tdi450 Transporter available for ordering

[Tornado T5]

Maybe after chinesse LDV vans cannibalise their sales VW will learn.

The LDV comes fully loaded with dual sliding doors, all safety features that they have at the moment. only option is a colour and transmission - manual or auto.

Not that I'd be ready to buy one yet but,
I looked at them this week and was surprised how good their interior is. They have Cummins or VM motori engines, I can't comment on the rest of it and only time will tell.

I share your opinion. I'm not sure which comes first, the cost of certifying in Australia the different models/specs features resulting in the local importers limiting the choices to keep costs down...or...not enough buyers around to offer the greater option lists...but then again if you don't offer more options yo might not even have the potential buyers walking in so in effect ypou don't know what sales you are missing out on.

After 20 years of buying Transporters I bought a Transit Custom lwb, it offered all the the airbags as standard, a smooth torque converter auto, ok power and better torque then the VW tdi340, RHS sliding door, a reverse camera option in the standard rear wing/barn doors and it will be passed down to my staff after I sell the T5 they currently use. So when I ordered the city pack, f/r sensors, satnav/rhd sliding door, h/duty tow hitch, windows all round i saved $8k over a Transporter. The Transit Custom drives very well and it's turning circle is brilliant for a lwb. Don't get me wrong I consider the Transporter the best van on the market, followed by Vito, Transit, Hyundai (getting too old). My next purchase needs to be a van but carry people in the back and probably see me out. You cannot get a T6 Crewvan with the more flexible split fold 2nd row seating here or the more powerful engines/awd, Merc charge a premium but offer it in the spec I want however the T6 is better built..I just need a lotto win... while Ford is even more limited in options here but has over 10 pages of options in the UK...even considering a ute but would need to use our trailer more for certain loads...

[Sunny43.5]

Sometimes I wonder if the bean counters bother to check their market properly , so many lousy decisions over the years have robbed Australian buyers of the ability to buy what they want . Next year when the import rules are dropped anyone will be able to import a van from the UK in any guise they want , then watch the showroom traffic come to a crawl . Having been involved in the Auto industry for now 50 years I have seen so many marketing mistakes that you wonder how those responsible have kept their jobs . Toyota did a massive mistake when they decided we only need 4 cylinder Celicas and a few Supras , then someone got smart and started importing Toyota Soarer V8s which sold like hot cakes here , the list goes on and on . As far back as 1997 this is what they fitted to some models The EMV (Electro Multi Vision) touchscreen system which was pioneered in the Z10 and Z20 Soarers was again available and provided a screen with television, GPS navigation, diagnostics, car computer, reversing camera and touch control of all functions of the climate control and audio system. The latter was highly sophisticated, with balanced-signal digital signal processing, 12-disc CD stacker and 7-speakers with subwoofer. Jump forward 20 years and we are only just getting some of this tech .

[Tornado T5]

I here you Sunny43.5...and it's not like I'm asking for the greater options choices to be made as standard, just provide them as an option and charge accordingly. What possible reason could exist for VW not to have a rear camera in wing doors (it's not available at all even in Germany), why would you make a Caravelle with full interior lining, 9 seats, 2nd aircon etc..cheaper then a Transporter with aftermarket rear seats, or a Crewvan only in tdi340 or if you want 4motion in a Multi it's only the swb version.....it bugs me I want the VW and it's readily available as I want but not here....sorry end of rant, it's Christmas time so a happy and safe festive season to all and here's to a great 2018.......actually our daughter is on a European music tour next Easter and I could jump across to the UK from Paris and buy myself a very low km T6 just as I want....

[Sunny43.5]

You have a great Christmas also along with all the other Forum members , lucky girl doing the Euro trip next year . Been too many years since my wife and I did both the UK and Europe tour , interesting when we were in the UK I visited my cousins who still live in Hastings where I was born a day after we stayed at a hotel overlooking the channel at Stoke Fleming . They were hosting a Local Dealer VW media release and as we were driving a Golf we were invited to have a look at the cars , I remember being smitten by the 2nd generation VW Sirrocco and look how long it took for that one to arrive here 1984 to 2010 approx . Bloody bean counters again because they thought we all wanted Bora Jetta or Golf's .

[Transporter]

Talking about the importing from overseas. I wonder if the government abolishes the import duty, since the purpose of it was to protect the local manufacturers who are now gone, so it’s not unreasonable to expect that the import duty should be also gone.

[Sunny43.5]

From what I remember from earlier this year or late last year this was the new rules for personal imports from next year . It could and should have import duty removed and also any other stupid protectionism as we no longer have the big guys with their monopoly on our car industry .

[Bryn23]

From what I remember from earlier this year or late last year this was the new rules for personal imports from next year . It could and should have import duty removed and also any other stupid protectionism as we no longer have the big guys with their monopoly on our car industry .

Sorry Sunny, it was announced in August that it was being scrapped by the Turnbull government.

I was annoyed about it when i saw it at the time.

[Bryn23]

Car buyers lose out as government backflips on parallel import rules | afr.com


bloody car importers, they would have been putting heaps of pressure on to ensure we get screwed with higher priced cars

[Sunny43.5]

What a disgusting backflip from Turncoat and his mob of overpaid elitists mates , don't you just love the reasons . “Australia already has one of the most competitive motor vehicle markets in the world, delivering world quality vehicles and outstanding value for the consumer.

“To allow personal imports would have exposed consumers to enormous risks, which the Government’s own analysis has clearly identified.”
Now if I was going to import a car then I would accept the responsibility of no warranty , so they should butt out on that one . Next value for money they have to be joking everyone knows we are being ripped off by the local distributors of most brands so no level playing field there . The most laughable one was its okay to import a LH drive vehicle as long as you convert it to RH for safety reasons , now there is the biggest cop out right there . Anyone who knows the car industry will tell you a LH drive car will not have the same crash results as a RH drive , but they will ignore that tiny discrepancy wont they . Lastly you only have to look at the monopoly that the companies involved in the importation rights of some cars we have here as well , can you imagine a huge importer like Iteco wanting to allow say a Chinese built car to compete against a similar European one they also import ? I will bet you they jack up the price of the Chinese one to stymy sales here .

[Bryn23]

I had to laugh when i saw this comment

“Australia already has one of the most competitive motor vehicle markets in the world, delivering world quality vehicles and outstanding value for the consumer"

Has Turnbull been living under a rock, nothing outstanding with our vehicle pricing, as for safe guarding the public, maybe they should look at the current ****show, as far as i know we don't have a lemon car law here in QLD

It was a chance to shake up the market and it didn't happen

Ive seen how it works in NZ, it would have been fine here, but these greedy car distributors don't want competition