Great Wall Steed shite

[mk2_craig]

Saw this today and wondered how many others are still clinging onto life. 

Quite an impressive array of badges and remarkably none seem to have fallen off. 

When new I remember someone pointing out the shonky way that the back end was attached to the chassis, ie. several overlapping bits of thin metal. I’m pleased to report that somehow this example has managed to avoid rotting itself to death within a few years. 

Anybody got direct experience of these? I would imagine it’s like driving a Tata Loadbeta only marginally less unrefined. 

[5speedracer]

Having tried to sell Tata Loadbeta pickups in the mid '90's I doubt it would be less refined.

Funny this thread should come up as I saw a maroon coloured Great Wall Steed on a 62 plate outside one of our local shops last week looking remarkably fresh but obviously on a regular basis. First one I've seen for years and I live in a rural area.

[goosey]

Aren’t these heavily influenced by the Isuzu Rodeo/Dmax ? I don’t think there any worse than anything else of that era, The Farmer at where my work is based has had one from new which is used as a hack and hasn’t had any issues with it, always says he will scrap it if it fails the MOT but seems to pass with minimal fuss 

edit seem to recall something about they were legally rated to tow only 2 ton ? 

[Split_Pin]

I'm sure a few of us on here had one of these when they were new. That was before the likes of Dacia came to the market and took the Shite mantle.

[SunnySouth]

How is it that ‘traditional’ Chinese cars like this always somehow manage to get the styling just slightly ‘wrong’ somehow? It’s difficult to put your finger on it, something about the porportions of certain bits maybe? The front end of this thing is a perfect example, somehow you can just tell…

[Markeh]

My dad had one briefly when the Suzuki dealership he was working at took them on as a franchise and someone had either sold or borrowed his usual S-Cross/Vitara. It was a bit cack then, he wasn't particularly imporessed.

[Dan the van]

One went through my local farm sale a couple of years ago.It was only 6/7 years old and low mileage but was hanging.Terrible paintwork,interior falling apart.Didn't look underneath but I bet it wasn't pretty.Sold for 2k plus fees.Never seen it again......

[SEATMad]

Still see a few of these knocking about where I live. All in various states of repair. A farmer mate of mine had one for a while, never had any issues with it as far as I'm aware. 

[Datsuncog]

Funny this should pop up, I noticed an identical Great Wall winching a boat onto a trailer down at the harbour ramp only about two weeks ago - thought to myself, mmm, haven't seen one of those for a long while...

Should have tried for a pic, though the apparent owner/ operators looked a bit rough and ready and may not have welcomed an impromptu photo session.

Can't imagine it's likely to last very much longer if it's having its arse dipped in the tide, mind.

[AnthonyG]

Amusing that the only real rust appears to be coming from the fake chrome ‘grab bars’ or whatever they are. Seems in quite good nick all round - I doubt many others are - is the Channel Islands kind to vehicles generally? It’s near the sea salt air but on the other hand it’s presumably dry, sunny, and the annual mileages of vehicles that stay on the island all year round can’t be high. 

Despite the GW’s reputation, having experienced Tata Loadbetas back in the day, I would assume this is vastly superior in every way. They are basically a carbon copy of an Isuzu, just made a decade or so after Isuzu did. 

Most Loadbetas, in rural Wales anyway, were lucky to see 5 years’ life, they were just crap. Some lucky* owners kidded themselves they had Mercedes parts, but apart from the basic origin of the engine, that was all nonsense. 

[mk2_craig]

19 hours ago, AnthonyG said:

is the Channel Islands kind to vehicles generally?

Once upon a time it was common to see cars and vans rusting from the top down rather than the bottom up, especially when they all used to have drip rails and sunroofs. Not so much the case these days but I think it’s fair to say that if there was any sort of periodic vehicle inspections, the average age probably wouldn’t be any greater than in mainland UK. 

[Lacquer Peel]

They seem to have a decent survival rate for an orphaned vehicle that was on sale for only 3 years.