-2015, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by superyob

Is Ford discussion. Is good...

I don't get it. How is this trolling!

Good thread mate.

castellan · 13-09-2015, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CoupeKing

From my understanding they had surplus 302 blocks lying around (Coup Shells also?) and that's what kicked that project off. But yeah, putting his name on it you'd think it would have a little more to do with racing attached to them. With a worked 302, it would have snuck under the radar of that dip &^%$ journalist that caused the Phase 4 to be axed. Still a great car though. I'd love one in each colour even if they were released with 250's.

The 302 is the same block as the 351 from 1972 to 1982.

They were sold at a price that got people in the door, just like a HQ SS was.

I think ford Australia did the right thing mainly all along but for their sales people were the worst of the lot by far and it's this that worked to destroy the company.
I would of bought many more fords if it was not for the sales people who were the lowest of the low, they were a total disgrace, that I got sick of bothering to deal with them. I just could not put up with them, that I was maybe going to punch the next one out.

malazn mafia · 13-09-2015, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sprintey

Hey Malazn Mafia how about considering a Jag then, RWD, alloy body architecture, handling prowess, current 3.0V6 supercharged is a howler and rumours of development of an Ingenium inline 6 in the future... sounds very Falconish.

I consider the IRS Falcons (AU on) as Australia's Jaguar, much mechanical allegory when compared to the Jags of the golden era.

Interesting. I did wonder if any of the Ford Aus PD boys were poached by Jaguar/Landrover. The current Landrover (or is it Range rover?) (I am not familiar with the models) looks like a more heavily refined, sculpted version of an SZ Territory. And calling their sedan an XF and XE...

Wretched · 13-09-2015, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by malazn mafia

.. And calling their sedan an XF and XE...

Sorry but the XJ (followed later by XF, XE, XType, etc) has been around since '68.
I suspect in turn following the Jaguar Mark X from '61.
Nothing to do with Falcon.

P6LTD351 · 13-09-2015, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTLEGEND

If Ford did not stop the V8 in 1983....

Yep...it was tough being the best selling company with no V8.

P6LTD351 · 13-09-2015, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FormulaFG

If only Ford had....

not dropped the V8.
had better quality control on the EA, in particular the heads.
had gotten rid of dashboard park brake sooner.
had carried over AU IRS onto B and F series.
Not released the AU.

So if they didn't release the AU, how do they carry the IRS over to B and F series?

csv8 · 13-09-2015, 02:16 PM

VW have an ad for their Polo WRC "What Winning Looks Like" Why cannt Ford do that, with the Falcon and V8 Supercars????????

Myluckyday · 13-09-2015, 03:01 PM

Don't misunderstand my comment below please ... it's not meant as a slur because I agree with the thrust of your comment that the Ford product was poorly marketed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by csv8

VW have an ad for their Polo WRC "What Winning Looks Like" Why cannt Ford do that, with the Falcon and V8 Supercars????????

Because the only thing that resembles a 'Ford' in the V8 Supercars is the Blue Oval Badge.

Scroll down to the bit about V8 Supercar specifications ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V8_Supercars

'The body of each car is based on its corresponding production car. However, due to the regulations governing the dimensions of the cars to ensure parity, the race cars are lowered and shortened or lengthened to meet the regulations'

'Manufacturers are free to choose between using an engine based on one from their own line up or a generic engine provided by V8 Supercars.[63] Both Ford and Holden use US-based racing engines with pushrod actuated valves and two valves per cylinder.'

... and a heap of other mods.

Hence I can't get a passion with the V8 Supercars.
.

csv8 · 13-09-2015, 03:47 PM

Myluckyday..VW Polo WRC is based on a production car..."One of the special features of the World Rally Championship is that all vehicles have to be based on production models. The Polo R WRC is the result of an uncompromising further development of the production vehicle to create its rally counterpart."
http://www.volkswagen-motorsport.com...php?id=339&L=1