Great Wall Motors. Any good?

[PANELCORP]

No

Not saying another word

[4Vman]

Originally Posted by Auslandau

...... but apart from all the absolute ignorant comments from those above who haven't sat in one, let alone driven one .... they are a hell of a lot better than nearly all 4x4 type utes built only a few years ago .... have complete Triton Mitsubishi drive line .... have increased to a 4 star rating ..... would have a higher safety rating than anything before AU .... most body components made by ISUZU ..... for the price of over 20k cheaper than some they suit some people

A lot cheaper than anything else out there and a hell of alot safer than 90% of other work utes out there that are more than 5 years old. If you are worried about safety ratings and drive a 10 year old car ..... ?

Don't own one but know of a couple being used as work horses and serving there purposes very well.

To bag something out through ignorance isn't a good thing ....

Spot on Dave...

[Hardtopxb]

A mate of mine and I were at the 4x4 wreckers the other day and there was a Great Wall bieng wrecked, he could not get over all the internal and external parts that would have been interchangeable with his Holden Colarado

[BOSHOG]

Originally Posted by JimNiki

There's 2 types of people in this world.
Those that would buy it and those that won't!

whatever the hell that means!
I personally am old school and would never buy a Chinese or Korean badged car.
You know what, if I was hard up on moola, I'd buy a 3 or 5 year old Aussie built car!
What's wrong with that...? C'mon ... where's the Aussie pride...?

you started this thread so you have no right to bag out peoples answers. just like a lot of your threads, they are aimed at starting arguments.

[FTE217]

I recall the same said about the Hyundais/Kias - and long before through the 70's about Japanese brands......
They will only improve.......

[Jondalar]

I just checked the ANCAP site and the SA 220 and V240 are both still 2 stars. No way I'd buy a 2 star car. I followed one in traffic and up a small hill it seemed to really struggle to hold speed compared to small 4cyl cars.

I definitely wouldn't have one now, maybe in 5 years they'll have improved.

[JimNiki]

Originally Posted by BOSHOG

you started this thread so you have no right to bag out peoples answers. just like a lot of your threads, they are aimed at starting arguments.

Argue over whether chinese cars are better than Aussie made cars?

aaahhhmmm??? let me think about which is better!?

We're not talking about absolute quality, we all know it's crap!
(tell me one thing the chinese make which is a world leader!)
We're only swapping thoughts on perceived value for money...

ie. what the majority of mum's and dad's here who are ready to buy an SUV people mover but only had 24k to spend..

would they buy this vehicle new (post topic) or another used one (3-5 years old with ext warranty). I'm just curious as to how people think.
There's no right or wrong answers here (which is why there should be no argument anyway). I have my personal opnion and I'm expressing it.
By all means, don't agree with it , but respect the fact that I'm entitled to it...

cheers...

[4Vman]

Don't underestimate the Chinese... They may be the experts at "build to price" but they have the technology and ability to build premium too....
Ive seen some of their production facilities and they're second to none when it comes to the latest equipment and manufacturing technology.
Dont just "assume" because its made in China its bad.....

[dannyhilton]

It's funny, a few decades ago everyone said they would NEVER buy a Japanese car, now Toyota is the largest manufacturer in the world. A decade ago everyone sneered at the Koreans, now Hyundai is the fastest growing manufacturer in the world. Go figure. Give them time and the Chinese will be a mighty force. While I agree their cars are quite basic, they are cheap, and do what most will want of them. I still wouldn't touch one with a ten foot pole, but then again I drive a car made in Germany, from an American company that's distributed by Ford Australia.

[Jondalar]

Originally Posted by 4Vman

Don't underestimate the Chinese... They may be the experts at "build to price" but they have the technology and ability to build premium too....
Ive seen some of their production facilities and they're second to none when it comes to the latest equipment and manufacturing technology.
Dont just "assume" because its made in China its bad.....

Agreed, the iPhone is a classic example, feels "rolls royce" but made in China.

[JimNiki]

You mean that American company invention which builds in China to save money.
(what on earth has that got to do with Chinese ingenuity?)

forgive me but I don't think the pennie's dropped yet...

[Scott]

Is it made in China or made in Thailand like the rest of the Rodeo/Colorado/D Max?

Thailand I would have thought.

[4Vman]

Originally Posted by JimNiki

You mean that American company invention which builds in China to save money.
(what on earth has that got to do with Chinese ingenuity?)

forgive me but I don't think the pennie's dropped yet...

So the purpose of this thread is what again???

[Scott]

Originally Posted by JimNiki

You mean that American company invention which builds in China to save money.
(what on earth has that got to do with Chinese ingenuity?)

forgive me but I don't think the pennie's dropped yet...

Chinese ingenuity is alive and well, they may not have any imagination but give them an answer and they'll engineer a way to get you there - better than just about anyone else will.

[RedHotGT]

Jim...

Its all about the target market...

If China are good at ANYTHING - its exploiting a market...

Great Wall have not pitched that ute at anyone other than business who want a work horse... How long to businesses lease cars for?? 2-3 years?? (so long as the car lasts that long - they'll have saved money on buying a hilux/navara/other)...

So - kudos to them for testing the waters... and I think that you will see more and more of them on the road...

Same with the Kluger/Terri type car (can't remember what its called)...
They'll target exactly who they want... and guarantee they will sell shiploads (read:sh!tloads) of them...

Small range initially to test out the market, and them BANG there will be a Great Wall rival to every dominant selling car out there...

On a personal note - would I buy one?? No... but I'm not in their target audience... so they (and I) couldn't care less about each other...

[SVTVNM]

Drove past one of the SUV's yesterday in a dark red/burgandy colour and I actually had to look twice, looks alot better in the flesh, If I had to choose between that and a SSanyong, teh Great Wall would be the pick.

[vanman_75]

he asked a question then answered it ......why ask the question ???, you cant do that ,and a little info go to 4wd action. a few blokes on there with the real answers that you wont want to hear . By all accounts they seem to be a ripper little 4wd just a little slow ,but have you driven an old hilux ?110 down hill with a truck pushing ya .so these things are better than that by far ...anyway you already have your own opinion

[StrokedXT]

Originally Posted by 4Vman

Don't underestimate the Chinese... They may be the experts at "build to price" but they have the technology and ability to build premium too....
Ive seen some of their production facilities and they're second to none when it comes to the latest equipment and manufacturing technology.
Dont just "assume" because its made in China its bad.....

Yes but the topic is about a vehicle that is built to a price and has no pretensions of being a premium product, so will all you fellas actually buy one and transport your family around in a 2 star rated vehicle or just keep telling anyone who says its junk that they are wrong?

Also interesting is those claiming isuzu build the body panels, Great wall seem to disagree so i guess they wasted all that money tooling up to have it sitting in a factory doing nothing while they buy panels from isuzu.

[4Vman]

Originally Posted by jeep_by_ford

Yes but the topic is about a vehicle that is built to a price and has no pretensions of being a premium product, so will all you fellas actually buy one and transport your family around in a 2 star rated vehicle or just keep telling anyone who says its junk that they are wrong?

Also interesting is those claiming isuzu build the body panels, Great wall seem to disagree so i guess they wasted all that money tooling up to have it sitting in a factory doing nothing while they buy panels from isuzu.

There was an allegation made that because it was made in china it must automatically be rubbish, i was merely pointing out that that wasn't always the case.
"Fit for purpose" is a word id use to describe one of these utes, ive looked at them as a work run about and they seem to be a good cheap alternative to a second hand hilux etc....

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by 4Vman

Don't underestimate the Chinese... They may be the experts at "build to price" but they have the technology and ability to build premium too....
Ive seen some of their production facilities and they're second to none when it comes to the latest equipment and manufacturing technology.
Dont just "assume" because its made in China its bad.....

With foreign investment (companies) it is. Otherwise their reverse engineering is second to none.

[almostsane]

my Boss got one for his daughter, as well as for farm use. within 3 weeks the driver's seatbelt had snapped, the clutch was having issues ended up needing replacement and to top it all off he found when he got a flat that the jack provided with the ute would not extend high enough to reach the bottom of the car, let alone raise it off the ground.

[Scott]

So I just went and test drove one. Black, $26,990 on road with 3yr, 100,000km warranty.

BFYB in Australia - it's unbeatable. I'm in the market for a Dual Cab 4x4 at the moment and recently posted that if someone could show me a Dual Cab with 4x4 and Leather for under $40k then I'd buy it....

So, did I put my order in?

Nope. There were too many reasons that the Great Wall is not for me, here they are:

1. I'm a bit of a brand snob. Not freakishly but I atleast like to be driving something "normal";
2. The tailgate has an enormous gap all the way around it - at the bottom it is around an inch. On the positive side, you'd never buy soil again. Just go for a drive with the tonneau on and by the time you got home it would be full.
3. The tailgate closes like the lid of a toolbox. Cheap, soft, tinny and feels like it clicks into place a bit too easily;
4. They don't have a Canopy for it;
5. The ride is exceptionally harsh and the seats are very unforgiving;
6. The steering has this amazing ability to be bloody heavy for the first qtr of a turn, then just about whips out of your hand with no back pressure at all;
7. The clutch feel is akin to the lightest, airy-fairy thing yoiu could ever hope to find. It is comparable to a Hyundai Getz and I wondered if it would just smoke and disappear in a dune??
8. The heater/ac/fan controls feel cheap - which is fair enough in a cheap car but doesn't fit with what I'm after;
9. Grunt - it's ok. Anyone who recalls driving a Triton from the early 90's will know exactly how the Great Wall goes. I wonder how it would go off-road with it's apparent lack of grunt and torque mixed with such a feeble feeling clutch;
10. The actual driving experience is pretty reasonable. It is comparable to Dual Cab utes from a few years ago and the plus is it's brand new with warranty;
11. Fit and finish is pretty good inside and out - nothing particularly nasty, nothing particularly great either. The seats are leather but firm as hell and everything else about the interior is RA Rodeo spec - much as the sales guy was adamant there is 0% Rodeo/D Max in this car.


I wouldn't buy one to use as a family bus because it is too harsh, has too low a safety rating and doesn't have the grunt I like to get me out of trouble when I need it?

As for a pure work ute - brilliant so long as you don't have to drive it too far.

[flappist]

Originally Posted by JimNiki

There's 2 types of people in this world.
Those that would buy it and those that won't!

whatever the hell that means!
I personally am old school and would never buy a Chinese or Korean badged car.
You know what, if I was hard up on moola, I'd buy a 3 or 5 year old Aussie built car!
What's wrong with that...? C'mon ... where's the Aussie pride...?

Says the guy with the MUSTANG..........

[JimNiki]

Originally Posted by flappist

Says the guy with the MUSTANG..........

c'mon man! It's a ford ... bought a BA for the Mrs...always been a ford man.
cheers.

I'm still trying to hear from someone who's driven the SUV but.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Auslandau

have increased to a 4 star rating

Curiosity just got me there, $23,990 gets you a V240, is that the 4 star safety rating? I made a thread a while back looking for $20,000 on a ute to carry my tools around, its a bit ugly but for $23,990 you cant really complain.

[naddis01]

Originally Posted by jeep_by_ford

Yes but the topic is about a vehicle that is built to a price and has no pretensions of being a premium product, so will all you fellas actually buy one and transport your family around in a 2 star rated vehicle or just keep telling anyone who says its junk that they are wrong?

The whole safety argument is a dud in relation to the X240 (the 4x4 wagon) having only 2 stars. As I am sure I have said before IT HAS A 4 STAR RATING. The same as many late and current model vehicles from other brands.

[Jason[98.EL]]

As stated earlier they wouldnt be to bad for someone to get as a starter for their new buisness ect

I wouldnt buy one though just dont like the look of them

Jason

[Yaw]

Mate, A lot is perception too.

If you are trading/moving up from a 10 year old car, it will probably seem like quite a step up.

I have not driven one, nor had a close look at them. But my educated guess is that like most "cheap" cars (kia, daewoo, hyundai etc) is they will probably be really good value providing you are not expecting to get more than 5 years out of them without lots of little things start going wrong costing lots after that. The build quality of cheap cars seem to last around the 5 year mark.

As much as I hate to admit this I once upon a time was the owner of a brand new 1996 Daewoo Espero. I had traded a 1988 XF fairmont ghia on it. I recall at the time I was looking at a 2nd hand 1993-94 Camry (the one advertised as the "new wide body Camry"
When I found the same price a 1993-1994 car was going to be, I could get a brand new 1996 Daewoo Espero with the 5 years "freecare" offer. (the freecare offer was 5 years of sceduled servicing at no cost)
I went with the Daewoo. Well anyway, after the 5 years was up it started to basically fall apart.

This is the type of thing I guess you can expect of Great Wall Motors.

[Auslandau]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Curiosity just got me there, $23,990 gets you a V240, is that the 4 star safety rating? I made a thread a while back looking for $20,000 on a ute to carry my tools around, its a bit ugly but for $23,990 you cant really complain.

The V240 seems by what I can find googling is 2 star while the X240 is 4 star (Same as Camry Hybrid)

Just a snap shot of some 1-3 star rated cars that some here might be driving at the moment. Of course these are only just a very few of them ....

CHRYSLER VOYAGER 2006
MAZDA MX5 1998
HOLDEN BARINA (2005)
MITSUBISHI LANCER (2000)
MITSUBISHI LANCER (2003-2007)
HYUNDAI ACCENT (2000-2006)
KIA RIO (2000-2005)
NISSAN PULSAR (2000-2005)
TOYOTA ECHO (1999-2005)
DAEWOO MATIZ (1999-2004)
DAEWOO LANOS (1997-2003)
MITSUBISHI LANCER - MIRAGE CE (1996-2003)
NISSAN PULSAR - VECTOR - SENTRA (1996-1999)
HYUNDAI GETZ (2002-2007)
FORD FESTIVA WD-WH-WF (1994-2001)
HOLDEN - SUZUKI BARINA - SWIFT - CULTUS (1989-1999)
SUZUKI ALTO (1985-2000)
MITSUBISHI MAGNA (2003)
HOLDEN COMMODORE (2001)
HOLDEN COMMODORE (2000)
FORD FALCON AU (1998-2002)
TOYOTA CAMRY (1998-2002)
HOLDEN COMMODORE VT-VX (1997-2002)
FORD FALCON EF-EL (1994-1998)
VOLVO 850-S70-V70-C70 (1992-2005)
FORD FALCON EB SERIES II - FALCON ED (1992-1994)
FORD FALCON EA - FALCON EB SERIES I (1988-1992)

Of course these ratings are taken on brand new cars ..... a 5 year old car would rate differently depending on the upkeep?

Wonder how many parts in all cars manufactured today has parts made in China, Taiwan, Korea or where ever else ....... there is a saying that involves glass houses and stones being thrown.



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[Dodge]

good one jimniki, whos typing on a chinese computer whilst watching his chinese plasma set.
I am in china right now sitting in a home in chengdu , chinese like german cars and japanese but the gov here charges a wopping amount of tax on overseas cars so 90% of cars here are chinese built. im driving a nissan tidia but the price of it was the same as what we pay for it in oz.
so far most popular suv i hae seen on the roads in chengdu is the porsche cayenne, most family size car is bmw 530 and merc s350, also lots of chevy badged small cars on the roads