CDAA

I only keep my company car for short period of time and I have to say my Purple BA XR8 Manual has been an absolute gem. Its given me no trouble what so ever and shown no signs of problems with driveline shunt and what have you.

It’s only done 4500km and that’s been some of the best kilometers I have done in any car. Unfortunately I am now close to change over time and am considering taking on XR6T SSS for a change.

The XR8 is currently for sale privately (on the forum). Now 5 month have passed the wholesale value of the XR8 has dropped lower than what was expected. The surprise however was when my dealer told me that if my XR8 was an XR6T with the same options and kilometers, the trade in value would be the same, or similar.

Considering I change over vehicles often this would make the XR6T the best option for holding reasonable resale. Taking this into account I will be looking at the XR6T as a suitable replacement. The concern for me is I love my XR8 and have V8’s in my blood. Having said that all the Falcon 6’s I have ever owned were great cars as well.

I must admit, I do however wish the XR6T looked different or special in some way from the 8 or N/A XR6’s. At the moment I feel like I’m loosing the V8 charisma and bonnet bulge, with no other external feature to replace it on the XR6T accept for a turbo badge.

Although I guess this is a good problem to have, it’s a very tough decision unless I let money alone win me over. I would like to move up to a GT, however the timing is not good for that model and wholesale value is suffering. i.e. I will loose a packet in 5-8 months time. I’m much better off waiting another 6 months or so IMO. The F6 is not ready yet and unfortunately I am. God knows when BA 2 will be coming…… I guess there is always a Territory.

I open the thread to your valued thoughts on the matter. Do you think I’m crazy going from an XR8 to an XR6T? What approximate whole prices (range only) has anyone here been given for their turbo recently?

Colville

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Casper

I would say that, considering resale etc, and the fact you only keep them for a short time, you may want to seriously consider a Terri for the short term untill the BA2 / F6 becomes an option.
Just my opinion but I would see it making a lot of sense.

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rocket

Curiosity is making me ask why you only keep your vehicles for such a short time?
I take it there is some sort of financial advantage to rotating your vehicles, or can you just not figure out how to empty the ashtray ;-)
Cheers
Rocket

Ford Grunt

I don't know about CDAA, but some fleet managers MAKE money but turning them over.

This is because they get a fleet discount, then sell them when the klms are super low so they get a good trade price and often they can make a profit.

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Scope out my '80 XD Fairmont Ghia 351 V8 in the gallery!

Pics here: http://www.fordgallery.com/showgalle...00/ppuser/7796

RaceCraft

exactly.. buy them as fleet sell them privately.. you drive the car and then sell for what you paid for them.. My boss does it all the time.. The discounts you can get being a loyal trade customer make the average person look like a smuck for paying retail (no offense intended)

BA_Turbs

Colville,

If you only have the vehicles for approximately 5 months as I inferred from your post, what have you got to lose really?If you find the Turbo not as ejoyable as the V8 was, then its not so bad you wouldn't be able to live with it for that long?

Sorry if this over simplifies things, as I am unaware of what your other considerations are, but I will offer you my experiences with the two vehicles, as I take it that is what you are after.

- The SSS T sent me spare when I drove it because it hit the rev limiter SO quickly. If my car was an auto and not a manual, then I would be adding a shift light (call it rice if you will).

- I have driven half a dozen stock Ts. The quickest one (and not by a small margin) was absolutely hammered from Day 1. The thing was extra responsive on the throttle, just wanted to light up the treads every where and went like stink. This running in procedure may not be good if you are in the market for a vehicle long term, but it appears you aren't, so live it up!

- My T does not seem to use any less fuel than a V8. Having read my last two points, most will assume my car gets a hard life, but it doesn't. The other vehicles I speak of were company cars and I do drive those appropriately. My own car gets maybe one short squirt a day and is driven much more sedately. If I do a tank with no freeway or highway driving, the average fuel consumption remains around 20 litres per 100km. If I do an entire tank on the freeway I get about 500km. Still not very good. However, I think my fuel consumption is probably atypical of the model rather than typical.

- Without wanting to cliche, the T feels to have a "more responsive throttle". It just feels keener to rev and go. I have had a short drive in an XR8 manual, and an extended drive in an auto. The turbo just wants you to mash the accelerator through the boards all the time.

All that aside though, the XR8.... WHOA!!! What a noise! Didn't get the chance to give either XR8 a real good punting though, so can't compare them in that respect. I am sure both are terrific fun though!

Best of luck with which ever choice you run with!

Regards,

Antony

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August 2003 Venom XR6 Turbo. T5, Leather, Premium Sound, 18" ROH Azzurro (T3 TE50) rims and various useless dealer options.

CDAA

Thanks Antony, great response. So are you suggesting I stick with manual then or did you find the auto a great drive as well? I was under the impression the SSS was well suited to the turbo 6 and I guess since I have a manual now the 'change' factor was there as well. Most of the driving I do is to client appointments in the city and suburbs as well.

The XR8 manual also spins quickly and not hitting the rev limiter is a discipline, not that this happens real lot. Fuel usual is poor on the V8, however to be honest I'm not really expecting much improvement with the ‘T’ as you said.

Thanks for your words of experience and objectivity, its appreciated.

Colville

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BA_Turbs

Colville,

If I was driving clients around, I would be getting the auto. I love all 18,000 little bits of my car, but the drive line clunking everyone complains about, its there, and it has been on all the manual turbos I have driven. You have been "blessed" with the driveline your XR8 I would say! .

With the manual, there is a good chance that passangers will be subject to constant neck lurching shunts and clunks from the diff. I would go with your original plan of the SSS, its a great transmission and I really only bought the manual with a misguided notion of "manuals being for real drivers". Having re-read my last post, its sounds a bit like I was trying to talk the manual trans up, not my intention, sorry mate! You are right about the SSS suiting the T, as that is probably the reason it flies through the rev range.

Another consideration is mods too... However, you read the same forums I do though, so anything I would say you've already read no doubt!

Mate, to be in your position! A new Ford to play with every few months!

Keep us posted with what you decide to run with.

Regards,

Antony

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August 2003 Venom XR6 Turbo. T5, Leather, Premium Sound, 18" ROH Azzurro (T3 TE50) rims and various useless dealer options.

bossxr8

I'd wait 3 months till the BA2 is released. Whats the point of buying a BA now when it will soon be updated. You will lose out even more on resale if the model has already been replaced, and the T should be better as a manual then, no more crappy T5.
Thats the reason I bought a Territory, to strike while the irons hot and be one of the first to trade one in to make some money on it. I would prefer another XR8 but it was just such a bad time to do it.

CDAA

Thanks bossXR8,
I have considered waiting but no one can actually confirm the launch date of BA 2 and I'm concerned the resale of the XR8 will fall even further. At the moment the only way to break even is to sell privately as you know. If I could get a more definite date for series two I would consider waiting for sure.

I have briefly looked at the Territory Ghia, but the change over figure was almost $5k more with a TX AWD model with a few options only resulting in a few grand change. I can’t see me selling the Territory Ghia in 5 months for $50k wholesale when they are only $53 + on roads new and the same for the TX. Naturally if the change over figure was negligible in the Ghia's case I would be looking at one like you for sure. If you don’t mind would you PM me with what your change over figure was?

The new 6 speed manual sounds very tempting as you mentioned but I think the SSS may still be more suitable for me as mentioned above.

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