Factory response to the Inclusion of the 6-speed

Factory response to the Inclusion of the 6-speed

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Discussion

sales

Original Poster:

75 posts

256 months

Tuesday 28th October 2003
quotequote all
As you are all aware having read the autocar article today a decision has been made by the factory to include the 6-speed gearbox and the biasing diff as standard in the GTO3R.

Since the launch of the 6-speed option it has become apparent that all customers were taking it, we are therefore able to produce the cars in South Africa based around the 6 speed solution. In the early cars that were produced while the 6-speed was still in development the cars were all fitted with 5-speed parts and to upgrade the car to 6-speed required changing the gear linkage, gear linkage cabling, the clutch the engine mounting and the speedo drive system. Due to our production being split between the UK and South Africa it has taken this time for the altered cars to arrive here for production. As these cars are now all set up for the 6-speed there has been a significant reduction in the production time needed and this has allowed us to include the gearbox in the price of the car.

mb1

579 posts

263 months

Wednesday 29th October 2003
quotequote all
sales said:
As you are all aware having read the autocar article today a decision has been made by the factory to include the 6-speed gearbox and the biasing diff as standard in the GTO3R.

Since the launch of the 6-speed option it has become apparent that all customers were taking it, we are therefore able to produce the cars in South Africa based around the 6 speed solution. In the early cars that were produced while the 6-speed was still in development the cars were all fitted with 5-speed parts and to upgrade the car to 6-speed required changing the gear linkage, gear linkage cabling, the clutch the engine mounting and the speedo drive system. Due to our production being split between the UK and South Africa it has taken this time for the altered cars to arrive here for production. As these cars are now all set up for the 6-speed there has been a significant reduction in the production time needed and this has allowed us to include the gearbox in the price of the car.



Not a very nice move after so many of us ordered the car early (as soon as the car was presented at the Motorshow) and placed their trust into Noble.
I, and I think all the other 3R owner on this forum (reading the posts), will feel very disapointed and stab in the back with this move.
It means that our investment already lost 2k after 2 weeks ownership only !!
So, we had to wait for the car while it was sorted out and now we had to pay more then the other future owners. Not nice....

MB
R32

3rtt

943 posts

259 months

Wednesday 29th October 2003
quotequote all
Stuart,

Not a very good decision.

I hope to speak with you later today, as I don't think it is very professional to air my views on this site.

Ian.



sales

Original Poster:

75 posts

256 months

Wednesday 29th October 2003
quotequote all
guys

The reasoning for including the 6-speed were production, we now have all thae cars set up for the installation of the 6-speed. I have looked over the autocar article this morning and noticed that they have the car priced as £51,500 including the gearbox. This is incorrect. The price is £52,500 including the gearbox. I know that this has a knockon effect as you have paid extra for a gearbox.

Barry Ives

4,485 posts

256 months

Wednesday 29th October 2003
quotequote all
It would have been nice if the factory had contacted recent 3r owners to advise about this and offer some form of rebate.I personally dont like the sweep it under the carpet approach and hope it goes away attitude.We were the first to put our faith in Noble and have been well and truly stuffed,i will also be contacting them for a response.

DanH

12,287 posts

267 months

Thursday 30th October 2003
quotequote all

How can Noble continue to improve the car and offer better value if they get a backlash when they do so?

I'm sure the 2.5 owners were somewhat disappointed when the 3 came out but thats progress.

bradders

887 posts

278 months

Thursday 30th October 2003
quotequote all
Decided to have a bit of a say on this after a couple of days "mulling" it over.

I can see both sides of the equation. I paid for the 6-speed upgrade, and LSD additional charges, and collected my car on 16th October. I specified the upgrades in April. Does it leave a sour taste? Yes, a little.

On the other hand, at work we distribute CCTV product. Prices from suppliers fluctuate greatly from month to month, as a result of buying price/power and currency fluctuations (USD and Euro mainly). We often run "specials" that can get substantially cheaper from one month to the next. We do get irate customers buying during the last week of one offer, to then receive a new "less costly" offer a few days after purchase.

What do we do? Well, usually we look at cases individually and whilst not offering "credit" against a new offer, we do try to offer the customer a "sweetner" on something else.

Factory - over to you - trackdays, fleeces, jackets, model cars etc etc etc

DanH

12,287 posts

267 months

Thursday 30th October 2003
quotequote all

Presumably you discuss this on a one to one basis with your clients though, rather than on public email forums?

I understand both sides too, but in the end this car is constantly being evolved and it shouldn't really be a great surprise. As I mentioned I'm sure 2.5 values got a right kicking when the 3 came out. I don't doubt that the 3 will be less desireable than the 3R if only for the faired in lights. Not to mention track day sumps, brake upgrades, more effective fan setup...

Still the standard Gto 3 might end up being the purists choice given that the 3R is getting a bit porky!

Anyway I won't be surprised if more incremental changes follow.

bradders

887 posts

278 months

Thursday 30th October 2003
quotequote all
Hi Dan,

Point taken re. public forums, but that was the intention really. There really are two sides to it, and rather than post my first thoughts, I offered a balanced view after reflection. The hope was that by giving an example, it may help others get over their "hard done by" feelings. The addition of a tongue in cheek point at the end was meant to allay the devil in me

I have to say that at any time, the pleasure in ownership of such a great car far outweighs any negatives, however they may first appear - and to be honest, so far there have been none. Only the less thoughtful amongst us would buy a Noble expecting no further enhancements.

Long may the developments continue, and the marque prosper as seems to be the case at the moment.

Cheers, Mark

>> Edited by bradders on Thursday 30th October 16:48

Barry Ives

4,485 posts

256 months

Monday 3rd November 2003
quotequote all
I would like to thank Stuart at the factory for the explanation about the six speed box,a little explanation goes a long way.At least you feel that there is a factory and staff who that actually cares about its customers.With the price of the car going up by a grand its not as bad as it first looked.Anyway the good news is having ordered the six speed i can at least look foward to the 400ishBHP upgrade.Cant wait!!!