GWM Ute..anyone looked at them closely?

[Poetic Justice]

Originally Posted by PG2

I can see GWM and/or LDV sitting in the bottom half of the top 10 of VFACTS one day in the not to distant future. In terms of ute sales, maybe sitting 4th or 5th closely behind the others in front in terms of numbers.

My opinion is just that though, an opinion. I could very well end up being wrong.

Aye.. GWM are going places thanks to the Haval connection. Haval have some good stuff coming - plus the Tank stuff.

I have LDV at our dealership and T60 has been a big seller - especially when they do the Trailrider package at ~$40k.

The incoming new motor ute looks to be a good package and I reckon they're about to hit another stride. LDV could do with another SUV though, smaller than the current D90 offering. Deliver 9 van is also very good.

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by PG2

I'm not suggesting for a moment that GWM or LDV are going to take over the market and sell more than Ranger/Hilux.

I do think that they will take some sales from Ranger/Hilux, however, I think that they will also take some sales from Mitsubishi, Isuzu etc as well.

I can see GWM and/or LDV sitting in the bottom half of the top 10 of VFACTS one day in the not to distant future. In terms of ute sales, maybe sitting 4th or 5th closely behind the others in front in terms of numbers.

My opinion is just that though, an opinion. I could very well end up being wrong.

Agreed PG, no different to MG's meteoric rise up the charts that no one saw coming.
The vibe i got from other brand representitives is that they are very interested to see where it goes.

I have to be honest, im not completely at ease with our final decision as despite the uncertainties with the GWM brand and product its still hard to look past the features, price and warranty.

In the end we went with the used Ranger as for the same coin driveaway the GWM would have been the basic Cannon which would then require 5k worth of extras to have what the ranger has already and i just couldnt justify that for our needs. If upon independant inspection the deal falls over it will very much be back on the table.

For someone looking at a new XL etc. In 2.2l guise for 43k its worth consideration.

[.:4:.]

Where in my opinion ldv/gwm will sell is to businesses who lease vehicles and replace every 3 or so years. So im reffering to their high end for say managers and businesses who like the advantages of loading zones for said managers. Also, if its a lease, resale doesnt matter.
As for the base single cabs, if on the tools getting covered in filth every working day, less is more. I had a base xl ranger, pretty easy to keep the interior clean. After that a base triton. Yes the triton had many more hard plastic interior bits, but stupidly easy to clean. I had a mate with a hilux workmate. That thing even had vynal seats. Not my favourite, but from a keeping it pleasant when getting covered in filth perspective it was brilliant. I also knew a bloke who's work ute was one of the great walls but the ones that are the same shape as the previous generation izuzu dmax. Same thing really, everything you need as in ac, electric windows and bluetooth. His main complaint about it was being a manual, the gearing wasnt suited to the motor. So 1st was too long. So the manual px 2.2 i had whilst it wasnt a powerhouse, it was geared pretty good in my opinion.

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by Poetic Justice

Aye.. GWM are going places thanks to the Haval connection. Haval have some good stuff coming - plus the Tank stuff.

I have LDV at our dealership and T60 has been a big seller - especially when they do the Trailrider package at ~$40k.

The incoming new motor ute looks to be a good package and I reckon they're about to hit another stride. LDV could do with another SUV though, smaller than the current D90 offering. Deliver 9 van is also very good.

Thanks for stopping in, its good to hear real world experience.
I dont mind the look of those LDV Trailriders, see one getting around Mt Barker everyday in red and it looks good.
I couldnt find any reference to them in our LDV dealers online though so figured it was a limited edition thing.

A mate and his 2ic both have T60's as tow rigs in their van yard and says they go well.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

Current base 2.2l is 118kw/365nm isnt it?

I assume the 130kw you refer to is the upcoming 2.0l single turbo in the next gen Ranger.

Correct, I was under the impression that the 2.0 single turbo diesel would
be here by now but obviously, Ford is stretching out the Puma diesels for
just a bit longer…..

The new GWM is better than just basic transport and that’s why I think it will
give the current crop in the affordable range some real hurry up…….

[Poetic Justice]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

Thanks for stopping in, its good to hear real world experience.
I dont mind the look of those LDV Trailriders, see one getting around Mt Barker everyday in red and it looks good.
I couldnt find any reference to them in our LDV dealers online though so figured it was a limited edition thing.

A mate and his 2ic both have T60's as tow rigs in their van yard and says they go well.

Yeah Trailrider was a special edition with extras - the first edition had the same 2.8 diesel - Trailrider II had a 2.0 diesel with more power/torque and was not bad to drive at all.

The 2.8 motor is a bit of a slug but as others have mentioned here if you add a throttle controller to them it changes drastically!

[Vesper Martini]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

Remains to be seen but it does say the 9sp auto is destined to replace the 8 speed ZF in all GWM products, so as the ute we get features the 8 speed id assume that includes our market.
The engine and 9 speed have been developed together so again it would be fair to assume whatever gets the 9 speed will get the engine, especially if they want to take on Ranger and it arrives with an EB.

Would the liquid intercooler be the key to the VGT turbos as it keeps temps down?

They have a proper ZF8 speed currently? that would make up, for any underpowered engine IMO.
If they have their own 9 speed coming that doesn't necessarily mean it will be better than the ZF.
much like the 10 speeds on offer with other brands.

[hayseed]

Originally Posted by PG2

I'm not suggesting for a moment that GWM or LDV are going to take over the market and sell more than Ranger/Hilux.

I do think that they will take some sales from Ranger/Hilux, however, I think that they will also take some sales from Mitsubishi, Isuzu etc as well.

I can see GWM and/or LDV sitting in the bottom half of the top 10 of VFACTS one day in the not to distant future. In terms of ute sales, maybe sitting 4th or 5th closely behind the others in front in terms of numbers.

My opinion is just that though, an opinion. I could very well end up being wrong.

There's an LDV dealer in the largish regional Town I live In. They're also Ford & Izusu Ute Dealers.. From what I can see most of the LDV T60 sales are to people who would Normally Buy late Model S/H vehicles. Instead of buying sometyhing 4-5 Yr Old with a 100odd Thousand Ks & SFA Warranty they end up in a(Most likely their First) Brand New Vehicle with a Long Warranty & that new car smell for the same sort of Money..

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by hayseed

There's an LDV dealer in the largish regional Town I live In. They're also Ford & Izusu Ute Dealers.. From what I can see most of the LDV T60 sales are to people who would Normally Buy late Model S/H vehicles. Instead of buying sometyhing 4-5 Yr Old with a 100odd Thousand Ks & SFA Warranty they end up in a(Most likely their First) Brand New Vehicle with a Long Warranty & that new car smell for the same sort of Money..

From memory, that was the exact same reason why Hyundai/Kia really came to prominence,
they offered vehicles and did deals that moved buyers into affordable new vehicles.
There is a possibility that GWC and LDV will increase total Ute sales rather than being
just a zero sum game player that cannibalises sales from other brands.

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by Vesper Martini

They have a proper ZF8 speed currently? that would make up, for any underpowered engine IMO.
If they have their own 9 speed coming that doesn't necessarily mean it will be better than the ZF.
much like the 10 speeds on offer with other brands.

No im not saying it would be any better as the 8sp is a ZF sourced item which youd think would be a capable unit.
The new 9sp has been developed over a 10yr period and has obviously been calibrated to work well with the new petrol V6.
It says in the article i posted earlier that the 9sp is akin to the FORD/GM designed 10sp

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by hayseed

There's an LDV dealer in the largish regional Town I live In. They're also Ford & Izusu Ute Dealers.. From what I can see most of the LDV T60 sales are to people who would Normally Buy late Model S/H vehicles. Instead of buying sometyhing 4-5 Yr Old with a 100odd Thousand Ks & SFA Warranty they end up in a(Most likely their First) Brand New Vehicle with a Long Warranty & that new car smell for the same sort of Money..

And thats exactly where we were at, buy a 5yo used Ranger with 90k's on it for 35k da or buy a new GWM ute for between 36k and 43k da, in the end we chose the proven brand in showroom condition with 5k of extras over the new car smell, time will tell i guess.

[BENT_8]

Thought i'd give bit of an update.

So on the day we went to look at the Ranger there was a problem with the EPAS.
We were happy with everything else but without test driving it would only agree to a subject to driving clause on the contract.
Turns out it was just a fuse and so by Wednesday i'd arranged for the salesman to meet me at an arranged location for a 30 minute test drive before we proceeded.
It drove perfectly and we were happy to proceed, well, we thought we'd proceed.

So we submitted a finance application through the dealerships finance manager who suggested Toyota Financial Services, TFS, due to their low interest rates.
Well, what an experience.

Do yourselves a favour and avoid these sycophants like the plague.
So to paint the full picture, we traded my Wifes ASX which we ended up with a small negative equity due to only owning it just over a year, no probs, we offered to pay that in cash upon settlement.
We also paid out the only other small finance we had, $3200 in cash and provided a letter to prove the account was finalised.

No problem they said, car is priced right, income to service the loan checks out, infact after finalising both accounts we reduced our expenses by $405fn, the loan for the Ranger would have been around $320fn over the term we chose.

So out of the blue they ask about a loan application on my Wife's credit file from 2018 and wanted 3 months of bank statements to see if we were still paying it.
We explained that it was taken out and repaid within 3 months, no defaults, no more payments, complete.
Just to give you an idea of why this came as a surprise to us, since that loan was taken out and repaid, we've bought 2 other new cars on finance, my Picanto and the Wife's ASX, neither finance company asked about it.

Things progressed, or so we thought, next thing they came back and asked what the loan was for...
Im sorry, since when does a loan taken out 3.5yrs ago, paid in full in 3 months and without missing a payment become subject to being asked personal information about what it was for.
So we told them, they were content and we thought that was it...
Today they asked for a payout figure from the lender on the ASX, no worries, got them a letter emailed in 30 minutes, should have your contract to sign by 11am they said.
by 2pm no contract, whats going on...

Oh, your Wife is on Workcover, something clearly listed on her payslips which they'd been in receipt of since Wednesday morning, provide a letter on company letterhead proving the income is secure..
What the actual ****, if any income is secure its Workcover, i dont know of anyone who's been sacked whilst on Workcover, theres more chance of a fulltime employee who's been with the same employer for 14yrs being sacked when NOT on Workcover than on Workcover.

So we provide a letter from the employer confirming ongoing employment.
Still not good enough, now we'll question your hourly rate because its MORE on Workcover than your regular average.

At this point i said go and get ****ed and tore up the contract, im stuffed if we're going to be put through the wringer by some spineless flog in Victoria who hides behind a computer screen and is obviously hell bent on making other peoples lives as miserable as their own locked down **** by subjecting my Wife to such unnecessary scrutiny when she has a perfect credit rating and has been employed in her current job where she's worked her guts out even with the injury she's only just had surgery for that happened almost 12 months ago, for 14yrs.

My Wife is now distraught, she thinks its her fault because she's had to go on Workcover to have her arm repaired and this is why we cant get the ute.
I've told her she's done nothing wrong and whilst she said ok, knowing her for 30yrs now i know she's not ok at all.

Toyota Financial Services are a pack of arseholes and i will tell anyone who's prepared to listen to avoid them at all costs.

Now, the search goes on, a shame we couldnt buy that ute but the whole experience has left a bad taste in my mouth and unfortunately the good people at the dealership are the losers.
I tell you one thing though, whatever we do buy, wont be financed through Toyota financial Services.

[naddis01]

Can't you just organise finance through someone else?

[pottery beige]

bubble has burst and credit crunch has begun

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by naddis01

Can't you just organise finance through someone else?

As a matter of fact yes, we only went down that path as it was suggested to be 'easier' inhouse.
Just got off the phone to the independant broker who arranged finance on the ASX.
Explained our situation and he sais almost straight away "Let me stop you there, Toyota Financial Services wont touch Workcover, it should never have been submitted to them"
He's handling it for us and said apart from the wrong lender he cant see the problem.

Just rang the salesman back and apologised for what was essentially taking it out on him by tearing up the contract, said we'll still buy the ute if our man comes through and to give us until Tuesday, he said no probs.
We wait, we watch..

[Dr Smith]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

As a matter of fact yes, we only went down that path as it was suggested to be 'easier' inhouse.
Just got off the phone to the independant broker who arranged finance on the ASX.
Explained our situation and he sais almost straight away "Let me stop you there, Toyota Financial Services wont touch Workcover, it should never have been submitted to them"
He's handling it for us and said apart from the wrong lender he cant see the problem.

Just rang the salesman back and apologised for what was essentially taking it out on him by tearing up the contract, said we'll still buy the ute if our man comes through and to give us until Tuesday, he said no probs.
We wait, we watch..

Good luck...and tell your wife it's not her it's you....it worked for George in Seinfeld....more importantly hope her hand heals well.

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by Dr Smith

Good luck...and tell your wife it's not her it's you....it worked for George in Seinfeld....more importantly hope her hand heals well.

Well thats the thing, it kinda is me because in changing jobs 6 weeks ago to a fulltime position in an essential service to protect our income its meant that i cant co borrow so it only goes on her income.
Were actuly 20k pa better off than before i changed and werent really ready to do anything this soon but i saw the Ranger and we both think its too perfect for our needs to let it pass by.

[jstanovic]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

And thats exactly where we were at, buy a 5yo used Ranger with 90k's on it for 35k da or buy a new GWM ute for between 36k and 43k da, in the end we chose the proven brand in showroom condition with 5k of extras over the new car smell, time will tell i guess.

The fact the Ranger is 2WD shows up the price difference even more.

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by jstanovic

The fact the Ranger is 2WD shows up the price difference even more.

What do you mean?

Are you suggesting the Ranger is expensive because if so you might want to look it up, for what it is with the extras its actually cheap compared to the other 80 examples of XLT Hi rider on Carsales.
Its also pre DPF which is what i wanted.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

Well thats the thing, it kinda is me because in changing jobs 6 weeks ago to a fulltime position in an essential service to protect our income its meant that i cant co borrow so it only goes on her income.
Were actuly 20k pa better off than before i changed and werent really ready to do anything this soon but i saw the Ranger and we both think its too perfect for our needs to let it pass by.

The federal government introduced what it called responsible lending laws
which puts a lot more onus on the lender to make sure that the loan is
suitable and that the it’s done sufficient checking to determine that loan
applicants are able to pay for the loan.It sounds like credit institutions
have made things unnecessarily tough for people in current circumstances
to get a loan that would other wise be an easy process.

I feel for you and your wife, I’d be absolutely insulted if someone treated me
the the way you were. I can see why many choose pre approved financing
before approaching dealerships, tell them nothing until you’re ready.

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by jpd80

The federal government introduced what it called responsible lending laws
which puts a lot more onus on the lender to make sure that the loan is
suitable and that the it’s done sufficient checking to determine that loan
applicants are able to pay for the loan.It sounds like credit institutions
have made things unnecessarily tough for people in current circumstances
to get a loan that would other wise be an easy process.

I feel for you and your wife, I’d be absolutely insulted if someone treated me
the the way you were. I can see why many choose pre approved financing
before approaching dealerships, tell them nothing until you’re ready.

100% agreed JPD, the last thing we want is to put ourselves in a situation where we cant service our debts.
The truth is, apart from the current vehicle loan which will be paid in full at the time of changeover there are no other debts so it is purely one debt replacing another with a slightly higher fortnightly repayment.
I guess from my perspective the issue isnt in whether or not they think my Wife is a suitable borrower but rather the poor performance of the 'inhouse' broker in shopping our application to the wrong lender and the subsequent mishandling of the application.

After doing a bit of research i've discovered that the broker only obtained his licence or accreditation as a lender in March of this year so he clearly doesnt have much experience in the game, a comment he made during the process is that he's had quite a few complaints from customers over TFS handling of their applications, im starting to see why.

The broker we spoke to independently said TFS are extremely difficult to deal with and my Wife's case would never have been submitted to them based on the Workcover detail alone, for the record i've known this broker for over 20yrs and worked with him at a Toyota dealership so he knows his industry.
If you look at reviews of TFS it certainly supports his views.

Our second gripe is with TFS themselves, not only have they taken an application from an applicant that obviously doesn't meet their basic criteria of employment which was the first documentation submitted, they have then attempted to pick and poke holes in my Wifes personal business in an attempt that i believe is to justify why she isnt suitable without coming out and saying its the Workcover issue and being liable or accused at least of discrimination.
A person on Workcover through no fault of their own should not be discriminated against for that and im sure there would be a case to answer to by the relevant ombudsman should they cite that as their reason.

On Saturday morning, despite advising the Dealer and broker that we wished to cancel the deal we received another email from the broker saying TFS we're going to approve the loan but needed a payslip from prior to my Wife going on Workcover, we discussed it and thought well we've come this far, like the vehicle, we'll give it the benefit of the doubt.

So we went through her pay slips and due to her taking a month off on annual leave in an attempt to avoid needing to go on Workcover by resting the injury as agreed to by her employer, we discovered that the most appropriate pay slip that showed her true normal fortnightly earnings was from late March of this year, we forwarded this to the broker, he came back and said its from too long ago they wont accept it.
So we explained the annual leave for the month of April and submitted the pay slip directly prior to her going on Workcover which showed basically 76hrs of leave and said thats it, theres nothing more we can do.
We are still waiting to hear back but i know it will just be more bull**** from a disgusting organization in attempt to shift accountability from them to us.

On top of that, they have absolutely zero right to question the purpose of a very small loan of less than $1500 taken out 3.5yrs ago and paid in full, it is a complete invasion of privacy.

Toyota financial Services are a complete disgrace of a company and anyone contemplating using their services should be warned to avoid them at ALL costs as they dont deserve to make money off of good people with their business practices.

[jpd80]

This is what I don’t like about financing, we jump through all the hoops and still, it’s not good enough.

I hope that you finally end up with a good result.

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by jpd80

This is what I don’t like about financing, we jump through all the hoops and still, it’s not good enough.

I hope that you finally end up with a good result.

We're giving them until 10am tomorrow and if no result we'll be submitting an application through our own broker who has already said he will put it to the right lender and explain our circumstance with regard to the TFS application.

[Big_Daz]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

After doing a bit of research i've discovered that the broker only obtained his licence or accreditation as a lender in March of this year so he clearly doesnt have much experience in the game, a comment he made during the process is that he's had quite a few complaints from customers over TFS handling of their applications, im starting to see why.

The broker we spoke to independently said TFS are extremely difficult to deal with and my Wife's case would never have been submitted to them based on the Workcover detail alone, for the record i've known this broker for over 20yrs and worked with him at a Toyota dealership so he knows his industry.
If you look at reviews of TFS it certainly supports his views.

Our second gripe is with TFS themselves, not only have they taken an application from an applicant that obviously doesn't meet their basic criteria of employment which was the first documentation submitted, they have then attempted to pick and poke holes in my Wifes personal business in an attempt that i believe is to justify why she isnt suitable without coming out and saying its the Workcover issue and being liable or accused at least of discrimination.
A person on Workcover through no fault of their own should not be discriminated against for that and im sure there would be a case to answer to by the relevant ombudsman should they cite that as their reason.

After getting the relevant paperwork from you and your wife, the yards broker should have known better than to even think about submitting your application to TFS, especially considering the payslips clearly state work cover. Secondly, TFS should have come back to the broker with a simple "we don't accept workcover applications" and that could of been that, Broker could have looked elsewhere and you and your wife wouldn't of been subject to the stress and drama you have been. Though having heard how hopeless and horrible TFS are from broker friends, I'm not all that surprised.

Personally I wouldnt go with them regardless of whether they change their mind but either way, I hope it works out and you are able to take delivery of the Ranger, as it sounds perfect for your needs

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by Big_Daz

After getting the relevant paperwork from you and your wife, the yards broker should have known better than to even think about submitting your application to TFS, especially considering the payslips clearly state work cover. Secondly, TFS should have come back to the broker with a simple "we don't accept workcover applications" and that could of been that, Broker could have looked elsewhere and you and your wife wouldn't of been subject to the stress and drama you have been. Though having heard how hopeless and horrible TFS are from broker friends, I'm not all that surprised.

Personally I wouldnt go with them regardless of whether they change their mind but either way, I hope it works out and you are able to take delivery of the Ranger, as it sounds perfect for your needs

Yes, that's basically word for word what our independent broker said.
When the salesman asked for the licence and medicare card it didn't twig at that moment that it was for forwarding to their broker, it wasn't until we received a message from the broker minutes after that we realised they put it to him to deal with.
I questioned it and the salesman said it was a simpler process to do it in house, with respect to him, many of our previous purchases through other Dealerships had been handled this way and had been as simple as a click of the submit button for instant approval or within the hour at worst.

The ASX we currently have is the first time in a long time we hadn't dealt with an inhouse application as the Dealership used St George and they had changed their lending criteria due to Covid and Jobkeeper.
They put us on to the broker who obtained the finance for the ASX and has given us advice on this current debacle, wasn't until we contacted him about the ASX that i discovered he was an old work colleague.

For some positive news, just heard back from the Dealerships broker, finance has been approved, was looked at around 5.30pm last night and finally given the green light however having read the reviews and experienced what we've been subject to im really not too confident of a successful relationship with the company but am so over the whole thing we've decided to just go with it and hope for the best.

Hopefully there will be a shiny white Ranger in the driveway tomorrow evening, fingers crossed.

[Big_Daz]

Our last few cars have been purchased using dealer arranged finance, as our bank couldnt get near it. All 3 where purchased new and it was a super simple thing, speak to Finance Manager and submit documents. On all 3 (1. Jeep through St George, Commodore through Holden Finance/AKA St George and the Kia through Kia Finance/AKA St George again) I had the approval before I left his office.

At least you got the Approval Bent_8 - As long as interest/payments are what you wanted and the Contract is OK after you read it then you should probably be OK... In fact with direct debit you probably wont have to deal with them all that much, unless you want to pay out early, etc..

[danzvtil]

Sorry to hear of your difficulties bent, business loans must be different, I was trading full time for 4 months and looked at an LDV van. He only asked 2 questions, what’s your turnover, and have you had your abn longer than 2 years?
Yes, I qualified for a $32k loan through at George at 2.99% for a brand new vehicle (I didn’t take it this time)

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by Big_Daz

Our last few cars have been purchased using dealer arranged finance, as our bank couldnt get near it. All 3 where purchased new and it was a super simple thing, speak to Finance Manager and submit documents. On all 3 (1. Jeep through St George, Commodore through Holden Finance/AKA St George and the Kia through Kia Finance/AKA St George again) I had the approval before I left his office.

At least you got the Approval Bent_8 - As long as interest/payments are what you wanted and the Contract is OK after you read it then you should probably be OK... In fact with direct debit you probably wont have to deal with them all that much, unless you want to pay out early, etc..

Lol, well considering how often we turn over cars and the negative reviews with regards to early payouts we've already had that conversation between us.
Hopefully the Ranger proves to be the keeper that im hoping it will be and we can put that argument with them off for a few years.

[Vekgib]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

Thought i'd give bit of an update.

So on the day we went to look at the Ranger there was a problem with the EPAS.
We were happy with everything else but without test driving it would only agree to a subject to driving clause on the contract.
Turns out it was just a fuse and so by Wednesday i'd arranged for the salesman to meet me at an arranged location for a 30 minute test drive before we proceeded.
It drove perfectly and we were happy to proceed, well, we thought we'd proceed.

So we submitted a finance application through the dealerships finance manager who suggested Toyota Financial Services, TFS, due to their low interest rates.
Well, what an experience.

Do yourselves a favour and avoid these sycophants like the plague.
So to paint the full picture, we traded my Wifes ASX which we ended up with a small negative equity due to only owning it just over a year, no probs, we offered to pay that in cash upon settlement.
We also paid out the only other small finance we had, $3200 in cash and provided a letter to prove the account was finalised.

No problem they said, car is priced right, income to service the loan checks out, infact after finalising both accounts we reduced our expenses by $405fn, the loan for the Ranger would have been around $320fn over the term we chose.

So out of the blue they ask about a loan application on my Wife's credit file from 2018 and wanted 3 months of bank statements to see if we were still paying it.
We explained that it was taken out and repaid within 3 months, no defaults, no more payments, complete.
Just to give you an idea of why this came as a surprise to us, since that loan was taken out and repaid, we've bought 2 other new cars on finance, my Picanto and the Wife's ASX, neither finance company asked about it.

Things progressed, or so we thought, next thing they came back and asked what the loan was for...
Im sorry, since when does a loan taken out 3.5yrs ago, paid in full in 3 months and without missing a payment become subject to being asked personal information about what it was for.
So we told them, they were content and we thought that was it...
Today they asked for a payout figure from the lender on the ASX, no worries, got them a letter emailed in 30 minutes, should have your contract to sign by 11am they said.
by 2pm no contract, whats going on...

Oh, your Wife is on Workcover, something clearly listed on her payslips which they'd been in receipt of since Wednesday morning, provide a letter on company letterhead proving the income is secure..
What the actual ****, if any income is secure its Workcover, i dont know of anyone who's been sacked whilst on Workcover, theres more chance of a fulltime employee who's been with the same employer for 14yrs being sacked when NOT on Workcover than on Workcover.

So we provide a letter from the employer confirming ongoing employment.
Still not good enough, now we'll question your hourly rate because its MORE on Workcover than your regular average.

At this point i said go and get ****ed and tore up the contract, im stuffed if we're going to be put through the wringer by some spineless flog in Victoria who hides behind a computer screen and is obviously hell bent on making other peoples lives as miserable as their own locked down **** by subjecting my Wife to such unnecessary scrutiny when she has a perfect credit rating and has been employed in her current job where she's worked her guts out even with the injury she's only just had surgery for that happened almost 12 months ago, for 14yrs.

My Wife is now distraught, she thinks its her fault because she's had to go on Workcover to have her arm repaired and this is why we cant get the ute.
I've told her she's done nothing wrong and whilst she said ok, knowing her for 30yrs now i know she's not ok at all.

Toyota Financial Services are a pack of arseholes and i will tell anyone who's prepared to listen to avoid them at all costs.

Now, the search goes on, a shame we couldnt buy that ute but the whole experience has left a bad taste in my mouth and unfortunately the good people at the dealership are the losers.
I tell you one thing though, whatever we do buy, wont be financed through Toyota financial Services.

Even the local TFS rep didn't bother going through TFS for her RAV4 as she: "couldn't be bothered with the drama"
Tells you all you need to know

[BENT_8]

Well, im stoked to say i picked my new baby up tonight and im in love, what a machine.
I hereby fall on my sword and take back every negative word ive ever said about Ford, you guys build seriously great vehicles with Australian input.