dancal

I have ordered a TX RWD in Envi due mid to late September. Extras include Towpack, Coded Colour, Mudspats, Rear Seats, 17” Alloys, Fog Lamps, Alarm and Alloy Scuff Plates.

My thoughts for what they are worth.

From memory I have owned four Fords in the past twenty-five years and about thirty other vehicles of various parentage. I have had the good fortune to drive many other makes and models, including some exotics, due to having friends in the car trade. I am certainly not biased in favour of Fords and to be honest I never thought I would buy a new one again (The closest I came was an EF XR6, in the end a VS SS won the toss).

I wanted an attractive car with a combination of good handling, comfortable cruising, ample cargo capacity, good visibility (using vans for work over the past three years has given me an appreciation of higher seating), and capable of hauling the groups of visitors we find on our doorstep from time to time. I am not interested in a conventional 4WD or AWD and I have no intention of off roading. I would probably have gone with a new VZ Berlina Wagon. At the same time a mate of mine was going to purchase a Honda CRV.

However along came the Territory, if not breaking new ground (though I would argue it has) certainly carving its own niche out of some previously distinct market segments. I don’t doubt it is attracting customers who may have plunked for a Wagon, People Mover or AWD, just as Ford intended. I know first hand that Ford just gained a sale from GM and another from Honda.

Good on Ford, up until the BA Falcon I perceived their performance in recent years as moribund. Ford really showed some foresight and innovation with the Territory and the pricing is extremely competitive.

I note in the September Wheels Magazine the Redbook Resale for a RWD TX is quoted as 68% in the article comparing Territory, Odyssey and Acclaim. This is heartening, when I first thought about buying a RWD Territory, resale was a big unknown (and is admittedly still crystal ball stuff but at least Redbook is optimistic).

An issue of contention seems to be fuel consumption, as reflected in the discussion threads, however it seems that the people who actually own, as opposed to testing (thrashing?) or subscribing to hearsay, seem more positive (e.g. Burnsi) I owned a Berlina V6 which averaged about 13.5 l/100km in mixed driving so the thought of averaging around this in the Territory sits pretty comfortably. It is hard to imagine any one buying a Territory if one of their primary concerns is fuel consumption but obviously the better it is the happier I’ll be!

I am partly writing this due to frustration, I have never had a new car ex factory before, previously always a stock one or ex-demo, I hope my experience mirrors some others and it arrives sooner rather than later!

 

FordXR8

congrats with the fine purchase. think the Terry will fill your intended purpose very well
enjoy the ride (when it finally arrives) and hope all goes well.

burnsi

I do hope your delivery and ownership experience is as favourable as mine has been with the Territory, and the BA GT-P I bought last year as well.

Being new on the market, and having just purchased one, I get a bit sick and tired of the two criticisms that testers always come back to when testing the Territory - 1. Fuel Consumption. 2. The ground clearance/4WD issue. Well, if that's all they can come up with, these cars must be OK!

I guess if the car looks a bit like a 4WD, and has an AWD variant, people are undoubtedly going to compare it to "proper" 4WDs (Patrol/Cruiser/Landrover??) - and the Territory will not scrub up as well in this company when tested as such - oh well, can't do much about that!

As for fuel consumption, several things come to mind; magazine tests are not indicative of real-world use; it's a heavy car (but not overly-so for it's size/equipment/market segment); driving conditions vary; driver habits vary; cars vary.

Having had mine for 6 or 7 weeks now, and having done some longish trips, some medium trips and mostly city work, here's my experience:

Long trip, loaded up, 120kmh mostly, some Sydney traffic, undulating hills , the car was very new - around 12.8l/100.

City driving, car new, me at the wheel - 15-16l/100

City driving, car now has done around 4000k - 13.4l/100

As I have said in several other posts, my experience, and several others seem to agree, is that the consumption figures reported in magazines are not indicative of what to expect, and in some cases are way off.

Lastly, hopefully you'll draw some comfort from my ordering/delivery experience (however I did get in early):

I ordered mine in May, before dealers could actually place orders, so 1 June was officially the order date I think;

The dealer did the usual ring around to try and get a dealer stock order car that matched my build spec - no luck;

Dealer advised the car would have to be built from scratch;

Within 3 or 4 days I had an ETA which was mid-July;

A week later again I had 17 July as the delivery date;

16 July I drove away.

__________________
_____________________________________________________________

Blood Orange GT-P
Zest Territory Ghia AWD

outback_ute

Welcome to the forums dancal, good post there, I am sure a lot of Territory buyers will relate to your decision process.

newgtowner

we just took deliv of a terri ghia so far we are rapped ,fuel consumption never entered our minds ,the best money spent so far has to be the rex entertainment system with 4 kids we now get a peacefull journey lol

TerritoryiAL

Thanks for the post Dancal an interesting read

Curls

Does it block your rear mirror vision with the DVD screen lowered?

dancal

Thanks all for the kind ‘welcome on board’ comments. Reading these threads has helped soothe my impatience, because this is the longest I have had to wait for a new car it seems I am looking forward to this more than any past purchase!

We now have a ‘firm’ delivery date of 15th September.

Your right Burnsi, forget about the 4wd/clearance issue, the Territory is a brilliant combination of vehicle types and if the line is drawn at hardcore 4wd prerequisites I couldn’t give a monkeys, if it erred any more towards full on 4wd, given present technology at this price level its other dynamic abilities would be compromised. If you want a ‘proper’ 4wd buy a Landcruiser, but it seems to me that a vast majority of Landcruisers where I live (Gold Coast) spend their whole lives rotating between the driveway, school run and shopping mall, all more pleasant in a Territory! Nuff said.

Back to fuel consumption - Last night for the first time in a long time I drove my wife’s car (2003 Toyota Avalon Gxi. 3.0 V6 24,500k on the clock) and gassed it up for her. It was real low on fuel and I was seriously wondering whether I was going to make it to the nearest Shell station (the coles discount vouchers you see…!).

So… I flipped through the trip computer to see how many k’s it reckoned till empty (as display defaults to time display only) and stone me if while flicking through average fuel use is showing 13.9L/100k!!!

My wife is a Real Estate Agent so that’s 98% urban driving but even so (and never having done an actual estimate to compare against the trip meter) that seems way more thirsty than a 1500kilo, 145kw vehicle might be expected to accomplish especially when various tests quote averages about 11L/100k.

Out of interest here’s a self-explanatory extract:

Senator Allison asked the Minister representing the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Trade, upon notice, on 27 February 2001:

Q(7)What is the fuel efficiency rating of all cars in the fleet.

A(7)Holden 11 L/100 - city
Ford 11 - 15 L/100 - city
Mitsubishi 10.5 - 12 L/100 - city
Toyota 10 - 11 L/100 – city

Q8)How does the actual fuel consumption and mileage compare with that rating.

A(8)Examples of comparisons of the fuel ratings and actual fuel consumption and mileage are provided for four (4) cars, one from each of the major manufacturers. Toyota Conquest 11 L/100 Km, actual 11.35; Mitsubishi Magna Advance 11 L/100 Km, actual 13.7; Ford Falcon Forte 11.5 L/100, actual 10.32; Holden Acclaim (old model) 12 L/100Km actual 10.42. This information was taken from the latest DASFLEET Annual Energy Report.

The total fleet was 102 vehicles and it seems there was a pretty representative sample of the above four vehicles in that fleet. Interesting that the Holden and Ford cars were averaging less than their stated consumption, the Toyotas and Mitsubishis (13.7!!!) more! Also interesting that the Falcons and Commodores figures better their competing Japanese/Australian hybrid competitor’s figures, I am sure most people would assume otherwise.

Assuming the average six cylinder car is doing 11L/100K it would be costing me $2.70 more per 100k or $270 more per 10,000k if petrol is $1.00 a litre (between 87 to 99cents on Qlds Gold Coast at present) to run my Territory at say 13.7L/100k.

I reckon I can live with that pretty damn happily especially given my wife’s present fuel consumption, if I get what Burnsi is getting at 4,000k (13.4l/100) I will be doing better than her in my Territory!

It might seem I am harping on about the fuel consumption aspect, it’s not something I really want to dwell on, but as one of few real and what might be perceived as valid criticisms that has been leveled at Territory it needs answering to because it’s not as bad as some have made out, particularly in comparison to many other cars (never mind other awd, 4wds out there).

Having got that off my chest I am now going to re-read all my magazine articles on the Terri and browse the Ford Website, damn this waiting!

newgtowner

Well to be honest i don't know yeh i know you'd think i would have noticed by now but i guess it doesn't otherwise i would have noticed, for those that are interested i know its only early days but i am starting to believe this terri ghia is one of the best cars i have ever driven ford are on a winner here , these things are really appealing to everyone i ve shown so far. I have a mate who has just purchased a Bm x5 and i know what ide rather drive and for about 40k less

Curls

You're probably right, if you haven't noticed a block then it most likely doesn't. Interesting you mention the X5 as this is what led to my question. An X5 stopped at the lights in front of me had a roof mounted DVD playing for their child in the back and I couldn't see the drivers face in the centre rear vision mirror from my position and so assumed that the DVD screen also blocked their view of me. As my signature states.. and because of your comments, I only really, really, really want one NOW.