The article belows demonstrates Holdens shortfall in the market including the frustration that extends to the gullable customers who become blinded by Holdens advertising blinkers, NOW, the once good Rodeo engineered by IZUZU was a reliable unit but since the Thailand takeover this became an unrealiable product, how does the current owners feel about the name Rodeo leaving Australian shores (Me Don’t Care), I’m sure ute resale value, part sourcing, etc etc, will be widely effected not to mention the wallet…

Rodeo to become Colorado as Holden is forced to kill-off its 30-year-old LCV nameplate
By MARTON PETTENDY
4 March 2008
GM HOLDEN will retire its popular Rodeo nameplate within months because it does not own the right to continue to use it.

Once Australia’s top-selling light commercial vehicle name, the Rodeo badge will become history from about June because Isuzu, which manufactures Australia’s Rodeo in Thailand, owns it and will prevent Holden from using it following the formal separation between Isuzu and Holden’s parent company General Motors.

GM announced in mid-2006 that it would sell its remaining 7.9 per cent stake in Isuzu to raise about $US300 million following the US giant’s $US8.6 billion loss the previous year.

The announcement heralded the end of a successful product-sharing arrangement that began in 1971, and followed the sale of GM interests in Suzuki and Subaru parent company Fuji Heavy Industries for a total of $US2.7 billion only months earlier.

The demise of the Rodeo name will come as a marketing blow to Holden and its representative in one of Australia’s most important vehicle segments.

The fifth-generation RA-series model, launched here in March 2003, suffered a 14.2 per cent decline in popularity in 2007, when 8978 sales made it Australia’s fourth best selling 4×2 utility behind Toyota’s HiLux, Ford’s Falcon ute and Holden’s own Ute.

http://www.consumer.vic.gov.au

Then search Lemon Laws

( Motor_Vehicle_Lemons_Laws_Issues_Paper)

Most companies wont know what is defective until the vehicle is out in the market. Instead of whining about which company is the best or the worst_- Why don’t you look at the law behind defective products?

Help support the change cause I believe it is the first step to the supply of quality products or at least enforcing quality on the market.

Check out- http://search.justice.vic.gov.au/CAV/search.html (Lemon laws)

On a side note, I had driven my first Aurion the other day and must day was a quite good drive. Smooth, tons of grunt and very stable on the road, but anybody who says they are built better than our local ‘dogs’ needs a reality check. Creeking interior plastics, loose feeling creature comforts controllers and a unexplainable knock every now and again in the front.

I agree if I didn’t have a tax bill to worry about I would invest in another GT . You can lease an old one and claim the repayments but they don’t depreciate so I would imagine you would end up paying the tax deapartment if you every sold it. Husband has considerd it though . M3s are becoming collectable themselves now no where as much as Aussie Muscle but if you can get one that has all the money dropped out of it after a few years and look after it they dont really decrease that much. I only do about 5000 clicks a year in her for that reason.

to be honest the bmws are in a different class and that class is one that isnt talked about much. as far as BMW goes i would take one any day over audi, merc,lexus etc. bmw styling is one main thing that absolutely s##ts over its competitors.
personally i would rather spend my money on a bit of awesome ford aussie muscle and keep the rest in the bank.
actually might start cleaning the garage for one of these phase 5′s that sounds like it coming in a couple of years

the west is next on my travel list actually. i havent visited over that half of OZ yet but ive been right past it in going to london and europe etc.
yeah ive heard the west is quite nice from people i know who hav traveled there.

ps i think there is car transport mobs that would be only too happy to drop your M3 this way for a test