Confessions from quality control - The Frontera factory

[unsprung]

micky metro said:

a non sunroof headlining was fitted to a sunroof car.

"Anybody got a scissors?"

[bomma220]

The Crack Fox said:

Ha! Thanks. This is but one chapter!

I'll upload my Skoda story soon. It involves a sanatorium and bribery.

The mind boggles! Who'd have thought the world of car manufacturing would be so full of subterfuge & nefarious deeds?

Let's 'ave it then OP, the world's waiting mate!

[gizlaroc]

The Crack Fox said:

Ha! Thanks. This is but one chapter!

I'll upload my Skoda story soon. It involves a sanatorium and bribery.

I never clicked who you were until I read that opening post!

I must log into tyresmoke more often, as I miss your posts greatly!!

Gizze

[rohrl]

coopedup said:

The Crack Fox said:

bomma220 said:

Great thread, well done OP! Bookmarked. Will this make it to the 'PH Legendary Threads' hall of fame? I reckon it will...

Ha! Thanks. This is but one chapter!

I'll upload my Skoda story soon. It involves a sanatorium and bribery.

Come along chap, do hurry up....

It's on the Motorpunk site.

[aeropilot]

98elise said:

I once hired a frontera for a day. It was possibly the worst vehicle I have ever driven.

I'd agree with that....and I'd possibly add dangerous to the list as well.

Pile of junk.

[anonymous-user]

The Crack Fox said:

1006 words on Ford at Dagenham. No-one will believe any of it but it's all true. I've had to tone down some of the swearing. The guy I've written about still works there, according to Linkedin!

Edited by The Crack Fox on Monday 21st March 17:54

Is it on Motorpunk?

[hora]

aeropilot said:

98elise said:

I once hired a frontera for a day. It was possibly the worst vehicle I have ever driven.

I'd agree with that....and I'd possibly add dangerous to the list as well.

Pile of junk.

It can't be as bad as the Defender? Hideously dated thing to drive.

[skyrover]

Try a real truck... you will be begging for the Defender.

[aeropilot]

hora said:

aeropilot said:

98elise said:

I once hired a frontera for a day. It was possibly the worst vehicle I have ever driven.

I'd agree with that....and I'd possibly add dangerous to the list as well.

Pile of junk.

It can't be as bad as the Defender? Hideously dated thing to drive.

25 years ago, for all it's many faults, I would have happily jumped straight out of those POS Frontera's I had to drive and into a Landy in a heartbeat!!

[richs2891]

From what I'm told by my parents the whole of British Leyland was as bad,bad management, poor QC etc, buts this just based on buying or trying to buy a car from them, In 1978 my parents bought a new XJS - ordered with a manual gearbox so a 6 month waiting list. Car arrived with 3 identical hub caps and 1 different. 2 weeks later windows screen motor packed up. 7 weeks for a replacement. Car spent most of its first year back at the dealer having different bits replaced.
In 1979 my mum wanted a new MGB GT in green went to local dealer, told 6 month wait and no choice in colour ! She went to local VW dealer and looked at Scirroco and bought it the next day in green.
Neither of my parents have bought a British car since.

[mikees]

Now following you on Twitter.

[mattlad]

aeropilot said:

98elise said:

I once hired a frontera for a day. It was possibly the worst vehicle I have ever driven.

I'd agree with that....and I'd possibly add dangerous to the list as well.

Pile of junk.

Did a 27 year stretch in the garage trade. (For my sins!) Had a lad working for me who really wanted a Frontera. I took him out on an extended road test in one, and as has been said, they were not only terrible to drive but quite possibly dangerous with it. I think the worst aspects were mid-bend bumps, you'd hit one with a front wheel and the vehicle would veer off line so you would start to turn the big round thing (wouldn't dare call it a steering wheel....) in front of you when the back wheels would hit the bump causing the rear to lose grip and you would suddenly have to correct the other way, every bend would end up like you had steered 'round a thrupenny bit.

Then we got up to the heady speed of sixty..... and all the door seals popped with a sudden and massive increase in wind noise. Ity rained in. the wipers lifted off the screen. The brakes locked up. (No ABS) The syncro was weak. (The 'box had already been replaced) Most of the vehicle was actually a couple of years newer than the reg plate suggested, an awful lot had been replaced under warranty (how bad was it before?)

Awful, just AWFUL! A pre fall of the Berlin Wall Lada or Skoda felt like a roller in comparison!

[Baryonyx]

The Frontera was a funny car. It would be a sales hit now, as buyers just want the SUV look without much mind for quality. I've never had a drive of one, but I've sat in one. So long as everything worked safely, I could live with one as a winter car. However, I compared it to a mate's Pajero of the same era and the impression was not favourable to the Vauxhall.

[mph1977]

Baryonyx said:

The Frontera was a funny car. It would be a sales hit now, as buyers just want the SUV look without much mind for quality. I've never had a drive of one, but I've sat in one. So long as everything worked safely, I could live with one as a winter car. However, I compared it to a mate's Pajero of the same era and the impression was not favourable to the Vauxhall.

the interesting thing is the only thing Vauxhall/ Opel in the frontera 1 was the badge on the front and the engines it's an Isuzu Mu / Amigo - which is derived almost wholly from the TF pickup (aka Vauxhall Brava)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isuzu_MU

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isuzu_Faster

comparing to the Shogun is unfair - as arguably the shogun was pitched against the Trooper etc

Edited by mph1977 on Tuesday 22 March 08:27

[mat205125]

Wonder where Dave is now?

Following normal car manufacturer protocol, he's probably been promoted to the stratosphere by now, and/or taken a huge lump pay out for redundancy after a management reshuffle.

Possibly sat in his retirement house in Spain now, drawing £3000 a month from his final salary pension.

[gifdy]

The Crack Fox said:

Thanks. If anyone has kids (say 6-10 years old) and has a sense of humour, then I'd be happy to email over a PDF copy of my children's picture book.

I don't think I have the patience to persevere with all that, and finding agents and publishers etc, although I've had plenty of stuff published in mags, books are a different game.

Just caught up with this thread. My 8 year old daughter is a voracious reader and has a wicked sense of humour - would love to see the book ! She's reading working her way through the David Walliams books at the moment.

She's also a world famous columnist : published in 'Retail Newsagent' magazine doncha know !

[AJordan]

A few years back I had a Geography teacher who swore blind that he was repairing the front wing of his 80's Alfa and he found a sandwich bag with containing the remains of an Italian carmakers lunch stuffed behind the headlight. This may or may not have been true.

[DAVIDOXE]

Many years ago i worked for a guy who bought a brand new Maxi.
Across the bonnet front it read AUSTIT!

[Crazy4557]

Now you probably won't remember/know this but there were OVERS paid for the Frontera Sports when they first appeared. I bought one off our local Vauxhall stealer and immediately sold it on a for a few hundred pounds profit. They were the car to have for a short while.

[mph1977]

Crazy4557 said:

Now you probably won't remember/know this but there were OVERS paid for the Frontera Sports when they first appeared. I bought one off our local Vauxhall stealer and immediately sold it on a for a few hundred pounds profit. They were the car to have for a short while.

probably becasue at the time of ther Series 1 frontera's launch there was nothing similar on the market - hence the decision to rush it into production in Luton for Europe