Chinese "Greatwall" cars

[robbiep]

To be fair, what one vehicle - which was done, IIRC at a 'special' price, as it was logo-ed up as advertising for the marque, does or does not do can never be seen as representative.

I've seen a few of these in the trade, and the prices for them do seem incredibly cheap.

Then again, 'cheap for a reason' comes to mind.

They've been sold in Aus/NZ for a few years now, so their experience is a lot more relevant. My sister (lives in QLD) looked at one, and was advised by an independent mechanic to not touch it, starter motor problems are rife after 2-3 years, and the whole gearbox/trans has to come out to fix the starter motor.

A review that links to some of the Aus issues is here :

 

http://www.honestjoh...12/?section=bad

 

 

Bakerboy's comments about Range Rovers getting stuck are also moot : I've known some people who could drive them on terrain that's hard to walk on. I also know some people who could get stuck in a field gateway. The wheels and tyres that they are fitted with are also a major factor : we've all seen the utterly dim 22" alloys with fat road tyres, which are hilariously useless on anything other than perfect tarmac

 

Out of interest Bakerboy, what mileage have you done so far ?

Edited January 23, 2013 by robbiep

[Cosd]

To be fair, what one vehicle - which was done, IIRC at a 'special' price, as it was logo-ed up as advertising for the marque, does or does not do can never be seen as representative.

I've seen a few of these in the trade, and the prices for them do seem incredibly cheap.

Then again, 'cheap for a reason' comes to mind.

They've been sold in Aus/NZ for a few years now, so their experience is a lot more relevant. My sister (lives in QLD) looked at one, and was advised by an independent mechanic to not touch it, starter motor problems are rife after 2-3 years, and the whole gearbox/trans has to come out to fix the starter motor.

A review that links to some of the Aus issues is here :

 

http://www.honestjoh...12/?section=bad

 

 

Bakerboy's comments about Range Rovers getting stuck are also moot : I've known some people who could drive them on terrain that's hard to walk on. I also know some people who could get stuck in a field gateway. The wheels and tyres that they are fitted with are also a major factor : we've all seen the utterly dim 22" alloys with fat road tyres, which are hilariously useless on anything other than perfect tarmac

 

Out of interest Bakerboy, what mileage have you done so far ?

 

 

I think it's easy to say that these "cheaper" cars are inferior in quality and less reliable, as we are usually comparing them to cars costing at least two, three or four times the amount when new. I haven't once heard where this Steed for example has been compared to say a Suzuki Grand Vitara which would be a better comparable. For a fair comparison we have to take cost into consideration and see how they perform pound for pound against other cars.

 

If a £40k vehicle does say 100k miles before it starts having any major component issues, and a £16k vehicle will do say 50k miles before it needs anything major, doesn't that in fact mean it is better value for money? Off course I am using made up numbers but I think you understand what I am getting at.

 

We all know how cars depreciate so if we then take into consideration that 50% depreciation on a £40k car and the same depreciation on a £16k car, the cheaper car starts to look even better value for money.

 

Off course the Steed's and alike are too new to say how they will perform long term and only time will tell, but as usual I think it's quite normal that when we perceive something as 'too cheap', we automatically think it's no good. In 5 years time some could be telling our friend Terry "I told you so", but lets hope that his choice was a good one especially for his sake and also so that more people may be able to afford to buy a brand new car.

[bakerboy]

To be fair, what one vehicle - which was done, IIRC at a 'special' price, as it was logo-ed up as advertising for the marque, does or does not do can never be seen as representative.

I've seen a few of these in the trade, and the prices for them do seem incredibly cheap.

Then again, 'cheap for a reason' comes to mind.

They've been sold in Aus/NZ for a few years now, so their experience is a lot more relevant. My sister (lives in QLD) looked at one, and was advised by an independent mechanic to not touch it, starter motor problems are rife after 2-3 years, and the whole gearbox/trans has to come out to fix the starter motor.

A review that links to some of the Aus issues is here :

 

http://www.honestjoh...12/?section=bad

 

 

Bakerboy's comments about Range Rovers getting stuck are also moot : I've known some people who could drive them on terrain that's hard to walk on. I also know some people who could get stuck in a field gateway. The wheels and tyres that they are fitted with are also a major factor : we've all seen the utterly dim 22" alloys with fat road tyres, which are hilariously useless on anything other than perfect tarmac

 

Out of interest Bakerboy, what mileage have you done so far ?

 

I think you have missed the point.

I was having a laugh, mainly at myself, If you go back and read what I have said reference my "trusty steed (0 to 70mph by Birmingham for eg).

 

The livery was on the vehicle "was not a special deal" it was a deal I arranged to get money off the car, some thing I have done with many cars over the years "Cheap advertising for the seller" this has included top makes.

I have only driven 7000 miles in the Steed so plenty of time to please all you doom mongers with breakdowns etc, and yes I will keep you informed.

 

Just for interest, how many of you have ridden in a Steed let alone driven one?

It is great reading the critics reports but reality is what it is all about.In the pastI have had a top of the Range Discovery whish spent more time in garage than on the road, from new to 70,000 miles 2 engine replacements, a Mercedes E300 Turbo Deisel, which suffered complete suspension failure at under 50,000 miles, including the Coil spring on the front nearside suspension falling off completely. These were cars I had from "New".

 

 

 

And yes I know it is the driver and tyres that get you to where you are going, as well as the car, but hey ho another light hearted comment taken too seriosly.

 

But enough of trying to have a light hearted thread. Rant over.

Edited January 23, 2013 by bakerboy

[bobt]

many years ago a lad at wotk bought a lada for £3000 new,

I got a peugeot 305 new for £6000, he kept on as to how his car had cost half of mine etc etc,

 

after 3 years we both sold them, I got £3500 for mine, he got £500,

 

and I didnt have to ride in a lada for 3 years,

[neil3728]

I use to own a hyundai tuscon, about 6 years ago. there was nothing wrong with the car drove nice looked okay. the only issue I had was the fact it didn't seem to like doing a lot of miles. I drive roughly 20,000 miles a year. The service intervakls were only 10,000 so I had to have the car serviced every 6 months.

 

You could tell that the car needed to servic and after 3 years the cr was starting to feel old and slack. I got the chance of an Audi A6 so swapped it. Yes the Audi was twice the price but it was built to handle the milage better.And felt nice and tight even after 3 years and 60,000 miles, service intervals were also up at 18,000.

 

So I gues from my experiance it all dpends on the milage you are putting on them. keep the miage down and any car will last, but I would never buy a cheap car again knowing the milage I put them through.

 

And I once bumped into a recovry guy who had just picked up one of the very first BMW 1 series up after it broke down, having only covered 100 miles in the first day of the cars launch.

Edited January 23, 2013 by neil3728

[robbiep]

The thing is, those extended service intervals sound nice. But after 80-100k, the engine has had a horrendous amount of wear, due to the degradation that takes place in the oil. The 15-20k intervals were done for the fleet market, who dispose of their cars at 60-80k or 3 years, whichever comes first.

You won't find many mechanics / independent workshop owners who will allow their own, or their works vehicles to go much more than 10k between oil and filter changes. I've worked in the trade, and a lot of independents will change oil and filter on their own vehicles every 6 months or 6k miles.

[welsh1]

many years ago a lad at wotk bought a lada for £3000 new,

I got a peugeot 305 new for £6000, he kept on as to how his car had cost half of mine etc etc,

 

after 3 years we both sold them, I got £3500 for mine, he got £500,

 

and I didnt have to ride in a lada for 3 years,

 

So you both lost £2500 in depreciation,but your mate forked out only £3000 whereas you forked out £6000.

So your mate had £3000 potentially to blow on something else,he wasn't that daft(apart from buying a lada)

[bobt]

So you both lost £2500 in depreciation,but your mate forked out only £3000 whereas you forked out £6000.

So your mate had £3000 potentially to blow on something else,he wasn't that daft(apart from buying a lada)

 

no we both ended up with the cost of the car being £2500, oh and his lada did 25-30mpg the pug did 50 ish.

[welsh1]

no we both ended up with the cost of the car being £2500, oh and his lada did 25-30mpg the pug did 50 ish.

 

Point taken

[Canis]

name='bobt' timestamp='1359058540' post='2041710']

no we both ended up with the cost of the car being £2500, oh and his lada did 25-30mpg the pug did 50 ish.[/b]

 

Afriend of mine had a lada when we where students many years back- he bought the car a 3 years old for £1500. Six years later he sold it to the russianswho where ardently buying them to ship home for £600 his cost of motoring/depreciation was £150/year in several small accidents the lada just kicked back into shape and he could park it anywhere without it being broken in to. during that time i had worked my way through 4 £500 bangers.

yes the plastics where **** and it was agricultural but that simply meant that when it went wrong you could fix it by the roadside. All of our group of friends ended up with respect for that car

Edited January 25, 2013 by Canis

[Fatcatsplat]

Afriend of mine had a lada when we where students many years back- he bought the car a 3 years old for £1500. Six years later he sold it to the russianswho where ardently buying them to ship home for £600 his cost of motoring/depreciation was £150/year in several small accidents the lada just kicked back into shape and he could park it anywhere without it being broken in to. during that time i had worked my way through 4 £500 bangers.

yes the plastics where **** and it was agricultural but that simply meant that when it went wrong you could fix it by the roadside. All of our group of friends ended up with respect for that car

 

I concur - When i was skint i bought a Lada Samara - Had it 5 years, didn't spend a penny on it and it didn't break down - Eventually, after it had sat outside my mums when i was living back in London and using public transport as my beer scooter, we had a guy knock on the door who was a Russian student buying them up and shipping them home - I'd bought it for 2,000 and sold it to him for 1,000 - 100 quid a year for a motor ain't bad.

[al4x]

There is a big difference between some of the Far East Marques and Chinese cars, where some employ a design department the Chinese have a copying dept that takes western cars and tries to make them locally. This is the slightly iffy bit but they are getting a fair bit better at it

[Cosd]

There is a big difference between some of the Far East Marques and Chinese cars, where some employ a design department the Chinese have a copying dept that takes western cars and tries to make them locally. This is the slightly iffy bit but they are getting a fair bit better at it

 

You are obviously using the term 'design' loosely!

[bakerboy]

You are obviously using the term 'design' loosely!

 

Why re invent the wheel?

[Cosd]

 

 

Why re invent the wheel?

 

I was referring to the Russian "designers" of Lada....

[al4x]

 

 

I was referring to the Russian "designers" of Lada....

 

They actually made a rather reliable vehicle, design may have been basic but it was original and worked.

[Gordon R]

They were Fiats at the end of the day. I drove a mate's wife's Lada. Very, very heavy steering and the brakes were severe - as if you had just thrown out an anchor.

 

That said, it was cheap and very reliable..

 

Years later, I installed a Lada heater in a kit car. It was the best put together heater radiator I have come across - and I had the run of a mate's breakers to chose from. It pumped out so much heat, it made the gear lever very, very hot. You had to be careful where you held the lever.