confusing 'unsafe' used car import ban

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#2262767 23-Jun-2019 07:40

I seriously doubt there's going to be a buy-back.

My understanding is it only affects used car imports.

For example consider the typical Nissan Leaf driving around NZ

* Nissan Leaf was bought new in Japan

* driven around Japan at least 2,000 K.

* get Japan's EV subsidy, ranging from NZD -$17,000 to -$4,666 (bigger batteries get better subsidies)

* sold used in Japan

* shipped here

I've seen these advertised as "new to New Zealand", which is technically accurate but misleading. It's used.

I've also seen "only one owner since it arrived" which again is misleading. It could have had 10 previous owners overseas.

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MikeB4

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#2262775 23-Jun-2019 08:35

Technofreak:

MikeB4:

These cars may not get 5 stars today but how many older cars would. If this were to be implemented things will get worse not better. Our already aging fleet will just get older and more unsafe. Folks who buy older imports are not suddenly going to be able to afford new or near new cars.

The all seems to be being generated in the marketing department of a failing new car seller, GMH? maybe?

I don't see why GMH specifically would be needing to do do this. It seems to be a pretty wild spurious claim to me. Their models seem to be selling fairly well, you see quite a few on the road. Plus you cannot parallel import their cars second hand from Japan like you can, Toyotas, Mazdas, Hondas Mitsubishis etc. I'd say the importers of these brands are much more affected by the Jap second hand imports.

If it were one, or all of the new importers pushing for the change, I have some sympathy. My reason is the new cars they import have to meet a certain standard but as I understand it second hand imports even those that may be the latest/current model don't have to meet the same standard. To me that is a double standard.

GM was just a name I used as an example. I have just been through the process of evaluating cars for purchase and the Holden range is awful and their sales are tanking. There is talk that the Commodore, their flagship is going to be deleted from their range. Astra sales are poor and their SUV range is terrible.

The imported cars from Japan are hitting GMH sales heavily and they are being hit hard by new car sales of Toyota and Suzuki. Take out of the equation the Holden Colorado sales and Holdens' car sales are minimal. GMH have not been renowned for good sales, marketing and support ethics over recent years.

gzt

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#2262788 23-Jun-2019 10:06

rugrat:
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/could-you-affected-import-ban-and-removal-unsafe-cars-nz-roads-being-considered

I have a swift 2014 brought new. 5 years free warrant of fitness and servicing on it left, got 10 years of no costs other petrol, registration and tyres and battery at my own cost.

Saw in one article that there will be “an accelerated fleet removal”

What does this mean? I paid near 20 grand for car.
edit: Found link with removal of cars.

I figured this one out. Clue in the article:

TVNZ: The government is set to review the reports then propose a new road safety strategy which will go out for consultation later this year.

Tldr; study groups consider strategies that governments will never implement. This must have been the slowest news day ever..

ObidiahSlope

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#2262827 23-Jun-2019 12:14

Point of information:

General Motors(Holden) no longer assembles right hand drive cars.

Any new Holden purchased in NZ is a rebadged Daewoo or Peugeot.

Obsequious hypocrite

Bung

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#2262829 23-Jun-2019 12:17

Years ago Mazda 323s and Ford Lasers had a bad reputation because they tended to be the cheap 2nd family car and ended up being driven by clueless novice drivers. All that will change is the 2nd car. Clueless drivers will always find a way to do something the car can't save them from.

In the last 12 years the only place I would have liked ESC or ABS was approaching the old Otaihanga intersection when an approaching car turned right in front of me. That danger spot has since been converted into a roundabout and the whole route superceded by the Kapiti Expressway. Our current car now has ABS, soon to be replaced by something that will have ESC but the biggest change to our risk is the increasing amount of separated 2 way traffic on our usual journeys.

Technofreak

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#2262837 23-Jun-2019 12:56

ObidiahSlope:

Point of information:

General Motors(Holden) no longer assembles right hand drive cars.

Any new Holden purchased in NZ is a rebadged Daewoo or Peugeot.

Wrong

The European sourced ones are of Opel origin. i.e. Astra, Commodore.

The Acadia range are from the GMC brand in the USA

The Colorado is made in Thailand and so far as I can tell has strong links to the Isuzu.

The Trailblazer is an SUV version of the Colorado.

The Equinox is built by GM in either Canada or Mexico.

The Trax is built by GM in South Korea. This is the only model that may have any Daewoo connections.

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rugrat

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#2262841 23-Jun-2019 13:14

https://rightcar.govt.nz/?view_full=true

Here’s a link to find safety rating of car, can type in plate number of car as well.

I put mine in and get one Star, which I don’t get as it has two airbags, anti skid braking etc.

The removal of cars from fleet is being considered, I.e it might not happen, but it still not nice know they are considering it.

Someone told me their car failed a warrant because it had no airbags, their car has never had airbags and passed last warrant. Their car is over 20 years old so the value would be low.

They might not do a buy back, just start failing all the warranties.

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MikeB4

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#2262867 23-Jun-2019 13:54

Technofreak:
ObidiahSlope:

Point of information:

General Motors(Holden) no longer assembles right hand drive cars.

Any new Holden purchased in NZ is a rebadged Daewoo or Peugeot.

Wrong

The European sourced ones are of Opel origin. i.e. Astra, Commodore.

The Acadia range are from the GMC brand in the USA

The Colorado is made in Thailand and so far as I can tell has strong links to the Isuzu.

The Trailblazer is an SUV version of the Colorado.

The Equinox is built by GM in either Canada or Mexico.

The Trax is built by GM in South Korea. This is the only model that may have any Daewoo connections.

The Holden Spark is Daewoo

Aredwood

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#2262922 23-Jun-2019 14:10

ObidiahSlope:
Point of information:

General Motors(Holden) no longer assembles right hand drive cars.

Any new Holden purchased in NZ is a rebadged Daewoo or Peugeot.

The current model Commodore is a rebadged Opel Insignia. This was setup when GM still owned Opel. So it is only a Pugeout via ownership links.

The biggest mistake is GMH thinking that the typical buyer of a rear wheel drive car would happily just buy a front wheel drive car instead. Even though Mitsubishi and Toyota had already tried that in Australia.

ObidiahSlope

260 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2262924 23-Jun-2019 14:13

GM sold Opel to Peugeot.

So Commodore = Opel = Peugeot

I stand corrected by Technofrek on the other Holden brands.

I was surprised by an item in the Daily Mail online where Alfa Romeo came out tops in a user reliability survey. A Fiat Chrysler product and an Alfa Romeo to boot. The old order changeth. Will Jeremy Clarkson no longer be able to make snide remarks about Alfa's reliability?

Obsequious hypocrite

Aredwood

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#2262927 23-Jun-2019 14:23

rugrat:
https://rightcar.govt.nz/?view_full=true

Here’s a link to find safety rating of car, can type in plate number of car as well.

I put mine in and get one Star, which I don’t get as it has two airbags, anti skid braking etc.

The removal of cars from fleet is being considered, I.e it might not happen, but it still not nice know they are considering it.

Someone told me their car failed a warrant because it had no airbags, their car has never had airbags and passed last warrant. Their car is over 20 years old so the value would be low.

They might not do a buy back, just start failing all the warranties.

Guessing that there was some confusion as to whether that car previously had airbags which someone had removed (valid WOF fail if so). Vs the car never having airbags at all. Especially difficult when airbags were still an optional feature on some cars.

Then there are problems with people having airbag system failures. And instead of getting the fault fixed, simply rewiring the airbag warning light to the circuit that operates a different warning light. So that the car will still pass WOF. Because of this risk, if you are buying a secondhand car where you don't know it's full history. Get the airbag system scanned for fault codes. Although even that isn't foolproof. As due to the airbag recall issues, there have been cases of airbags being disconnected or removed. And a resistor connected to the wires that are meant to go to the airbag, to fool the computer into thinking that the airbag is still connected.

ObidiahSlope

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Ultimate Geek

#2262928 23-Jun-2019 14:29

The average age of the car fleet in NZ is old by international standards.

Given a free choice people purchasing a car go for the most modern car their budget can afford. It is generally accepted the newer the car the more safe it is.

People want to upgrade old bangers will be unable to to upgrade to a mid age car because their import is restricted causing a price increase. They will be forced to keep driving their old bangers.

The import ban would be a case of perfection being the enemy of good.

Obsequious hypocrite

Technofreak

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#2262932 23-Jun-2019 15:01

ObidiahSlope:

GM sold Opel to Peugeot.

So Commodore = Opel = Peugeot

On that basis a Porsche or a Bentley is a Volkswagen.

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gzt

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#2262938 23-Jun-2019 15:51

ObidiahSlope: The import ban would be a case of perfection being the enemy of good.

Many manufacturers make cheaper option cars for developing markets and markets with lower safety standards. Many of those vehicles cannot be sold new in NZ.

kingdragonfly

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#2262955 23-Jun-2019 16:41

Five Indian Cars Scores Zero In Crash Test For Safety Standards

India Today

"Five Indian cars have scored zero out of 5 in a crash test for safety standards.The safety test were conducted by European new car assessment programme. Euro NCAP is usually taken as the last word in safety by the global Auto Industry. The five cars tested were

* Maruti Celerio

* Maruti Eeco

* Hyundai Eon

* Renault Kwid

* Mahindra Scorpio.

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