Kempsey Ford closes! :(

[dreadly]

Hey guy's received a letter today... To my disgust kempsey ford will cease operation on the 16th :( This is a very sad day for kempsey, and ford enthusiasts in the area.
To Brendan and Bruce Guy's i really feel for ya's hey!!!
I called Port and gave em an ear full...
What i believe it comes down to besides $$$ Ford Australia needs a kick in the head.
The way in which they run, manage, and promote their business and products is appauling!
The guy in port had the nerve crap on about the kia, and hyundai side saying people are buying more of em than the fords.... Simple answer detach your self from those cheap nasty korean bits of %^$@ And get back to selling and promoting your own products- FORDS!

Ford simply put dosnt hire, Ford enthusiasts people who, know, love, respect the name, brand and ford motor cars in general- Meaning whats the point of having a salesman working for ford who personally owns a toyota, mazda or holden?! Who really couldnt care!
So i wont be driving to ford in Port macquarie to give them my business- i know their sponsors. But this behaviour goes against my personal, morals and ethics! So Gordy and ultra tune will most likely will.

Brendan and bruce day in day out gave that place their all... And to not be given jobs in port in BULL %^&T! Shows even the companies you care about dont care about you... They care about selling %^$t cars and making cheap $$$$$.
This cements once and for all everyone buy your, oils, parts, get serviced etc at your local dealer or they'll have to close too :(
Sorry but to think your local ford dealer is now 1hr down the highway is very very dishearting. GT's without a Ford badge, now this it's a sad, sad world :(

[nj351]

the port ford dealership is in no better shape and has sacked 4 staff in the last month so bring them from kempsey is pointless
The motoring industry is in bad shape and half of the people in it will lose there jobs as my is on the line too.

[Lukeyson]

Originally Posted by dreadly

Ford simply put dosnt hire, Ford enthusiasts people who, know, love, respect the name, brand and ford motor cars in general

Aint that the truth !!!!!!
I did a little time at Blewitts in Coffs, and basically you have to be a shark. But i guess that is car sales in general

[dreadly]

Well i was unaware of the lay offs in Port... That changes things a little.
I fully understand what andrew does for the region and thank him for that and respect him as an awesome race car driver and business man. I guess it was hard decision to make and kempsey was most likely running at a loss?
Id go down there for servicing and parts but 1hr and nearly $20 fuel each way :(... Best of luck to anyone effected by this.
Ford dealers please concentrate on selling fords though and ford products!
NOT competitors like kia, hyundai and the like.... Cause in the long run it will prove very bad for business :( Fords for life!!!

[iamdeath]

gotta say i have dealt with kempsies service dept and found it slightly less frustrating than slamming my schlong thru a mincer..its a shame a local buisness and one of the oldest ford dealers in the country will close but.

[burnz]

Originally Posted by iamdeath

gotta say i have dealt with kempsies service dept and found it slightly less frustrating than slamming my schlong thru a mincer..its a shame a local buisness and one of the oldest ford dealers in the country will close but.

hey!!! a friend of mine work's at that dealer

edit: use to work their aparently.

[iamdeath]

mate i call it as i see it.

[xp_odell]

Well I didnt think it would take long for the word to get out. Yes it will be our final trading day this friday, with the work shops last day on thursday. Sad to say that we are already booked out. Both me and bruce have found new jobs, Bruce is going to Rock Mechanical in South West Rocks. I am unfortunatly leaving ford too and going to Toyota in Kempsey. So any one out there who was happy with our work can find us there.
It kinda sucks that we are both leaving ford as we both have been doing training this year and are both going to be ford master techs at years end, even though we are no loger with Ford. I still have many contacts in Ford Australia so any problems come see me at Toyota.
Neil is right it is a really bad time for the motor industry and every one is suffering. We were just the weak link in Andrews busines. We always tried to do right by our customers but you cant please everyone all the time.
Thanks to everyone who has been our customers over the years and i hope to see some of you at my new work (even though they wear red).

[killerjoolz]

Originally Posted by xp_odell

Well I didnt think it would take long for the word to get out. Yes it will be our final trading day this friday, with the work shops last day on thursday. Sad to say that we are already booked out. Both me and bruce have found new jobs, Bruce is going to Rock Mechanical in South West Rocks. I am unfortunatly leaving ford too and going to Toyota in Kempsey. So any one out there who was happy with our work can find us there.
It kinda sucks that we are both leaving ford as we both have been doing training this year and are both going to be ford master techs at years end, even though we are no loger with Ford. I still have many contacts in Ford Australia so any problems come see me at Toyota.
Neil is right it is a really bad time for the motor industry and every one is suffering. We were just the weak link in Andrews busines. We always tried to do right by our customers but you cant please everyone all the time.
Thanks to everyone who has been our customers over the years and i hope to see some of you at my new work (even though they wear red).

Gloucester FORD could do with a good FORD mechanic,nice place to live,GREAT people....lol...also heard on the grapevine Mid Coast Ford has bought the Gloucester dealership....anyway Brendon hope all works out well for you and you'll be back with Ford soon....Cheers Joolz

[xp_odell]

Thanks Killer. If any one is interested in a cheap used car come in this week. They are having a massive sale trying to sell the stock.

[Molloy]

Taree Ford has sacked a few boys also, in my eyes this is the begining of the end.

[dreadly]

Put simply... why dosnt the government tax the hell out of anything, except fords and dare say it holden also??
Therefore lightly pushing/forcing Australians to buy, lease, etc Australian cars??
By having, every european, asian, or american car avalible....
Like with ford- why attach kia, and hyundai to your dealerships.
If someone comes in say wanting a good 4 cylinder car, why have a rio, or laganos what ever they are around for the buyer to be influenced by- they should be shown, a fiesta, or focus, even 2nd hand lynx's, cougars etc
Then ford has better sales figures, more profits... more money to spend = more staff, more jobs, more dealerships.... Supply and demand it's simple.
And to think our government sold us out as loyal ford fans.... so they could get into bed with asia...
Makes me sick.... get rid of, kia, daewoo, hyundai, suzuki, mazda, etc etc... If someone wants a cheaper car? Hell ya can get a low kms Ba 2 xr6 for like 10-14k? hello!!! Australian 2nd hand cars kick ***.... ie my au xr8 sure its 6.5 yrs old now still looks kick ***.. im under 100k still, with the little work ive done it still keeps up with ba xr8's and will go strong for about another 200k.
All foreign cars should be banned.. or put on hiadis for 5yrs till Australian manufactures recover..... And maybe new models release every 3- 5yrs and less varients of the same car.... ie GT, GT-P, GT-E to help with resales etc, manufacturing costs bla bla bla ;)

[dusty86]

maybe if australia made a decent car then this problem wouldn't exist? I work at a mazda dealer and what you think should happen would mean then I would be out of a job? Mazda customer service absolutely craps all over ford's hate to say

[Buddy 1]

Originally Posted by dusty86

maybe if australia made a decent car then this problem wouldn't exist? I work at a mazda dealer and what you think should happen would mean then I would be out of a job? Mazda customer service absolutely craps all over ford's hate to say

But Australia do Make Decent Cars, is nothing wrong with my BFII XR6 & the Territory before it was a Damm good Vehicle as well although it did have a few things fail however nothing to Cry about.

The Problem is we Buy these Asian Vehicles Coz they are Cheap & the Jap ones Coz they are in some respects slightly better Build Quality.

I Myself Purchased a New Mazda 6 for my Wife a year or 2 ago & it is a Damm good vehicle however it has its Faults like any Vehicle does & it is not better in all ways than my XR6 either.

If I had of known when looking for a Vehicle for her that the Economy was going to be as it is Today with Ford & Holden etc in Deep Trouble then maybe she would have had a Focus or maybe even a XR6 Sedan for that matter.

People these days have been spoilt for Choice & do not often Consider just how good the Locally Made Vehicles are & also do not look past their own Financial situation & think buying something like a Hyundai or a Kia is better Value when in Actual fact it may not be down the track when it falls apart.

Think about the Good of your Country & Fellow Aussies & buy Aussie Made

[stevieg]

Hi all,

Just doing some hunting on the garage who sold my Ford Capri originally in 1969. It was sold new by Kempsey Garage and I wondered if this is the same Ford dealers being discussed here. I would love to see some pic's of the garage and the Garage Ford sign. Would love to hear from anyone who might have any info.

Steve

[BADEF-6]

i work at a volkswagen dealership and we are getting less and less work, its getting very bad im waiting for the day when they say take your tools home tonight and not worry coming back, the dealership also has ford and they have stopped keeping stock of parts due to the lack of work. im more worried if people get layed off like my self who have loans to repay and its getting harder and harder to find jobs. its not a good feeling

[dusty86]

we are the same here at mazda, slowly getting slower, luckily we are a smaller dealer and can get away with smaller figures but still a bit worrying

[BADEF-6]

where i work they have 13 different brands of new and used cars it might be big but all the the floorstock that is not moving and the lack of service work is realy sending everything down the drain. good example the workshop im in VW service should turn over $130 000 in labor charges, pre delivery and warrnity work an month, we are lucky to pull in $30 000 a month and most of it is warrnity work not retail or pre delivery.

[IAM58L]

Nah wouldn't be this ford dealer it was not there in 1969.

[stevieg]

Bugger, thanks for the reply.

It is Lacey's Garage on the service book. 35 Smith Street, Kempsey, NSW, 2440, Sold to a Mr B Heien, Forth Street, Kempsey, NSW, 2440 on 1/08/1969. Service Manager Mr B Thurgood.

Steve

[IAM58L]

Is it orange by chance? I think I know may know the car

[stevieg]

It is listed as Vermillion fire which is orange/red. It's a 1600 with a manual 4 speed box and is still a matching numbers car. Tell me more please, do you know the original owner who had it a vey long time and hardly used it I think.

[IAM58L]

Yeah that's the car mate am 100% sure of it, I have met the original owner (Barry) a few times but that was probably 10 years ago. Not sure if he is still around or not.
The car was his pride and joy. I can tell you when I saw it it still had plastic over the door trims and lived in a shed at his house and pretty much only got driven to go to a mechanic for a rego check and got put back in the shed as it was his 2nd car. So the miles it has on it would be genuine and I can tell you what you have is probably one of the best original examples of a capri you will find today.
He used to run a lawn mower repair shop out if his shed in Forth St Kempsey. If you jump on google maps and look up 12 forth st Kempsey you can zoom in on a house has a sign out the front which has been blurred out a little but you can see blur Heien mower repairs and spare parts. Thats Barrys house and the original owner of your car and where it lived since new.

Also Just to help you out a little more if you call 02 65624537 (white pages) I am sure Barry if he is still with us will be more than happy to tell you all about his old Capri, and help you out with any info he can or if you are local maybe just drop in he is a pretty easy goin guy. Can I ask where you are / where the car ended up? Always wondered what happened to that car.

Hope this helps ya out
Rob

[stevieg]

Hi Rob,

Wow, what a fantastic reply Mate. I will defo give B or Barry as I now know he is. I can confirm that the plastic is still on part of the white trim and the car is still in as original condition as it was when Barry owned it. The condition of the car is testament to it's previous 2 owners. I have only owned the car for about 6 months and actually bought it only by the pic's and description by the guy who bought it from Barry who lived in South Australia. He told me he had bought it from an old guy in Kempsey so this all checks out with what you have told me. As I have gone through it as you do, there is not one spot of rust on the car. I do mean NO RUST. It still has the original push button radio and a very rare thing in that it has an oil pressure gauge in the centre console. This was fitted to only a few cars, it was more common to have a clock. I have also confirmed that it is a matching numbers car but I would love to know what the original NSW reg number was. Another wacky thing is that the spare wheel has never been used!! I think I have been extremely lucky to have found a car in this condition, it is amazing. I drive the car on the great sunny days and it breaks necks everywhere it goes, it's like driving a fish bowl. I think it is better than any show car I have seen and I will not be selling this one. The little Crossflow runs like a dream and everything is tight, in fact for it's age the gearbox is the tightest I have driven, amazing. I now have it on club plates,. It went though the test and needed nothing, the mechanics were amazed by it's condition and all made offers to buy. I am in Geelong, Vic but I travel to NSW sometimes as I have family there, so I may drop in on Barry and give him a surprise. Any way I will post a pic up when I get the time and thanks for you're wonderfully reply. You have made my day.

If you have any other info please contact me.

Steve

[IAM58L]

No problems mate not much more I can tell you about it. am sure you will get all the info off barry if you get on to him. Good to know it went to someone who will look after it.
Glad to help you out, good luck with it.

Rob

[stevieg]

Hi Rob,

Thanks heaps. I will update after I give the number a call.

Sorry for hijacking the thread.

Steve

[IAM58L]

Sounds good mate would love to know how you get on with it all.
As for the thread don't worry bout that this part of the forum is dead, car club mostly uses facebook now.