seen the new VF commodore??

[Martin]

Hmmm, there are lots of ways of looking at it

I would not compare the Skoda to Audi - no point
The Audi is really lovely, period, and everything cost double!
I have two friends whinging about the servicing (which I do agree is excessive in the extreme)
I went on the BMW track experience program, drove an M3 flat out, cost $350
The Audi track day costs $750 - shocker

Compare the Skoda to a Mazda 3 and you may look at the Skoda more favorably

I wanted a fun car that was useful/practical (with dual clutch) - the Octavia ticked all the boxes
The low resale value means I can convert it into a deadicated track car in a few years

[Mysticality]

I compare my Octy to GTI's, Mazda 3's, Falcadores and the like.
It goes harder than an SV6, uses less fuel than a Mazda 3, and is more practical than a GTI! Whats not to love?!

But yes - to the topic at hand...
*googles pics of new Commodore*
Its certainly... Interesting. Here's hoping its got a manual gearbox on the sports V6 model!!
I'm guessing an SV-D is out of the question?

EDIT: VF Commodore... New Camry, anyone? Especially the interior. Ugh!

[dArK5HaD0w]

I could have sworn my RS has footwell lights....at least in the drivers side?

it definately doesn't have footwell lights.
i retrofitted front & rear ones into mine. works in conjunction with the interior lights, and provides ambient lighting while driving with side/head lights on. details in my build thread if interested.
these should come as standard!!!

[cbay]

these should come as standard!!!

it's creature comforts like these that make an Audi

[woofy]

Unfortunately the fan boys often wear rose tinted glasses. Skodas are good cars but quality wise "built to a price" describes them very well and it's obvious when you compare other VW group products that essentially use the same chassis.

I'm well aware you personally have an Audi, and I love their styling inside and out and general handling. I've had various Audis each year for work interstate so have learnt their insides and out pretty well travelling about as well. However one thing that brought me over to a VAG car was Skodas reputation for quality control/build quality....two things that Audi was sinking and VW not far behind. The current Golf seems to have sunk to even greater lows, let alone the current twin turbo 118 TSI.

They are all built to a price, but in that respect Skoda take a bit more pride in getting things right. They obviously have to cut corners in aesthetics, but I'd rather that than have the ongoing issues I see every time I visit the guys in Richmond, there was another poor sucker in there with an unresolved issue in his A3...I know they have a small site, but I often wonder how many new sales go walking after they see the customers in there either A: overpaying for a basic service (one guy in his low 20s, had to taxi to the bank to get more money when he saw the bill) or B: The doozies I have seen with them (the suspension airbags blowing repeatedly while I was in their waiting room on a 4 x 4 A4 wagon, apparently it happened a lot on that model, and the one that blew was their last spare part). One thing the service guys haven't ever really tried to hide was the ongoing issues, pretty much every trip in they would tell me the issues with whatever car was the nightmare of the day. My cousin was a VW mechanic and now an Audi tech for a few years now, and reckons they push new tech/features in at too early a stage with Audi and by the time they get to VW and SKoda things have settled....(or in the case of SKoda keeping the 1.8L/118 TSi rather than the new 118 TSI in the Golfs, deliberately keep the more reliable version). He was a Honda/Mazda mechanic even further back and reckons the japanese just go for basic ways to do things to keep reliability up whereas VAG will find the most complex way to achieve the same thing.

Resale is a furphy, quite a few people on here got really good prices for selling privately, it's mainly media and people getting offered crap trade in values that keep raising it. I could have cried with the trade in I got for a low kms, immaculate Mazda 6 that was highly sought after last year. Trade ins are at an all time low, dealers don't want yet another car to sell, especially SKoda dealers. If anyone buys a car these days without intending to be thoroughly reamed by changing over a lot, then they are kidding themselves.

It's all swings and roundabouts, if someone buys an Audi/BMW/MB they expect to pay a premium, but they can't expect it to be more reliable than a cheaper car. The budget for putting little nice things is just bigger on them, but not necessarily the QC. I'll leave Lexus out of that as they seem to be a premium car with very little issues...

[dArK5HaD0w]

i agree woofy.
sure he doesn't represent all of of vw service technicans, but the lead/head service tech (at lennock vw service centre) was telling (while we went on a drive to investigate the wastegate rattle) me that skodas r better put together than the vw. they use the same parts pins, with vw & audi using some better finished parts, but at the end of the day, the skoda is put together much better.....he says.
he points out its evident with the number of jobs he does/investigates.

[K1W1]

I would not compare the Skoda to Audi - no point

Same parent, same basic chassis and drive line components why not compare when talking about quality and features and fit and finish?

The Audi track day costs $750 - shocker

The cost for our Audi track day was $0. I guess the people that pay $750 are the ones who subsidise the people who get the free rides.

[Twin_Dad]

1. Thread Topic!!!!!!!!!!!!! (c'mon people)
2. OMG

[K1W1]

1. Thread Topic!!!!!!!!!!!!! (c'mon people)
2. OMG

Do you really care that much about this topic? Maybe you'd be better placed on a GM forum.

[woofy]

i agree woofy.
sure he doesn't represent all of of vw service technicans, but the lead/head service tech (at lennock vw service centre) was telling (while we went on a drive to investigate the wastegate rattle) me that skodas r better put together than the vw. they use the same parts pins, with vw & audi using some better finished parts, but at the end of the day, the skoda is put together much better.....he says.
he points out its evident with the number of jobs he does/investigates.

Apparently its because the Czechs really want to show up the Germans, they really didn't like it though when the new VW guy became their boss a while back, he was anti SKoda outselling VW in Germany so no doubt was going to cramp their style. I deal with a few German guys in my company and a friend has been working there for a few years at Nintendo Europe and they all say that they buy Skodas over the VWs mainly as the VW built cars are done by temp workers and foreign immigrants...whereas the Skodas are all done by Czechs who take more pride in their work. I was surprised to hear that BMW/MB etc are still expensive there though and unaffordable for most as well.

[dArK5HaD0w]

apparently its because the czechs really want to show up the germans, they really didn't like it though when the new vw guy became their boss a while back, he was anti skoda outselling vw in germany so no doubt was going to cramp their style. I deal with a few german guys in my company and a friend has been working there for a few years at nintendo europe and they all say that they buy skodas over the vws mainly as the vw built cars are done by temp workers and foreign immigrants...whereas the skodas are all done by czechs who take more pride in their work.

bingo!

[k_rider]

Not forgetting that most VWs (and BMWs), are actually built in South Africa...

You only have to refer to the What Car? and JD Power reliability surveys to see that Skoda regularly outperforms VW, who in turn regularly outperform Audi. As woofy pointed out, a higher price tag doesn't necessarily get you better quality or reliability.

[Uncle Joe]

Ok...
So anywhoo
The new Commodore looks and has alot of the old panels too.
And they are trying to boost sales by saying it will be the last rear wheel drive.....then some big boffin at GM says... Oh not until 2017.....so does that mean no changes or upgrades for the next 5 years ?

[K1W1]

Ok...
So anywhoo
The new Commodore looks and has alot of the old panels too.
And they are trying to boost sales by saying it will be the last rear wheel drive.....then some big boffin at GM says... Oh not until 2017.....so does that mean no changes or upgrades for the next 5 years ?

Standard cycle.

New model released year 0 (2013)
Mid life facelift year 2 (2015)
Next new model year 4 (2017)

It's been that way for virtually every Commodore and Falcon (and Japanese car) since way back when. From time to time the cycle changes a bit but it remains fairly consistent.

In the past Europeans used to run 8 year cycles

New model year 0
Minor facelift year 2
Major face lift with engineering upgrades year 4
Minor facelift year 6
New model year 8

But they are shortening their cycles now.

[k_rider]

The VF will be the last of the Commodores. GM-H wouldn't have been able to justify the costs of developing a completely upgraded car (Mitsubishi learned this lesson the hard way with the 380), which is why the VF is not much more than a facelifted VE with some updated technology added. Presumably, after the Commodore finishes up in 2016, it will be replaced with something a bit smaller...