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Aussie Locker
Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2004 6:19 pm
by up2nogood
Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2004 6:27 pm
by ISUZUROVER
Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2004 7:13 pm
by up2nogood
Ah ha! Thought it might have been marketed the same out here.....
Thanks, Ben
Alex
Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2004 9:42 am
by Busiboy
The guy in the US seemed to love it,
Any other opinions here?
Good bad ugly?
Posted: Fri Dec 31, 2004 7:34 am
by Vsicks Pathy
I have just read all of the reviews for the Aussie locker. Sounds good. The price is better than good too! Unfortunately there was not a single listing for any Nissans what so ever? I have contacted them via Email and will post again when I hear back from them. I mean, if your going to make them for Scouts, surely they must make them for Nissan. SURELY?
https://offroadlockers.com/models.html
Posted: Fri Dec 31, 2004 9:07 am
by Vsicks Pathy
This is the reply I just got back from Bill Cole.
Steve,
We have not yet developed a Nissan Aussie Locker. While popular in Australia, the Nissan has yet to reach the level of offroad use to justify the significant investment we have to make in each new product we develop. We monitor club membership for vehicle model trends and as soon as we see a change in Nissans we will certainly add the product to our development schedule. We appreciate your interest in the Aussie Locker.
Pull the other one!
Posted: Fri Dec 31, 2004 9:13 am
by up2nogood
S'pose that's why they don't do one for Rovers.
Them being rare and all........
Posted: Fri Dec 31, 2004 9:18 am
by basketcase
Vsicks Pathy wrote:This is the reply I just got back from Bill Cole.
Steve,
We have not yet developed a Nissan Aussie Locker. While popular in Australia, the Nissan has yet to reach the level of offroad use to justify the significant investment we have to make in each new product we develop. We monitor club membership for vehicle model trends and as soon as we see a change in Nissans we will certainly add the product to our development schedule. We appreciate your interest in the Aussie Locker.
Pull the other one!
Thats in the US. Nissans must not be as popular over there.
Posted: Fri Dec 31, 2004 9:29 am
by -Mick-
Vsicks Pathy wrote:This is the reply I just got back from Bill Cole.
Steve,
We have not yet developed a Nissan Aussie Locker. While popular in Australia, the Nissan has yet to reach the level of offroad use to justify the significant investment we have to make in each new product we develop. We monitor club membership for vehicle model trends and as soon as we see a change in Nissans we will certainly add the product to our development schedule. We appreciate your interest in the Aussie Locker.
Pull the other one!
Don't be surprised. Nissans are not a very popular offroader there
Posted: Fri Dec 31, 2004 12:13 pm
by Beastmavster
Nissan Patrols were only available by the handful over there. I think that except for a few that have leaked through from Canada and Central America the last imported "Patrol" was the G60.
Remember the same holds with Landcruisers over there too - a Shorty GQ or a BJ40 Landcruiser is worth obscene amounts of money over there.
There's a couple of US guys troll through our forum trying to get info on MQ and GQ Patrols since there is basically none over there.
There's also a couple of petitions around trying to get people to get Nissan to Import our Patrol there. Since our next Patrol is likely to be the US model anyway it's a bit of a lost cause.
Posted: Fri Dec 31, 2004 12:15 pm
by Beastmavster
If the aussie locker IS the same as the "Lokka" difflock then they are available here... see below.
http://www.4wdsystems.com.au/html/lokka.htm
Posted: Fri Dec 31, 2004 3:46 pm
by sledheadak
i am one of the few patrol owners here in the usa.it is very hard to ge parts for them here esp offroad parts.what would the cost of a lokka be for a mq? c200 front and h233 rear.my rear diff has the limited slip in it so would i need to change the carrier or could i use the same one? arbs are way too spendy here for my patrol.thanks
Posted: Fri Dec 31, 2004 6:02 pm
by Vsicks Pathy
Thats fine, but how do they justify the price differences. They make both lockers here. The equivelent locker is 50% cheaper in the states than here, I just don't get it.
Posted: Sat Jan 01, 2005 1:41 pm
by -Mick-
Vsicks Pathy wrote:Thats fine, but how do they justify the price differences. They make both lockers here. The equivelent locker is 50% cheaper in the states than here, I just don't get it.
Volume sold I reckon
FYI I imported a lockright from the US for my suzuki recently. It was an online purchase from an aftermarket 4wd business in the states, imported privately. Due to the weight of the thing (bugger all) it only cost $30 postage by air mail.
The total cost delivered to my door was $299 australian
I'll soon order another because really how can you beat that
It took 5 weeks to deliver, usually 3 but they were out of stock at my time of order.
You risk copping an extra duty tax of $100 at customs too but they rarely put that on packages of small weight and value. Hence import one at a time
Mick
Posted: Sat Jan 01, 2005 3:45 pm
by Rainbow Warrior
Vsicks Pathy wrote:This is the reply I just got back from Bill Cole.
Steve,
We have not yet developed a Nissan Aussie Locker. While popular in Australia, the Nissan has yet to reach the level of offroad use to justify the significant investment we have to make in each new product we develop. We monitor club membership for vehicle model trends and as soon as we see a change in Nissans we will certainly add the product to our development schedule. We appreciate your interest in the Aussie Locker.
Pull the other one!
There's obviously more people driving Scouts offroad in Australia than Nissans.
Posted: Sat Jan 01, 2005 4:16 pm
by Beastmavster
Vsicks Pathy wrote:Thats fine, but how do they justify the price differences. They make both lockers here. The equivelent locker is 50% cheaper in the states than here, I just don't get it.
Purely from the sales and marketing side and not from the R&D side...
Ask how come ARB can ship their Airlockers over there yet I can import ARB airlockers cheaper from the states than buy direct from ARB here?
As an example...Trail Tough Air Locker - Samurai front Item #RD73 Price US$679.00 ($893 Aus).
Price from ARB? It's about $1298 I think (can only find my 2002 price guide where it was $1054)
Autolockers go for $700-900 here - because thats what places can sell them for and people will still buy them if they work out 1/2 the price of the airlocker.
The lokkas are listed price around $745 for most fittings but once again can be bought in the US for about 1/3 that price.
Same issue - as a small volume purchaser you get screwed... normal car industry parts markups are like 300-400%. If US shops organise a great deal on them by the boatload and pass them on to their customers it's great news for most people -- except us Patrol guys :(
This is not just for accessories - this is automotive industry standard and at least the markup is lower than it is on cosmetics. Thank god for ebay and credit cards.
In defence of those here selling US stuff, they are doing it as a business and have to take account taxes (they'll get slugged in taxes but for one you might get through the customs net). They also have to pay for storage, labour and having tens of thousands of dollars of stock on hand.
However, that still doesnt justify how shipping an aussie made product half way around the world and back again you can still get it cheaper.
I dont know with whom the fault lies since I dont know the margin the manufacturer gets and the reseller gets but it's clearly very out of kilter with what happens in the US.
Remember the market for this sorta stuff over there is huge... and people are not finding their cars or their 4wd trails legislated out of existance by greenies. Huge volumes will always lead to bigger discounts.
Posted: Sat Jan 01, 2005 4:25 pm
by Beastmavster
sledheadak wrote:i am one of the few patrol owners here in the usa.it is very hard to ge parts for them here esp offroad parts.what would the cost of a lokka be for a mq? c200 front and h233 rear.my rear diff has the limited slip in it so would i need to change the carrier or could i use the same one? arbs are way too spendy here for my patrol.thanks
You might find adapting US Pathy's Rear LSD to the front of your MQ might be possible. There's been a few threads on that one here already.
Lokka might not be available for the MQ, since it only says Patrol, but I suspect it would be or GQ Patrol and MQ would be listed seperately like they have done with the Yota's
http://www.4wdsystems.com.au/gfx/specials_26_right.pdf
Send em an email or a fax and see if they do international shipping.
If they can do it but wont do shipping Im sure that we'll be able to help you out. Current price is about $567 US + Shipping.
At that price you might find ARB looking much better, or wait until the Banana Republic $ goes belly up again.
Posted: Sat Jan 01, 2005 6:45 pm
by Vsicks Pathy
Beastmavster wrote:Vsicks Pathy wrote:Thats fine, but how do they justify the price differences. They make both lockers here. The equivelent locker is 50% cheaper in the states than here, I just don't get it.
Purely from the sales and marketing side and not from the R&D side...
Ask how come ARB can ship their Airlockers over there yet I can import ARB airlockers cheaper from the states than buy direct from ARB here?
As an example...Trail Tough Air Locker - Samurai front Item #RD73 Price US$679.00 ($893 Aus).
Price from ARB? It's about $1298 I think (can only find my 2002 price guide where it was $1054)
Autolockers go for $700-900 here - because thats what places can sell them for and people will still buy them if they work out 1/2 the price of the airlocker.
The lokkas are listed price around $745 for most fittings but once again can be bought in the US for about 1/3 that price.
Same issue - as a small volume purchaser you get screwed... normal car industry parts markups are like 300-400%. If US shops organise a great deal on them by the boatload and pass them on to their customers it's great news for most people -- except us Patrol guys :(
This is not just for accessories - this is automotive industry standard and at least the markup is lower than it is on cosmetics. Thank god for ebay and credit cards.
In defence of those here selling US stuff, they are doing it as a business and have to take account taxes (they'll get slugged in taxes but for one you might get through the customs net). They also have to pay for storage, labour and having tens of thousands of dollars of stock on hand.
However, that still doesnt justify how shipping an aussie made product half way around the world and back again you can still get it cheaper.
I dont know with whom the fault lies since I dont know the margin the manufacturer gets and the reseller gets but it's clearly very out of kilter with what happens in the US.
Remember the market for this sorta stuff over there is huge... and people are not finding their cars or their 4wd trails legislated out of existance by greenies. Huge volumes will always lead to bigger discounts.
What happens in the US is not the issue. These so called Aussie companies are ripping us off. Plain and simple. They pretend that they are "global, competetive companies" overseas. Here; they just suck you dry. As you rightly state, it is cheaper to import an Australian product from OS than to buy it here, even from the manafacturer. That is the story in a nut shell! Arseholes they are !!!!!!!!!!
Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2005 8:55 pm
by dibbz
Beastmavster wrote:At that price you might find ARB looking much better, or wait until the Banana Republic $ goes belly up again.
Yeh my front diff needed a trip to the lappers, if you do not know first hand the state of your diff make sure you have another tree fiddy spare, dont just assume everything will be within tollerances.
Still happy with my lokka tho :)
Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2005 7:24 am
by sledheadak
i checked and can get a arb for the front and rear for 620.00 us each.not to bad a price considering what i see you guys are spending for them,i have the c200 front and h233 rear.