The King is dead. Long live the King! RIP Commodore :-(

[dgp]

ˆˆWe have two VeeDubs here, one a Golf TDI wagon (which is filthy inside and ought to be cleaned smartly!), and a black metalllic Tiguan 4-Motion AWD with 7 pews (for a single nurse...). The Tiguan is mighty uncomfortable to me as a driver of average height and lower than average weight (163cm/58.5kg), with nothing to speak of in terms of a compromised back etc. What I strongly dislike with Tiggy is the plethora of lights (like those quite silly "puddle lights") and the inability to turn off the bloody central display, instead putting up with all sorts of blinking, flashing, pulsing, droning interruptions. I have driven it from Melbourne to Bendigo and back, and only switched to the passenger side 70km from home because the seat just didn't agree with me (a ribbed affair which was far too hard, presumably because the Euros have soft bums and need that firmness?). The cockpit of the VFII is probably the most delightfully comfortable and impressive I have seen to date, especially compared to the dated look of the VZ before it.

Be it noted the VF with HUD can switch to navigation mode on HUD through both DIC and menu control, additional to the centre display.

You can turn off the central display by touching the on/off button. Mine has the discover pro media unit and works this way. You can configure it to be blank, or put different styles of clock on it.
I think the seat in my Redline is more comfortable, but the lack of positioning makes it much worse than the Tiguan. The seats in my VYSS and VZ Clubsport were far superior to the seats I had in my VE SSV, VESS, VFI CalaisV and VFII Redline.
I like the heating option in the Tiguan for the seats too. My VFI CalaisV had this and it was missed moving to the Redline.
I can get out of the Tiguan after 3.5 hours driving with far less back pain than the Redline. This is the whole point though, everyone is different, and different vehicle styles appeal to different people for various reasons. There is no right or wrong, just a changing landscape that has shown a decline in passenger vehicle saves for these and other reasons.

 

[figjam]

Probably. Given the number of off-their-lollies folk carping here about Holden cars, Holden dealers, Holden parts, Holden techies (etcetera), seems nobody is going to be bereaved when Holden eventually does pull up stumps and walks, yeah?

Yeah.
I have been buying Holdens ( with a few other brands chucked in ) since 1968. I/we/family had used a particular dealer since about 1985, knew the salesman by name, and he knew ours, then he retired early 2000’s, and the dealer went to ****.
They lose my interest when I enquired about a Monaro, they couldn’t sell me one as they couldn’t get them ….. BS.
I always got my cars serviced by them as it was convenient to my work, but with increasing dissatisfaction. The last time was in 2012, when I had a verbal disagreement with the service manager. Never went back,
If they are not interested in selling Holdens, and give crap aftersales and scheduled servicing, what did they expect would be the result.

 

[VFSV6FORME]

Yes, it meant a lot to me (and Dad too: if he was still with us he'd drool and blubber and pant and cajole the VFII), the family too, that cars were produced locally, not just Holden, but Ford, Mitsubishi, Toyota etc. (my first car was a Mitsubishi

My Family, my self, have been loyal to Holden, My old man even purchased the Ulgly duckling the HD Holden and for me all my New cars and second hand cars were Holden Made In Australia NOT anywhere else. Damm You Holden and damm the Yanks GM to screwing Holden and finally DAMM you politicians for allowing more makes and models of cars in this country that not other country ever has.
My Old man (I'm 69) said to me whilst he growled do you know Mitsubishi Bombed Darwin in WW2. Yes Mitsubishi made the Japanese bomber + the famous ZERO + the artillery howitzers that was famous of flatten the pacific. Funny thing is most younger generation don't know this yet they buy Mitsubishi cars.

 

[White Swan]

My Old man (I'm 69) said to me whilst he growled do you know Mitsubishi Bombed Darwin in WW2. Yes Mitsubishi made the Japanese bomber + the famous ZERO + the artillery howitzers that was famous of flatten the pacific. Funny thing is most younger generation don't know this yet they buy Mitsubishi cars.

BMW used concentration camp labour during WW2 to build aircraft engines for German planes.

So why stop there, don’t buy any products from Japan or Germany or maybe just move on.

 

[abuch47]

My Family, my self, have been loyal to Holden, My old man even purchased the Ulgly duckling the HD Holden and for me all my New cars and second hand cars were Holden Made In Australia NOT anywhere else. Damm You Holden and damm the Yanks GM to screwing Holden and finally DAMM you politicians for allowing more makes and models of cars in this country that not other country ever has.
My Old man (I'm 69) said to me whilst he growled do you know Mitsubishi Bombed Darwin in WW2. Yes Mitsubishi made the Japanese bomber + the famous ZERO + the artillery howitzers that was famous of flatten the pacific. Funny thing is most younger generation don't know this yet they buy Mitsubishi cars.

not a nationalist so couldnt care less.

 

[VS 5.0]

not a nationalist so couldnt care less.

And that is why we are where we are.

 

[Forg]

I guess it's a case of what the company once stood for and meant to people, compared to whatever it stands for now. Building the cars locally meant something to a lot of people. Being just another importer doesn't. I also think that people feel GM has basically decided our market is too small and insignificant to bother serving up the best they have.

Given that the best they have isn't really all that good, except as value-for-money in some segments which wouldn't be worth running an entire brand for (Corvette is decent value-for-money for an enthusiast as opposed to someone who wants to show off how much they can afford to spend on a car - the oversized utes have a small market among people who want to tow really large stuff & of course the automotive bullies), they may be right.

And that is why we are where we are.

I don't see how a lack of willingness to kick the **** our of someone else who's "not in our tribe" has lead us deeper & deeper into The Capitalist Dream?

 

[Calaber]

Forg. I agree with you that much of the GM stable we never see is still sub-par compared to the best in class. And therein I think lies GM's problem today. The VF2 was probably one of the best GM vehicles for its time and some Opels were also superior to the American offerings. And what happened to them? Sold off or dropped. I think GM has become so US centric that they can only design and build cars the US consumer likes. The Chinese go for them too but I'd guess anything from GM would be superior to a rickshaw or pushie. The fact that they bothered to buy Daewoo, whose products were clearly inferior to just about any other make at the time, says a lot for GM management. It's a shame that Holden never became a truly Australian owned company independent of GM, because they were always hamstrung by lame-brained decisions from Detroit as to what models to sell apart from Commodores.

 

[VS 5.0]

I don't see how a lack of willingness to kick the **** our of someone else who's "not in our tribe" has lead us deeper & deeper into The Capitalist Dream?

Ummm.....

Where did I say anything like that ?

Cultural cringe is the issue.

 

[abuch47]

And that is why we are where we are.

?

today is better than every point before it.