Expensive Repairs for VE Ute

[normxb]

Did anyone watch the TV last night about the new VE Ute , apparently it's "the Safest Ute Ever Built" , but , here's the catch , it's going to be the "Most Expensive to Ute to Repair". :

Out of their $1B budget for the VE , $1M (I think it was) went into re-designing the Ute ? and repairs "could" cost up to 3 times more than the earlier models with similar damage because of the NEW design .

Ok , they're trying Highlight the safety of the new vehicle , but I think mentioning it will cost triple to repair it , the insurance companies are going to just love that : also the buyers . Wonder what the premiums are going to be like ?

The guy they were interviewing said " This will cause a lot more "Write-off's" because of the repair costs " .

I don't know about you , but I would "get a little turned off " purchasing one . Not because it's a Holden , but any car if it was going to cost 3 times more to repair .

If it was a Roll's , Jag or something Exotic , you might expect it , but VZ to a VE ? I don't think that will be a "Big Selling Point"

Norm

[schmidty]

Mate is trading his BF2 Fairmont ghia on one in 2 weeks. It's ordered and i know the last thing he's planning on doing is any damage to it.

Think he was more turned off thinking how little his ghia was worth to trade, and how much worse it will be once the new falcon comes out.

I'll ask him about his premiums when i see him next, but i can't imagine them being too rediculous.

[schmidty]

I smelllll BS.

I'm insured with GIO, i pay $832 pa for a manual BA XR6 Ute, rating 1, no claims, under 25.

Just got a quote to insure a VE SV6 ute, manual, with 19's, PRICE QUOTED, $772!

So blows your theory out of the water IMO.

[apolloxbgt]

Originally Posted by schmidty

I smelllll BS.

I'm insured with GIO, i pay $832 pa for a manual BA XR6 Ute, rating 1, no claims, under 25.

Just got a quote to insure a VE SV6 ute, manual, with 19's, PRICE QUOTED, $772!

So blows your theory out of the water IMO.

At this stage,wait till they start paying out for a few expensive claims,then they'll jack up the price.

[Buddy 1]

I see it as a Positive because, Firstly you are safer if you have a major bingle & secondly after getting out with less injury they will write it off & give you a new one which is always better than a fixed one

I was not keen on the VE Ute until recently in the last Wheels Mag it looks & sounds good (apart from the rear) which apart from the dual exhaust looks funny.

Think the Orion Ute will be Nice

[schmidty]

Originally Posted by Buddy 1

Think the Orion Ute will be Nice

If they can stop them snapping in half!!!!!!!!!!

Was at a flashy function in the palladium at crown a few weeks back and a guy who was on our table sitting next to me who's been heavily involved in durability testing of the new models. He was enjoying having his beer topped up so frequently that he didnt realise how much he'd had i'm sure because he started to spill all manner of things that he shouldnt have been.

Apparently........ in durability testing so far Ford have had 2 utes break in half in the center where the chassis joins into the cabin. One was a tornado that had minimal weight in it for its life in testing - about 300kg, and the other was a base model XL which had been carring it's one tonne payload.

Quite disturbing when its so close to release, and from what he mentioned it's stirred up some manner of fuss within Ford with a lot of head scratching, explanations and quick thinking required.

[BAGTP454]

schmidty that sounds like utter untruths that you have typed.

as if.

as for the ve repairs cost i dont think this is major considerations for many potential purchasers. they will go for overall package, if it's the better car it will obviously sell in the same manners.

[Grum]

The large cost of repair is due to the side of the ute (from the base of the A-pillar to the tailgate) is one complete pannel. That would be a nightmare to fix. First thing I said when I was at the launch

[schmidty]

Originally Posted by BAGTP454

schmidty that sounds like utter untruths that you have typed.

as if.

as for the ve repairs cost i dont think this is major considerations for many potential purchasers. they will go for overall package, if it's the better car it will obviously sell in the same manners.

Care to make a bet on that??


I was very hesitant to take it as truth, but without going into details it was confirmed from a source high enough in PD up to know the truth behind it.

[Buddy 1]

Originally Posted by schmidty

Care to make a bet on that??

If what the Car guy said is true then what could have changed from current to new model to make them break?

I am a bit concerned now mine might break lol

[schmidty]

The tornado was sagging majorly in the middle, only really being held up by the top of the tub leaning against the back wall of the cabin as it sagged and was pulled out of testing because it was deemed as being too unsafe to continue. The initial reaction when they noticed it sagging in the middle was that they are paid to test the durability and to basically see what it takes to destroy stuff so they kept driving it at first.

XL apparently went in a bigger way.

[banarcus]

I believe that it cost GMH $100mil to make the VE ute. That means we are at the $1.1b baby.

[merlin]

The entire side of the VE ute is one panel (nose to tail) - this was one of the reasons they gave for the expensive repair cost.

Edit - Grum beat me to it.

[TUF270]

i dunno.....sounds kind of unbelievable....like it would have to bend the driveline and everything to break in the middle....he was probably drunk and talking BS...but who knows, hopefully they fix it lol.

[b2tf]

Originally Posted by Grum

The large cost of repair is due to the side of the ute (from the base of the A-pillar to the tailgate) is one complete pannel. That would be a nightmare to fix. First thing I said when I was at the launch

Yup, and it'll be a right bugger of a thing to fix 100% too I reckon.

[b2tf]

Originally Posted by schmidty

The tornado was sagging majorly in the middle, only really being held up by the top of the tub leaning against the back wall of the cabin as it sagged and was pulled out of testing because it was deemed as being too unsafe to continue. The initial reaction when they noticed it sagging in the middle was that they are paid to test the durability and to basically see what it takes to destroy stuff so they kept driving it at first.

XL apparently went in a bigger way.

Is the Orion Ute majorly different from the A/B series? If so, sounds like a backward step?

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by b2tf

Yup, and it'll be a right bugger of a thing to fix 100% too I reckon.

VZ was no different, they are difficult to repair the rear of compared to AU/BA/BF as you can just replace the tub!

[Boss 5.4]

Originally Posted by schmidty

The tornado was sagging majorly in the middle, only really being held up by the top of the tub leaning against the back wall of the cabin as it sagged and was pulled out of testing because it was deemed as being too unsafe to continue. The initial reaction when they noticed it sagging in the middle was that they are paid to test the durability and to basically see what it takes to destroy stuff so they kept driving it at first.

XL apparently went in a bigger way.

Maybe they just pulled off a 4 tonne Payload out of the back, dont forget the durability testing is to see what the cars can take to the extreme before they do break.

I heard the Ve almost broke in half when they tested it with a carton of Beer :

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by schmidty

If they can stop them snapping in half!!!!!!!!!!

Was at a flashy function in the palladium at crown a few weeks back and a guy who was on our table sitting next to me who's been heavily involved in durability testing of the new models. He was enjoying having his beer topped up so frequently that he didnt realise how much he'd had i'm sure because he started to spill all manner of things that he shouldnt have been.

Apparently........ in durability testing so far Ford have had 2 utes break in half in the center where the chassis joins into the cabin. One was a tornado that had minimal weight in it for its life in testing - about 300kg, and the other was a base model XL which had been carring it's one tonne payload.

Quite disturbing when its so close to release, and from what he mentioned it's stirred up some manner of fuss within Ford with a lot of head scratching, explanations and quick thinking required.

Bullshit.. The Orion utes are based on the same chassis as the AU/BA/BF, with only a few improvements!

Sounds like he was that ****ed he was dreaming...

[Conrad]

Originally Posted by schmidty

If they can stop them snapping in half!!!!!!!!!!

Was at a flashy function in the palladium at crown a few weeks back and a guy who was on our table sitting next to me who's been heavily involved in durability testing of the new models. He was enjoying having his beer topped up so frequently that he didnt realise how much he'd had i'm sure because he started to spill all manner of things that he shouldnt have been.

Apparently........ in durability testing so far Ford have had 2 utes break in half in the center where the chassis joins into the cabin. One was a tornado that had minimal weight in it for its life in testing - about 300kg, and the other was a base model XL which had been carring it's one tonne payload.

Quite disturbing when its so close to release, and from what he mentioned it's stirred up some manner of fuss within Ford with a lot of head scratching, explanations and quick thinking required.

Bulllllllllllllllllshiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit

[schmidty]

Originally Posted by LSTerritoryGhia

Bullshit.. The Orion utes are based on the same chassis as the AU/BA/BF, with only a few improvements!

Sounds like he was that ****ed he was dreaming...

Ok, well call is what you will, but without incriminating anyone, i asked in passing a friend who is high enough up to know. I threw out a few of the basic bits of info that i had been told the previous night, and he finished the story off with the same information that i had been given the night before. He's a bloke that will never let the slightest bit of info slip, but he said it was actually a bit scary that they had experienced such major issues so close to release. So i got the same story from 2 staff, one who drives them daily, one who's quite high up and very involved with the orion.


What do you base your claims of BS on other than hoping its not true? I understand that this info coming from me is in no way as credible as it was when it came to me from a loose lipped PG driver and someone who is very much involved in and carries responsibility in the orion project.

And yeah, the durability testing is very harsh and the conditions are simulated are for the most part above and beyond what any normal example is going to face in its life. Like the PG driver said to me, they're paid to go out there and see what it takes to break things, and break them they will so that they know just how well they're going to stand up to joe public.

[Buddy 1]

Originally Posted by LSTerritoryGhia

Bullshit.. The Orion utes are based on the same chassis as the AU/BA/BF, with only a few improvements!

Sounds like he was that ****ed he was dreaming...

As Always LS you made me feel better I was thinking of you other day when reading all about the VE Utes & the Ride Quality although guess it depends on how much weight you have to carry as well.

Is talk of a 7 Litre soon, wonder if it will make it to the Ute?

[cupic]

Originally Posted by schmidty

I smelllll BS.

I'm insured with GIO, i pay $832 pa for a manual BA XR6 Ute, rating 1, no claims, under 25.

Just got a quote to insure a VE SV6 ute, manual, with 19's, PRICE QUOTED, $772!

So blows your theory out of the water IMO.

Just wait for next year premium
First year is to get you hooked up then next year up up and up again

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by schmidty

Ok, well call is what you will, but without incriminating anyone, i asked in passing a friend who is high enough up to know. I threw out a few of the basic bits of info that i had been told the previous night, and he finished the story off with the same information that i had been given the night before. He's a bloke that will never let the slightest bit of info slip, but he said it was actually a bit scary that they had experienced such major issues so close to release. So i got the same story from 2 staff, one who drives them daily, one who's quite high up and very involved with the orion.


What do you base your claims of BS on other than hoping its not true? I understand that this info coming from me is in no way as credible as it was when it came to me from a loose lipped PG driver and someone who is very much involved in and carries responsibility in the orion project.

And yeah, the durability testing is very harsh and the conditions are simulated are for the most part above and beyond what any normal example is going to face in its life. Like the PG driver said to me, they're paid to go out there and see what it takes to break things, and break them they will so that they know just how well they're going to stand up to joe public.

Fair enough, i dont see how you can base a new model on basically the same under pinings of the last one and discover issues you didn't have with the previous one... Doesnt make sense to me, added with the fact that if you actually thought about it the vehicles wouldnt be able to be driven once their was a bend in the chassis as the tailshaft would be warped and would more then likely go bang, therefore your story about how they kept driving it really isnt possible. When you think about the weight distribution on a ute its more likely the chassis would bend upwards from having too much weight behind the axel, unless they put a few tone infront of the axel it just doesnt add up...

I personally dont care if they break or not, not a big concern as I wont be buying another one ever again,

[jakkes]

there was a au 1-11 Ute or tray down my way that was bent severely i know it had some kind of roof rack's on it and he went through the bottleO hit the racks and it bent were schmidty is talking about there were Heep's of people talking about it down here this was when it was near new. like i said AU series 1-2

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by Buddy 1

As Always LS you made me feel better I was thinking of you other day when reading all about the VE Utes & the Ride Quality although guess it depends on how much weight you have to carry as well.

Is talk of a 7 Litre soon, wonder if it will make it to the Ute?

Anything could be smoother then my piece of !!

My mates got a Datsun ute and its smoother then mine.

[normxb]

Originally Posted by schmidty

Mate is trading his BF2 Fairmont ghia on one in 2 weeks. It's ordered and i know the last thing he's planning on doing is any damage to it.
I'll ask him about his premiums when i see him next, but i can't imagine them being too ridiculous.

schmidty ,
Ask anyone on the Forum who's had damage done to their car , I don't think Anyone would say they "planned" to do it ? That's why it's called "an accident" . Very curious statement , that one .

Norm .

[schmidty]

Originally Posted by normxb

schmidty ,
Ask anyone on the Forum who's had damage done to their car , I don't think Anyone would say they "planned" to do it ? That's why it's called "an accident" . Very curious statement , that one .

Norm .

yeah norm i was just getting at the fact that if an accident were to happen, he doesnt care what it costs to fix, or how hard it is. We all pay insurance to not have those hassles.

I had a woman back into my ute this week. Bad timing because it's put me out of the drivers parade at Bathurst. But look how superficial the damage is, i punched a bit back out, but i've had 3 quotes ranging between $2300 and $2800 to fix it. I couldnt care if it cost $10k, its the insurance companies job to sort out.

[schmidty]

Originally Posted by LSTerritoryGhia

Fair enough, i dont see how you can base a new model on basically the same under pinings of the last one and discover issues you didn't have with the previous one... Doesnt make sense to me, added with the fact that if you actually thought about it the vehicles wouldnt be able to be driven once their was a bend in the chassis as the tailshaft would be warped and would more then likely go bang, therefore your story about how they kept driving it really isnt possible. When you think about the weight distribution on a ute its more likely the chassis would bend upwards from having too much weight behind the axel, unless they put a few tone infront of the axel it just doesnt add up...

I personally dont care if they break or not, not a big concern as I wont be buying another one ever again,

Chassis flex has always been an issue on AU - B series utes.

If you have a look under one, there's plenty of space. The chassis could drop 6 inches before the tail shaft would foul on anything above it. It'd be more the tail shaft dropping out of the back of the gear box that'd be to worry about than the tail shaft fouling on the body. And there's bugger all weight behind the rear axle or in front of the front, look at all the weight in the cab, portion of the motor behind the front axles and gearbox etc. It was always going to go down in the middle. They're no light weights either. My XR6 ute weighs more than an XR sedan. A sedan has the body structure all as one integrated cell. Crudely a ute is 2 different structures grafted together. Front half basically half a sedan with 2 chassis rails shoved and grafted into the floor of the front half. That's the weakest point of the whole vehicle, and the point that failed.

I've had 1 cubic m of road base in my old mans one tonner and i actually considered shovelling some out on the side of the road because the chassis was literally flexing like a leaf spring as we drove down the highway. Quite nerve racking.

And as for your theory about putting a few tonne in front of the axle, ummm, you've just found the perfect way to snap a falcon ute into many pieces.

[normxb]

[QUOTE=schmidty]yeah norm i was just getting at the fact that if an accident were to happen, he doesnt care what it costs to fix, or how hard it is. We all pay insurance to not have those hassles.
[\QUOTE]
Oh ,Ok schmidty , I see where you're coming from .(written word sometimes has a different context to the spoken word). What I put in the original post was a quote "Roughly" what the guy told the Interviewer . ( Must be right , It was on TV )

Bugga , Bad timing or what ? , you drove last year didn't you ?
Sure doesn't take much to run up the $$$ these days . The Mrs hit a Roo at less than 80k's (Canberra PeakHour) a year or so ago , this was $4,000 worth of damage. Not too bad from outside , most was "in behind"


Norm