Top Gear

[Neilda]

The BBC's new series of Top Gear started again last night (Top Gear is hosted by Jeremy Clarkson who owns a GT - for those that don't know).

Unfortunately Clarkson's GT has gone back again to 'the menders'. He said on the program last night that all the bits fitted onto the GT in the UK have gone wrong - this time it's the trickle charger making it "the most unreliable car he's ever owned".

My trickle charger is working fine.

Sadly Clarkson has little patience and a huge audience.

 

[flyingsniffer]

Didn't watch the programme (can't stand the man), but have already had 3 people ask me (again) if I've had the same problems with my car. Frankly, it's getting boring: more people ask me about 'problems' than about what it's like to drive, how cool it looks etc.

What does it take to shut this man up? For the record, I've had no problem with the alarm, no problem with the immobiliser, no problem with the charger (except a blown in-line fuse: 2 mins to change), no problem with anything. Oh, except my driver's side seatbelt buckle doesn't work, but I've got a 4 point anyway, so who cares?

BTW a little birdy (another well known UK journo) tells me that JC also had to have a replacement engine fitted to his car. I believe the engine management light came on, but as he only had 10 miles to go, he thought he'd get it home on 'chug'. No prizes for guessing who paid, but he's been strangely silent on that one. Funny, that.

I suspect Clarkson will sell it soon. By talking about it, he'll no doubt raise the price and make people aware.

My radio is rubbish: it's a top of the range Sony unit (donated foc by a mate who works there :thumbsup ), but is so sophisticated I can barely switch it on. I think it's what's called an operator/technology interface problem.

 

[Gierkink]

I didn't see Top Gear last night either but read some similar rant by Clarkson yesterday in the Sunday Times Motoring insert. Frankly I'm really tired of the guy manufacturing issues he's having with his car so he can talk about it on his show. As far as I can tell his issues have all been user related! It's all a bit pathetic if that's what's required to try and increase the show’s ratings.

Having said this, what can we do to fix the problem? Ford of Great Britain can't do much as should they publicly state anything about the issues being user problems Clarkson will just turn up the volume on his comments. Any suggestions as to what we GT owners could do?

Rob

 

[EasyEric]

Why would his car have to go back to the "menders" for a bad trickle charger?

Is the trickle charger not a separate unit like here in the US? Or is it integral to the car in the UK?

Eric

 

[Neilda]

Eric, I guess it's a case of spitting the dummy out with Clarkson. He's the UK's most popular motoring writer and as a consequence is seriously pampered by the industry. If the ashtray is full on his DB9 he probably has Aston replace the console.

 

[dbk]

Jeremy Clarkson has, and always will be, a first class prick. I know some of the GT people feel indebted to him for the original good press he gave the car, but 1 bad word goes ten times farther than a thousand good ones, and that's all he does now. If they are hamstrung into pampering him because of his journalistic power, fine. But I have no qualms saying he's a real dickhead regardless of what cars he drives.

I used to read the back page of the Times while living in London to see what was in his idiotic rants, and he rarely failed to deliver. While he's a fairly equal opportunity trash talker, he's got a particularly soft spot for taking every chance to insult anything made in the U.S.

The GT, a car Ford has bent over backwards to satisfy him with, is no different. That car got an inch-by-inch walkover to make sure it was perfect precisely because the current situation woud result if anything was wrong. I think they put too much faith in thinking they could avoid the inevitable result...

 

[Bart Carter]

I heard the alarm system he bad mouthed so often was and aftermarket add on due to British regulations. Not a Ford problem. Anyone confirm this?

 

[Clax]

I heard the alarm system he bad mouthed so often was and aftermarket add on due to British regulations. Not a Ford problem. Anyone confirm this?

You are correct.

The joke of the matter is that Top Gear loves Ferrari's like crazy, and the 360 Spider I owned had quite a few issues with it (paint finish quality issues near air intakes, poor carpet installation quality, headlight replaced 3 times, 2 transmission adjustments, stock exhaust rattle prior to Tubi installation). During Top Gear's review of the Gallardo, they say it's a great car, but it's "not a Ferrari". Thank god it's not a Ferrari, or there would be no individual choice in buying a different product.

I can tell you after having owned a number of different cars, I like the Ford GT far more than any Ferrari (short of possibly the Enzo).

 

[fjpikul]

DBK, tell it like it is!

 

[Neilda]

As I put in my first post, it's only the UK 'aftermarket' parts that have failed as far as I know.

Unfortunately UK insurers demand tracker devices and this is what went wrong the first time.