Chinese cars (Haval and LDV)

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Batman

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#2688315 8-Apr-2021 13:17

Scott3:

As a general rule I avoid Chinese branded products for ethical reason, where viable alternatives exist.

dude everything is made in China

Handsomedan

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#2688373 8-Apr-2021 15:25

Batman:

Scott3:

As a general rule I avoid Chinese branded products for ethical reason, where viable alternatives exist.

dude everything is made in China

I'm not.

I'm "Made in England". Thankfully haven't had to have any Third Party repairs/spares put in, but I am sure if I did, many would be made in China.

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#2689549 8-Apr-2021 19:31

1101:

Scott3:

As a general rule I avoid Chinese branded products for ethical reason, where viable alternatives exist. Automotive sector is one where they do, so I wouldn't buy one myself.

What car brands have ZERO chinese parts ? None I'd bet .
Same with most stuff with electronics or batts, I bet there would be Ch components in it .

Note that I said that I avoid Chinese branded products for ethical reasons, where viable alternatives exist, not that I consume absolutely no china origin goods.

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#2689551 8-Apr-2021 19:34

Let's stay on topic rather than turning it into a race/politics thing.

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#2689556 8-Apr-2021 19:54

I'd buy a Chinese made car like a Haval or LDV or MG with about the same level of enthusiasm I would have had to buy a Hyundai 20 years ago. Close to zero.

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#2689724 9-Apr-2021 09:21

Fred99:

I'd buy a Chinese made car like a Haval or LDV or MG with about the same level of enthusiasm I would have had to buy a Hyundai 20 years ago. Close to zero.

I owned a Hyundai Excel about 30 years ago. At the time it was about 3 years old. It was very much a 10 year old Mitsubishi at the time. If you know what I mean.

I still loved that car, despite its obvious downsides. Reliable, easy to drive, relatively comfortable.

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#2689737 9-Apr-2021 09:47

Handsomedan:

Fred99:

I'd buy a Chinese made car like a Haval or LDV or MG with about the same level of enthusiasm I would have had to buy a Hyundai 20 years ago. Close to zero.

I owned a Hyundai Excel about 30 years ago. At the time it was about 3 years old. It was very much a 10 year old Mitsubishi at the time. If you know what I mean.

I still loved that car, despite its obvious downsides. Reliable, easy to drive, relatively comfortable.

My current (albeit getting towards the end of it's life) car is an early 2000's Kia with 230,000km on the clock. Overall it's been a good reliable car, had far less mechanical issues with it than others I know have had with newer, pricier, 'more established' brands. The only real gripe I've ever had with it is that as a tall person, I need the drivers seat all the way back, which leaves about 5cm of legroom for the person behind me.

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#2690733 10-Apr-2021 22:19

Probulator:

....

I'm aware of their engines being weaker but I'm not an offroad guy. I just like the size of them when I fold all the seats down with the added option of taking a lot of people in it. I'm not keen on getting a van for the same purpose. I still want it to be a car.

....

Jumping back to the very top post.

Be aware that both the D90 & H9 are ladder frame, solid rear axle, low range (on 4x4 versions) vehicles. Competitors to the likes of the Toyota Fortuner & Prado. They have quite a lot in common with commercial trucks, as opposed to cars which these days pretty much all use uni-body construction.

Advantages comes are durability, off road performance, easier repairs. Disadvantages is that they are heavier, handle less well, and the ladder frame means you get less interior space than a unibody vehicle with the same exterior size.

One advantage the LDV has over the more common brands is that it offers the D90 vehicle in 2wd.

Family members have a 2wd Toyota Fortuner overseas. (They live in a large city in a developing country. The poor roads of that country, and the area they live in, makes a tough, high clearance SUV desirable, but they don't off road, and have no need for 4x4 which adds substantial cost and weight to a vehicle). But in NZ that car is 4x4 only as they want to push the Rav4, Highlander, Hilux Pre-runner etc instead.

Might be worth taking a look at a large car based SUV (crossover / Soft roader), like the highlander or CX-9. Generally they are nicer to drive on road, and While I haven't been in the China branded SUV's, I felt it had better interior space than the Toyota fortuner and Prado.

Regarding the third row seats of basically in this class are really just for children. And when they are in use you get basically no luggage space.

Another option that you could consider is something like a Kia Carnival. Would be more car like to drive than ladder chassis SUV's, and can fit adults in the third row (it's an 8 seater too). Still has a bit of a boot (really deep) with the third row in use. When the third row is not in use it folds flat to the floor creating a 5 seater with an epicly huge boot.

Probulator: Well I'll be putting it through my business so it's a little different from buying personal. Accountants will work it all out. Gst and expenses and all that.

Have a word with your accountant first.

Generally ute's have a big tax advantage, when a few requrements are met, one is not requred to pay fringe benefit tax when driving between home and work (incl incidental). Common to just pay FBT for weekends and holidays especially if there is another car in the household you can use to go out in the evening.

Tax advantages may be such that you will be better to take two cars on occasions you need more seats than in a ute.

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#2690746 11-Apr-2021 00:01

I just took delivery of a brand new 2021 LDV Maxus T60, manual transmission.

This is a company car but my initial impressions have been very good. Put 300km on it today. A very enjoyable drive - love the 6 speed manual, quiet, plenty of room - huge amount of space inside, leather seats, walkinshaw tuned suspension, the 10" infotainment seems bright and functional while a little bit confusing to navigate, all the safety bells and whistles, rain sensing wipers, ISO fix, etc..

It's my first chinese vehicle and I have to admit - it's a lot better experience than I imagined!

If anyone is keen I will post up some photos and do a bit of a mini review.

I do about 50,000km a year on the road and wanted something that will be a pleasant place to be while being fun to drive, it seems like it will give me that.

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#2690764 11-Apr-2021 07:20

skyplonk: I just took delivery of a brand new 2021 LDV Maxus T60, manual transmission.

This is a company car but my initial impressions have been very good. Put 300km on it today. A very enjoyable drive - love the 6 speed manual, quiet, plenty of room - huge amount of space inside, leather seats, walkinshaw tuned suspension, the 10" infotainment seems bright and functional while a little bit confusing to navigate, all the safety bells and whistles, rain sensing wipers, ISO fix, etc..

It's my first chinese vehicle and I have to admit - it's a lot better experience than I imagined!

If anyone is keen I will post up some photos and do a bit of a mini review.

I do about 50,000km a year on the road and wanted something that will be a pleasant place to be while being fun to drive, it seems like it will give me that.

please let us know how it goes between 0-200,000kms

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#2690814 11-Apr-2021 10:42

Batman:

please let us know how it goes between 0-200,000kms

We're almost at 30k Kms on our T60 and no mechanical issues.

I belong to the Oz T60 group on Facebook. It's mostly positive but there are some bad experiences but no more than other brands. No recalls to date - Google recalls for ford ranger and Hilux, they have issues. No vehicle is perfect.

Fred99

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#2690870 11-Apr-2021 14:14

I'd google rust and LDV, maybe talk to someone in the auto body business.

I don't know about the utes, but I've seen some very rusty and not so old LDV vans. Of course they could have been daily commuting on 90 mile beach, but then again they might not.

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#2690892 11-Apr-2021 15:29

Probulator:

Whenabouts was that?

About 3 years ago if memory serves. So 2017/2018. I was hesitant to begin with the idea of a 2.0-turbo lugging a large 2-ton SUV around, and it was pretty anemic (not helped by a 6-speed auto that seemed to not have been programmed with the vehicle in mind). But, as I understand it, they've since revised it for better power/torque, and swapped the transmission for a ZF 8 speed to improve things as well as adding a bunch more modern features which were decidedly lacking before. Haven't driven the revised one, as we've not been re-shopping for 7 seaters yet (we ended up with a Premacy as our 7 seater, for reference).

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#2690893 11-Apr-2021 15:29

Fred99:

I'd google rust and LDV, maybe talk to someone in the auto body business.

I don't know about the utes, but I've seen some very rusty and not so old LDV vans. Of course they could have been daily commuting on 90 mile beach, but then again they might not.

Yes that seems to be an issue in Oz, Ive not seen it mentioned in the NZ page. We've got no rust and ours doesnt live in a garage - they do have a 10-year rust warranty.

Like I said all vehicles have issues. Just becuase someone pays $60-80k for a top of the line Ranger doesnt guarentee a propblem free vehicle. It also doesnt mean if you pay $20/30/40K for a vehicle that it will be a POS.

LDV may not be a premium brand but from personal experience I can tell you there are a lot more of them on the road compared to a year or two ago.

BTW have a read of the below and you'll see (at least across the ditch) that the Chinese brands (incl LDV) have been doing record sales and LDV has doubled their market share in the ute section.

https://www.caradvice.com.au/909912/chinese-brands-mg-ldv-haval-and-great-wall-post-record-sales/

https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-news/ldv-aspires-to-double-ute-market-share-plans-more-aussie-engineered-halo-models

And just to clarify Im not an LDV evangelist, we actually bought ours as it was the only reasonably priced vehicle with sufficient leg room in the back for my tall kids. It just happened to be a ute.

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