[ARCHIVED THREAD] - 4wds... (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 9/3/2004 5:54:30 AM EDT
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Why dont you get Landcruisers, Pajeros, Patrols etc over there? Is there some law preventing them being imported, or is there no market? |
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The auto industry lobbyists do not want surplus Defenders to flood the market, so they make crazy laws which dub them "unfit" for highway driving and keep them out. Same way they keep us from getting hummers, they would rather destroy them than sell them BACK to the people who bought them in the first place 
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Well, I second the vote for Jeep as I drive one. But I admit when I bought it I was hoping to buy a 4wd with luxury powered by something more economical than a V8 gas engine. Overseas they sell a ton of 4 and 6 cylinder newer Deisel engines that do just fine. Not quite as quick off the line but hell, in a Jeep I don't care. I would rather have the 30 mpg on deisel. No demand in the USA (yet). Otherwise, yeah, I prefer the Jeep and other stuff we already got to what I see on the roads around the world. Course, I haven't been to Australia yet. Don't know what you got there. |
Our market has Ford, Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi and Jeep and others with medium to large 4wds. GMC failed a long time ago, which is why we dont get any Chevys or anything (except rebadged ones, which have also failed). Ford sells barely any F150s, Jeep sells a good amount of Wranglers, but Grand Cherokees/Cherokees dont sell very much. The Japanese brands have proven alot more reliable and efficient and provide much better value for money. American 4wds have poor finish compared to them. If you dont believe me, ask around who takes what to the outback. Most will say a Landcruiser due to its reliability. We have many 4wds, yet the American ones seem to be the ones selling the least, except for the Wrangler, which is a damn good 4wd.
Ford and GMC dont produce anything like a Landcruiser... |
Other than Landcruisers which are about, Aussie normal cars you see a few bud but typically only at car shows etc. Personally really like the old Aus Charger. Problem is your market is small thus the overall revenue required to open a new market hasn't been there. There are some major technical/legal barriers as well such as emissions, gallons of gas per mile standards, safety standards, and shifting the driving wheel side. Same thing hold in reverse for the US market however the manufacturers are much larger. An example of this is the AUS requirement for brush fire which is not a requirement in the US. Park a US car in some burning brush and watch it go boom post haste. If the details could be hammered out, I have little doubt that they could sell after all alot of people bought Yugo's and they were for shit. In general, the AUS movie industry has made alot of the stuff you guys drive more recognizable here. Tj |
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Troopie not trophy, short for troopcarrier. 11 seat. They are damn good but a pain in the arse for the people in the back to get out sometimes.\ Do you have the same problem over there with rich yuppies buying 4wds and never taking them off road? |
LOL, 99% of the SUV's here never see mud! We have a whole protest movement now against them as gas hogs, liberals, but the soccermoms/footballmums in Aussie terms, just buy them like they are the only thing to have. Tj |
That is a pretty cool looking rig, Fifty. The Pajero is labeled the Montero here. The older ones were made avail with 2.6l and 3.0l v6 engines. Both are ok, but way underpowered. Some guys who own the older Montero, like the one I have have, transplanted 2.3l turbo diesels that were avail in Dodge Ram50 trucks for a couple years. I'd like to find me one and another Montero so I could do the transplant. If Jeep does make a diesel in the near future, I may wait a year or two and retire this Montero. 
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Thats just the 78 series. THe 120? series is alot diff. I think it may be the luxury ones you get too, but our range ranges from "basic" to "luxury". Holden is a GM company but doesnt sell any real 4wds anymore. They are largely independent of GM. A while ago I was asking people why there were no Corvettes and stuff here. Seems that GMC tried to set up in Aus but failed. I hope they try again though. I like corvettes 
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All those furrin vehicles are too small for US users that need a vehicle that will work - we haul shit around - only soccer moms that need to keep up with the latest Cosmo trend buy Land Cruisers and so on. It is also very hard to sell trucks with names that end in "ies". |
Why do you guys make everything sound gay?  SGatr15 |
Aw, couldn't incorporate your dolls into the pics.......... 
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Nice truck, but why exactly do you think this? There are some 70 series in the US, not many. Some come in from Canada. Canadian mine trucks and early imports came across, US military bring backs. Canada has a 15 year exemption, so stuff get imported there now. Was a LC73 diesel on Ebay recently, but it was a RHD import. If you have a hard-on for a 70 you can get it, not sure its worth the trouble tho. TJ the same thing happened when AusMoD was procuring the Perentie. Civvys got a nice Isuzu diesel powered Land Rover Stage one out of the deal. Nearly everything looks better than X-wings  Luck Alac |
V10? Landies are V6 or V8. How many people can it fit? Thats basically a "truck" with a canopy on the back. How much are Landies and that over there? Used H1's from about 1986 cost about 120k AUS here |
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LC100 V8s (only flavor few options) are $55k MSRP. The excursion is a decent off road vehicle, exceptional tow mule. Its very large, longer but I dont think wider than a H1. If you think about it, Rover 110 and LC are just trucks with a canopy. The Excursions can fit 8 in comfort, or an EXTENDED Mexican family, plus some gear. Available with a monster diesel (760NM), tops out about the same cost as LC100 here. Luck Alac |
Here bigger means more fuel used, less manoueverability. IMO if you want to move people around, get a friggin van or something, not a 4wd.
Wow thats heaps! Considering cars over there are alot cheaper than here... |
Your wishes have been answered. Coming to a Jeep dealer near you this fall. Jep Liberty CRD 2.8 (Common Rail Diesel) If enough people bite, there will be more. Hint: Wrangler CRD, Grand Cherokee CRD. |
Here we have big roads, big houses, and petrol is 50 cents per liter. We buy HUGE utes to drive alone to and from work. Because we can. |
Ford built that  Uhm, NO! It started life as a ford, but took a lot of time and money besides. Didn't they discontinue the Excursion anyway?
Not what it used to be. Way too yuppified.
Same thing keeps surplus H1s and M151s off the markte too. I wouldn't touch a civvy H1, but a used weapons carrier would be great. A defender'd be nice too.
International Harvester. They were a small 4wheeler back before SUVs were the rage. There's at least 1 G-wagon that lives near me, does that count? Whatever happened to the rumor of the UniMog being imported to compete with H1? |
thats the beauty of it, isn't it? i can haul 6 people most anywhere i want to go in leather clad, cold beer infested air conditioned comfort....................and i've only got a crew cab. then, when i'm done with that, i can tow several thousand pounds or just let my truck idle and actually watch the ozone erode............................. |
50 cents!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DAMMIT! Stupid GWB is making our fuel cos more  Never heard of the IH Scout. Might have a diff name here. Our Army uses Landrover 110's and Unimogs . |
As far as I know they are called Scouts down there also. I know of atleast one guy down there that has a couple. They haven't been produced since 1980, so they may be few and far between down there. |
We Do . We just call them Landcruisers , Monteros , Pathfinders ...... Oh yeah , we also put the steering wheel on the correct side
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Unimog. Accept no substitute.  When you pull a HMMWV out of a river, ford it in the same spot, ford it in reverse in the same spot, and then ford it again in foward, you know that you have a kick-ass machine. Get a diesel and one with a snorkel. But dont forget yours too...
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