Great wall motors

shoppahollic96

Does anyone know if great wall are still selling vehicles in Ireland?

ba_barabus

shoppahollic96 wrote: »

Does anyone know if great wall are still selling vehicles in Ireland?

I don't think so. There doesn't appear to be any new ones for sale.

AMKC

I don,t think they ever actually sold a single car here. They came here too soon and were totally unknown. Maybe when they have better cars too sell they might sell but thats a decade or two away. The pick-up was great value do but it would also have had a terrible resale value and would be impossible to sell second hand unless you wanted to give it away.

ba_barabus

AMKC wrote: »

I don,t think they ever actually sold a single car here. They came here too soon and were totally unknown. Maybe when they have better cars too sell they might sell but thats a decade or two away. The pick-up was great value do but it would also have had a terrible resale value and would be impossible to sell second hand unless you wanted to give it away.

They sold a few alright. I suspect they didn't last well.

Toyotafanboi

Weren't the jeeps a rebadged d-max? Or were they just a lookalike replica?

ba_barabus

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

Weren't the jeeps a rebadged d-max? Or were they just a lookalike replica?

Reverse engineered copy afaik. From speaking to a friend in Oz he said the chassis rusts like hell on them from new.

grogi

AMKC wrote: »

I don,t think they ever actually sold a single car here. They came here too soon and were totally unknown. Maybe when they have better cars too sell they might sell but thats a decade or two away. The pick-up was great value do but it would also have had a terrible resale value and would be impossible to sell second hand unless you wanted to give it away.

What are the an post vans?

ba_barabus

grogi wrote: »

What are the an post vans?

SAIC LDV vans. Same as the ldv ones made in the uk

colm_mcm

SAIC are the crowd that bought MG as well.

ba_barabus

colm_mcm wrote: »

SAIC are the crowd that bought MG as well.

I hope the vans aren't as ****e as the MG cars.

Buffman

shoppahollic96 wrote: »

Does anyone know if great wall are still selling vehicles in Ireland?

Their website lists a few dealers, but may be out of date. The only new ones I see advertised are in NI.

ba_barabus wrote: »

They sold a few alright. I suspect they didn't last well.

There's a few on donedeal, highest mileage there is a 2012 with almost 150k km on it. It looks to be relatively OK ware and tear wise, but I wouldn't be in a rush to spend €10K to test out its reliability.:D

shoppahollic96

Thanks everyone ! Think it will be a while before Chinese cars start coming here and becoming mainstream

AMKC

Buffman wrote: »

Their website lists a few dealers, but may be out of date. The only new ones I see advertised are in NI.



There's a few on donedeal, highest mileage there is a 2012 with almost 150k km on it. It looks to be relatively OK ware and tear wise, but I wouldn't be in a rush to spend €10K to test out its reliability.:D

I was talking to my local postman about his new LDV van this year. He said its very economical, nice to drive and comfortable. It does look a bit like a transit from some angles and a Mercedes Vito from others.

grogi

AMKC wrote: »

I was talking to my local postman about his new LDV van this year. He said its very economical, nice to drive and comfortable.

Comparing to the junk they were driving before for sure...

It does look a bit like a transit from some angles and a Mercedes Vito from others.

It's a van... Take the badges away and they all look exactly the same.

tedpan

Hmmmm, I dunno, most of the postmen in my area drive VW caddys. Im only guessing, but would think the caddy is more refined than an LDV.

The new Greatwall Wey looks lovely.

Wikipedia no longer shows Ireland on the list of countries in Europe where they're trading. Strange really, I saw a lot of their pick-ups in 2013/4 in Dublin & Drogheda.

shoppahollic96

shoppahollic96 wrote: »

Thanks everyone ! Think it will be a while before Chinese cars start coming here and becoming mainstream

They'll be better at making EVs I reckon.
Get some competent R&D from Europe concentrating on the body (get the NCAP ratings up) and assembly process (build quality etc) and let the Chinese focus on the E part.

Musk has ploughed the way for auto makers with zero heritage etc to be credible with the Tesla. No one ha done that quickly with an ICE powered brand. Took Skoda a decade + with VAG products rebadged and styled a tad differently.

China will IMO do to the EV market what HTC and other brands have done to the smart phone market.

colm_mcm

Volvo is owned by the Chinese now.

Oops!

grogi wrote: »

Comparing to the junk they were driving before for sure...



Nothing wrong with modern An Post vans... All leased, on very strict service plans and sold by lease company at Auction after about 2 or 3 years...



It's a van... Take the badges away and they all look exactly the same.

ba_barabus wrote: »

I hope the vans aren't as ****e as the MG cars.

They have Transit running gear as far as i know....

colm_mcm

The old LDVs had older Transit running gear, but the current stuff has no
Ford connection, in fact the Maxus (launched 13 years ago and now called the V80) was originally a Daewoo design and has changed hands a few times since then. The engine is a VM Motori unit (at least it was when they were built in the uk anyway) and Fiat are the majority shareholder in that company now. It's the same engine they use in the London Cab.

AMKC

ba_barabus wrote: »

I hope the vans aren't as ****e as the MG cars.

Why have you got something against MG? Did you own one of the new cars? They were actually not too bad just no diesel engines until to late and not the most economical. They were very well equipped do, quite nice to drive and put together well too. Sure they are not the MG of old put they are still not bad cars either.

Oops!

Have a bit of a soft spot for the MG's...Especially a nice mk2 ZS 180 hatch in cherry red... Worked in a dealership on them for a few years up until the time they went under...

They were like having a partner that's great craic at the time and looks the part but you always knew they were going to break your heart, cost you a fortune, let you down in the end and it would never last!

Had it down to just over 20 mins to have a cylinder head off the K series engine.... Had plenty of practice at it!

ba_barabus

AMKC wrote: »

Why have you got something against MG? Did you own one of the new cars? They were actually not too bad just no diesel engines until to late and not the most economical. They were very well equipped do, quite nice to drive and put together well too. Sure they are not the MG of old put they are still not bad cars either.

Nothing against MG but the current crop is trash. Underspecced gearboxes, electrics from hell, software updates that stop the auto gearbox running in the new GS and all backed up by some of the worst customer service I've ever witnessed. The lack of a diesel in the MG6 didnt hold it back, the car being poor didn't help much but the poor running of the company seemed to kill any chance it had as customers were treated poorly when they gave a fault.

Anything pre2005 collapse I'd not have an issue with.

Mg6 buyers guide here

http://www.macdroitwich.co.uk/2016/12/30/buyers-guide-mg-6/

Mg3 buyers guide (engines are failing regularly now due to poor timing chain design with parts on backorder)

http://www.macdroitwich.co.uk/2016/12/30/buyers-guide-mg-3/

MG GS Buyers Guide

http://www.macdroitwich.co.uk/2017/02/26/buyers-guide-mg-gs/

Oops!

Good old Chinese automotive mass production!

In saying that they were'nt much better at Longbridge in the finish up, but that's a whole different story....

ba_barabus

Oops! wrote: »

Good old Chinese automotive mass production!

In saying that they were'nt much better at Longbridge in the finish up, but that's a whole different story....

They've managed to make the Phoenix era look like a well run ship which is some achievement.

Oops!

The board at Longbridge gave years running the brand into the ground as soon as they took over back in 1999... Some achievement is right.

Duke O Smiley

ba_barabus wrote: »

SAIC LDV vans. Same as the ldv ones made in the uk

Are LDV and VDL the same lads??

AMKC

Duke O Smiley wrote: »

Are LDV and VDL the same lads??

I think VDL are Polish. Don,t think they are anyway connected with LDV.

ba_barabus

Duke O Smiley wrote: »

Are LDV and VDL the same lads??

Nope but there is a Leyland Astok truck maker still on the go in India.