You're absolutely right. The current FPV's are awesome, the XR6T's are incredible cars for the money.......yet still, only a handfull of people buy them. The issue isnt whether the cars are good or value for money, because they clearly are on both counts. The issue is, that at the end of the day, the majority of people buying a car this year will buy an import front wheel drive 4 cylinder.
      Oh , I just sold a BA XR8 that I owned for 5 years. It never broke down on me but it wasnt trouble free either. It had  100000 kms on it when I sold it and had a few issues including the notorious suspension bushes, power steering, door lock actuators, power window switches, brake rotor and engine mount..........still loved it though and all my mates wished they owned it instead of the kia cerato's they bought!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
 
 
 

fehlbie

I have only ever had good experiences with Ford Falcons and my wifes focus. My last falcon a 2004 BA Falcon XT had an appetite for headlamp globes, but other than that never skipped a beat, everything worked even after 120,000kms and my heavy right foot. My 2008 FG XR6 Turbo has had the left hand indicator lens replaced twice and all six ignition coils replaced, other than that she has been a gem even at 87,000kms. My wifes ford focus had done 90,000kms and it never had an issue until someone ran into the back of it at 70km/h in a ford escape. my wife got whiplash and my son who was a baby in the back at the time didn't even get a scratch. On the other hand my wifes new car a 2008 Subaru Forester XT has crapped a gearbox and anti roll bar linkages. 
On another rant, all I can say is if you want an A to B car, then your Japanese / Asian car makers make wonderful boring as, beige cars. I would rather have my balls clamped in a vice than drive them, but I think that I am of one of the few people left that enjoy a spirited drive in a car that handles and accelerates faster than an iceberg, without spending retarded amounts of money to do so. Toyota, mazda, kia, hyundi, daewoo, mitsubishi (except the Evo's) and even Subaru (sorry Phil, maybe the BRZ when it is released) don't have anything in there ranges to get excited about. Whereas I can buy a Ford Falcon XR6 turbo with 270kw and rear drive for under $45k that will do 0-100 in 5.1 sec or an Fpv GS315 for under $60k with a 5 litre supercharged V8 that will do 0-100 in 4.9 sec. All that in a car that your wife could comfortably drive and will seat 5 adults in comfort. For you to get that sort of performance and size you would have to buy a BMW or Merc for 3 times as much money, albeit with a lot more refinement, but you would hope so for three times the cost. I wish that more Australians would appreciate the bargains they have offered to them from Ford and Holden in this country and realize that once they are gone, no one will fill there shoes.

This thread has to be the best read on any forum anywhere at present!!
 
I think the reason that Ford and Holden arent selling as many cars to their traditional market is that they have forgotten who their traditional market is...there will always be diehard fans, but who in their right mind pulls almost all sponsorship from the V8 Supercar teams that run their brand!! If it wasnt for that...Lowndes would still be a Ford pilot!!

I'd love to know what sort of money they spent designing electronic systems where mechanical systems have worked faultlessly for years, this is where they've lost the plot.  Money wasted fixing things that didn't need fixing.  The Korean stuff is designed around simple and tried and proven systems so why change it?  Must have cost a packet, and I still find it hard to beleive that the components that replace a cable system would be cheaper than the cable.  I don't have an issue with the electronics where its needed, but seriously, a complicated module to turn your interior light on and off????????
 
The other issue I have with Ford in particular is their marketing.  Unless you're a diehard fan and chase whats going on, you very rarely read or hear about it.  I get insights into what is happening through mates at Ford Motor Company, but I am yet to see an advert for the new supercharged fpv vehicle.  In was the same with the "T' series vehicles.  Ford dropped them because they didn't sell, yet only the diehards knew about them because they were poorly marketed, and you could only buy them from specialised dealers???  WTF??.  If you asked a random down the street what a HSV was nearly all of them would be able to tell you, whether they were a car buff or not, but ask them who FPV is.... 
 
I agree about some of the imported vehicles, like Mazda and Toyota.  Their new cars are brilliant, and I can plainly see why people are swinging towards them.  I have owned Falcons all my life, as has all my extended family, and found them to be brilliant.  But what I have also found is, the later the vehicles the more they are prone to failure more so than ever, and its the areas that are over complicated they are failing.  Annoying little things.
It a big statement, but I wouldn't buy a new Falcon because of all the crap that is fitted to it and the way the design has gone.  I have been a Ford nut all my life, as has my family and they all think the same, so how many others are thinking the same as me?
 
Woz

I empathise with your point of view Wozzah.  Sure, I like the smooth, fuel efficient performance of a modern engine, and the solid construction and additional safety features cars have today, but I don't need technology for its own sake, which I think we get in some instances.  I don't want to have to talk to the car simply to change radio stations, or twist and push an idiotic dial a dozen times (like BMW's iDrive) to do the most mundane task, when in both cases a dedicated button will do.  I don't need self-dimming mirrors that are too slow to respond, nor psychotic automatic rain-sensing windshield wipers, both of which I currently endure.  And I definitely don't need the ability to use voice commands to update a Facebook page from the car, which GM in the USA proudly includes in some cars.  Maybe that's one reason I cling dearly to my old Escort; it works despite the absence of all that tech, and if it breaks I don't need a computer to diagnose the problem, let alone fix it.

Im the exact opposite. My first 2 cars were Mk2,  2 litre escorts ( the second is the RS2000 I am now restoring). I remember with chills, having to warm them up before they would run properly ( thats when the auto choke actually worked), doing plugs/points/timimg every 5000kms to keep them running nice, fogged up windows in the rain and intermittent wipers that worked when they saw fit, water leaks in the cabin and boot, harsh ride, engine and road noise beyond belief etc etc!!!! It was a dream to buy an injected "modern" car with ABS ( even though I never actually used it), cruise control ( this is one tech thing I would struggle without in a daily driver let alone on a long trip) and aircon that can not only cool a cabin ( yes, I remember hot sticky vinyl seats ) but also demist the foggy windows in winter. Not to mention a car that you can actually have a conversation in because the engine and road noise isnt deafening.
But this fact is proven by the number of people that upgrade cars with injection, or even more so zetec engines, disk brake rear upgrades etc. Having said that, the ability to perform major surgery and repair on these cars over the weekend with basic tools and knowledge is undeniable and is really becomes apparent when you try and track down a fault on a modern car without an OBDII reader and a degree in computers. 
Wozzah, totally agree on Fords marketing ( or lack of ). They have absolutely no idea how to make their products appealing. It pains me to say it but holden/hsv have shown how to do it for 20 years . Oh, not sure if you knew this or not  but modern cars use less wiring now than you might think. So, now instead of being a wire for the indicators, one for the horn, one for the hazard light etc, they use common circuits for different functions. ( check out a modern steering wheel, all those buttons/functions and only 2 or 3 wires). Makes the circuits and looms simpler ( read -cheaper) and easier to modify for function and individual model requirements , but again, requires men in white lab coats to program and diagnose
 Once you get used to the niceties of a modern car its damn near impossible to go back to driving a 70's/early 80's car everyday. They are best left ( as my RS2000 will be ) for trips down memory lane and the sunday blast. Thats where nostalgia is best kept, as it tends to grow pretty thin on a day to day basis!

Phil

This thread has to be the best read on any forum anywhere at present!!

I think the reason that Ford and Holden arent selling as many cars to their traditional market is that they have forgotten who their traditional market is...there will always be diehard fans, but who in their right mind pulls almost all sponsorship from the V8 Supercar teams that run their brand!! If it wasnt for that...Lowndes would still be a Ford pilot!!

I agree, Ford has lost the plot. I think it is like a lot of large corporations out there these days, it is the bean counters running the show and not the CEO. There is a lack of ambition, direction and funding in there products, advertising and motorsport support. I remember the good days when Ford had cars in formula 1, rallying, supercars and anything they could get into. They also made products that customers wanted because they listened to there customers, rather than telling them what they want (Ford america trying to force the Taurus upon the Australian market again, to save themselves some pennies). 
They need to get back to their roots and make cars that people will desire and get passionate about. All your Asian manufacturers have proven that any idiot can make a great A to B (Snore) car and frankly they can keep it, Ford needs to make more cars for enthusiasts and boast about them at any given chance. 

fehlbie
They need to get back to their roots and make cars that people will desire and get passionate about. 

 
Yeah, like old Escorts and Capris and the like!  
 
In all seriousness, I agree with the sentiments wholeheartedly.

trouble for ford is " the roots" are the minority. just a fact of life ( albeit an unfortunate one ) . People screamed for Ford to make a car deserving of the GT badge and quicker in a straight line than the HSV/holden counterparts. So, finally we have that car, and are people buying it?......look at the focus RS. When it was released a truckload of people screamed beacause it wasnt being released here and that they would buy one if it was released here , being that they were "enthusuasts, purists" of car driving dynamics. So finally we got them here in limited number and even though ford was saying they all sold out there were at least 3 brand new ones sitting in showrooms in Wollongong/newcastle 6 months after they "sold out" .who knows how many more there were that werent "sold out". Dosent matter what they build people will find a reason not to buy it, after they swore they would.  I dont know how many people Ive read on forums in the last 2 years complaining that theres no XR8 and, if there was they would buy 1 in a heartbeat.  The reason there is no XR8?... 'cause nobody was buying them. The reason there are no basic cars with throttle cables, simple suspensions  and no electronics?......'cause nobody will buy them ( save for 4 or 5 on this forum!!!!  ;-)    )