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ZB Calais Tourer - brief road test, a personal view

Pablito

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Genuine question here. Now that you've driven one etc and have a VF Calais to compare it with..........do you think asking price of around 62K is ridiculous?
Considering the VF Calais V 3.6l wagon sold for $49990 when new, I just don't see how they can justify an extra 12k for a handful of new features.

I have only seen the Calais, i haven't driven it. There's nothing exceptional about the looks and not really much on the inside that separates it from other new cars out there now.
I just think the prices Holden are asking for the top end ZB's are ridiculous and make them a questionable purchase. Combine that with the uncertain future Holden faces, the 7 year warranty might not mean much if Holden doesn't exist in 2 years.

The top spec V6 Camry is 50k. That's a fair price and the most i would ever pay for a V6 Calais.
 

Reaper

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Genuine question here. Now that you've driven one etc and have a VF Calais to compare it with..........do you think asking price of around 62K is ridiculous?
Considering the VF Calais V 3.6l wagon sold for $49990 when new, I just don't see how they can justify an extra 12k for a handful of new features.

I have only seen the Calais, i haven't driven it. There's nothing exceptional about the looks and not really much on the inside that separates it from other new cars out there now.
I just think the prices Holden are asking for the top end ZB's are ridiculous and make them a questionable purchase. Combine that with the uncertain future Holden faces, the 7 year warranty might not mean much if Holden doesn't exist in 2 years.

The top spec V6 Camry is 50k. That's a fair price and the most i would ever pay for a V6 Calais.

Holden will be good for the warranty even if they fold. Other arrangements will be made for servicing etc.
 

Sean880

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Well you should get your facts correct first Pablito.

The Calais V wagon is not selling for $62000 except in your dreams and when you quote prices you need to make it clear if on road costs are included because they run into thousands.

The Holden website lists (15 April) the New 2018 Calais V Wagon at $58,976 drive away (all costs included) - NSW Rego

If you don't need all the extra gismos the V offers you can buy the 2018 Calais Wagon for $47,990 drive away (all costs) NSW rego

As it happens there are still a few 2017 VF Calais V V6 Wagons listed with their usual price - around $57,457 drive away (all costs), (the typical full price of one of these now obsolete VFs NOT including On Road Costs being around $51300).

The VF Calais did not come in AWD like the new Calais and Calais V Wagons do. Since it does actually cost significantly more to produce a car with AWD, that will be reflected in the full retail price.

Furthermore given the relative weakness of the AUD against the Euro, anything out of the Euro area built with a Euro cost base, as is the new Commodore, is not going to be cheap in AUD. Then add the transportation costs that affect every import sourced from Europe.
 

Pablito

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Well you should get your facts correct first Pablito.

The Calais V wagon is not selling for $62000 except in your dreams and when you quote prices you need to make it clear if on road costs are included because they run into thousands.

The Holden website lists (15 April) the New 2018 Calais V Wagon at $58,976 drive away (all costs included) - NSW Rego

If you don't need all the extra gismos the V offers you can buy the 2018 Calais Wagon for $47,990 drive away (all costs) NSW rego

As it happens there are still a few 2017 VF Calais V V6 Wagons listed with their usual price - around $57,457 drive away (all costs), (the typical full price of one of these now obsolete VFs NOT including On Road Costs being around $51300).

The VF Calais did not come in AWD like the new Calais and Calais V Wagons do. Since it does actually cost significantly more to produce a car with AWD, that will be reflected in the full retail price.

Furthermore given the relative weakness of the AUD against the Euro, anything out of the Euro area built with a Euro cost base, as is the new Commodore, is not going to be cheap in AUD. Then add the transportation costs that affect every import sourced from Europe.

For starters, it wasn't in my dreams i got my prices. Back late Feb/early March, when i had my first look at a ZB at my local dealer, I got told the driveway price for a Calais V sedan was about 60k, with the wagon a few k more. So maybe the price has come down a few K since then?
I haven't looked on the Holden site, but Carsales still has them advertised by dealers at 62k drive away and the VF2 Calais V starting at 49990K drive away surprisingly ........the OP has a series 1 which was what my comparison was too anyway.
I guess it depends on which site you use as to the price.
Agree about the AWD adding a fair whack to the price now you mention it.
 
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Sean880

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Well I think the Holden website, like other manufacturer sites, is a rather good source of pricing information on their own products which is one reason it is there for customers.
 

Sir Les

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Genuine question here. Now that you've driven one etc and have a VF Calais to compare it with..........do you think asking price of around 62K is ridiculous?

Well, we now know that $62k is not quite right. According to Holden's website, drive-away price in SA for the ZB Calais V Tourer with metallic paint is $59,564, and for the superseded but still available VF2 Calais V sedan $54,112. That's a difference of $5,452. Based on that comparison, and considering the extra stuff in the ZB, that's not too bad.

However, considering I paid only $42,000 change-over for mine in December 2014 (a pristine demo with only 800 kilometres on the clock, the personal transport of the dealer principal, and including a 5 year factory warranty, Holden tow bar, boot scuff protector, premium carpets and generous trade-in for my VZ Berlina), I find it hard personally to come to terms with near $60k for a ZB replacement (forgetting about any discounts that may be available). However, should the ZB's price reduce substantially for any reason (fat chance!), I would definitely consider the Calais V Tourer as a possible replacement.
 

tranquilized

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The VF Calais did not come in AWD like the new Calais and Calais V Wagons do. Since it does actually cost significantly more to produce a car with AWD, that will be reflected in the full retail price.

Not necessarily. The ZB Commodore has an off-the-shelf, proprietary AWD system added to its FWD transverse drivetrain. We can't compare apples with apples given we're talking about different factories in different countries with different economies of scale, but all things being equal I would think the ZB would cost less to build than VF. FWD transverse architectures are significantly cheaper to manufacture than RWD longitudinal, and the addition of an AWD system purchased in bulk from a third party would still leave the manufacturer ahead in cost.
 

Forg

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^ New car pricing of a particular model has more relation to (the sales organisation’s idea of) what a market will bear & the result on the whole brand of sales of that model ... cost-to-market of ZB vs cost-to-market of VF may have entered into their minds at some stage, I guess, maybe ...
 
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