New member from Wales in Europe saying hi

dafyddcoch · 21st July 2007, 17:41

hi folks and greetings from a new member. My name is Foxy and I live in Wales a small country to the west of England. I own a Tata Sierra td 4x4 of 1998 manufacutre. Over here however, Sierras are sold as Gurkhas I think due to their being a Ford Sierra and Ford UK had a legal battle over the name years ago with a kit car maker over the name.

Over here Tatas are not that well regarded but then there is a lot people who comment without trying the product and assume that it must be rubbish if it doesn't come from a company they have heard of before. I have been very pleased with my Sierra / Gurkha and use it in teh mannerit was intended. I live on a small hil-farm (about 7 acres) and the Tata pulls my Universal 4x4 tractor on a trailer up the mountain to my farm and it often has a trailer on the back with scrap metal or masses of firewood or building rubble on it. Yet it cruises down the motorway effortlessly at 70 to 75 mph (the speed limit in Wales and England is 70 mph) and is nice and comfortable. The fuel economy is not fantastic but then it is turbo diesel 4x4 that is heavy and it is better than most of the other 4x4s. I find that if you are prepared to drive it 10 mph slower than one would drive a family saloon / hatchback the economy is not mush worse than the saloon / hatchback.

Sure it doesn't go round corners like a GTI hatchback but then a GTI hatchback doesn't pull several tons up a mountain track. All these big 4x4's drive like tractors and even if you fit wood door cappings and leather seats and an on-board entertainment system, if you tip it upside down it looks pretty much like the underneath of a Tata really.

Spares can be a bit of a problem over here though as at the moment imports of the cars have stopped. This is due in part I think to the fact that the same people who ruined MG Rover having done very well out of it personally, the so called Phoenix 4, were also the importers for Tata and nobody else has yet started to import them. This has left a few really angry and fed up dealers who supported the product but have been left with no cars to sell.

Anyway say hi if you like and I look forward to reading and sending posts to this group.

Hwel fawr (something we say around here in Welsh speaking Wales when leaving, it sort of means 'have lots of fun')

Foxy

ajmat · 21st July 2007, 20:00

Welcome on board

You gave a true pic of Tata i n the UK. Salt was rubbed into the would with the phoenix 4 overcpricing the Indica. If they priced it cheap, it would have sold.

Speed cameras in N Wales excepted, I really enjoy Wales. Used to go on school trips to Llangollen. Last month, I spent as spectacular weekend in Abersoc, near Pwffally (not good at spelling this on the fly!)

theMAG · 21st July 2007, 21:21

Quote:

..small hil-farm (about 7 acres)

If 7 acres is considered small in Wales, I wonder what your definition of large would be ?!

Anyway, welcome aboard.

abhibh · 21st July 2007, 21:51

Welcome aboard. have a nice stay here.

V-16 · 21st July 2007, 22:38

Welcome to the forum Foxy. Nice to know that someone in Wales is using a Tata Gurkha. Im sure if you have any problems, the parts will be very easy to source from India. Enjoy your stay here and Hwel Fawr to you too.

Godfather · 22nd July 2007, 08:23

Welcome to the forum Foxy. As V-16 said that the parts can be sourced from India. Have a great stay here.

Godfather

Thad E Ginathom · 22nd July 2007, 08:47

I picked up some Tata brochures when taking my Rover for service a few years back. Rover being, of course, no more, who is importing and servicing Tatas now in UK?

I'm afraid that my experience of Tata in India was not a happy one... and with stuff like cars, one's first impression of a brand tends to be permanent.

Been watching the BBC news on the internet for news of my mother-country, and I see you guys now have a monsoon climate? I don't recall reports of flooding in Wales, but parts of England seem to be in serious flood trouble. I heard from someone in Ireland that he had had 44 days rain.

You can tell it's a Brit writing this: talking about the weather straight away!

iraghava · 22nd July 2007, 13:29

Welcome to the forum Foxy! Good to see that you love your Gurkha, now if you have trouble sourcing any parts for it give it a shout out at the forum & I'm sure one of us could help you procure them!

Have fun & looking forward to seeing you around!

Hwel Fawr!

khaadu75 · 22nd July 2007, 13:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by iraghava

Welcome to the forum Foxy! Good to see that you love your Gurkha, now if you have trouble sourcing any parts for it give it a shout out at the forum & I'm sure one of us could help you procure them!

Have fun & looking forward to seeing you around!

Hwel Fawr!

Seems you hell bent on becoming an International Wheeler Dealer ....

Foxy @ Good to have you aboard .... would love to hop across to your farm someday !!! Enjoy your stay around here .... the weather is nice and hot ( usually ) in here ...

Cheers

dafyddcoch · 24th July 2007, 01:05

Thanks for the warm welcome or diolch ar y croeso ghynes to give it you in Welsh. You are all really kind with your offers for help re spares. To answer a few questions here, Nobody is importing TATAs into the UK at the moment although I undestand that "discussions are taking place" but then they've been saying that for over a year.

In relation to the idea of a 7 acre farm being 'small', in the uk a farm of less than 100 acres is considered 'small' and much less than that is not considered to be a viable farm. Farming in the UK is more like agri business these days and making a living from small farms is virtually impossible. my 7 acres is about 6 acres of mountain bog with a natrually occuring very acidic ph value and as we are on the west coast we frequently get winds speeds in excess of 90 mph (almost the top speed of my TATA lol). To compound matters further, there is no tree shelter here at all to give protection form the wind and we have to much rain. I know this might seem daft to those used to not enough rain but as we're on the side of mountain the ground water is constantly washing the nutrients out of the land. People in the past did live off these small hill farms and oats (oats being the only cereal that grows in this wet place) were grown on this farm until the 1950s. However, as well as the farm land, farmers around here still ahve teh right to graze their cattle and sheep on the open mountain side for 10 months of the year but if you have loads of animals on the hill you have to have somewhere else to keep them for the other two months.

Anyway, this is a car forum not a farmers forum so I'll not bore you further with matters agricultural and sign off by reiterating my thanks for your warm welcome and I look forward to my stay here.
Diolch (thanks)
Dafyddcoch

21st July 2007, 17:41	#1
dafyddcoch Newbie Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Bangor in a country called Wales Posts: 0 Thanked: 0 Times	New member from Wales in Europe saying hi hi folks and greetings from a new member. My name is Foxy and I live in Wales a small country to the west of England. I own a Tata Sierra td 4x4 of 1998 manufacutre. Over here however, Sierras are sold as Gurkhas I think due to their being a Ford Sierra and Ford UK had a legal battle over the name years ago with a kit car maker over the name. Over here Tatas are not that well regarded but then there is a lot people who comment without trying the product and assume that it must be rubbish if it doesn't come from a company they have heard of before. I have been very pleased with my Sierra / Gurkha and use it in teh mannerit was intended. I live on a small hil-farm (about 7 acres) and the Tata pulls my Universal 4x4 tractor on a trailer up the mountain to my farm and it often has a trailer on the back with scrap metal or masses of firewood or building rubble on it. Yet it cruises down the motorway effortlessly at 70 to 75 mph (the speed limit in Wales and England is 70 mph) and is nice and comfortable. The fuel economy is not fantastic but then it is turbo diesel 4x4 that is heavy and it is better than most of the other 4x4s. I find that if you are prepared to drive it 10 mph slower than one would drive a family saloon / hatchback the economy is not mush worse than the saloon / hatchback. Sure it doesn't go round corners like a GTI hatchback but then a GTI hatchback doesn't pull several tons up a mountain track. All these big 4x4's drive like tractors and even if you fit wood door cappings and leather seats and an on-board entertainment system, if you tip it upside down it looks pretty much like the underneath of a Tata really. Spares can be a bit of a problem over here though as at the moment imports of the cars have stopped. This is due in part I think to the fact that the same people who ruined MG Rover having done very well out of it personally, the so called Phoenix 4, were also the importers for Tata and nobody else has yet started to import them. This has left a few really angry and fed up dealers who supported the product but have been left with no cars to sell. Anyway say hi if you like and I look forward to reading and sending posts to this group. Hwel fawr (something we say around here in Welsh speaking Wales when leaving, it sort of means 'have lots of fun') Foxy
	() Thanks

21st July 2007, 20:00	#2
ajmat Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 14,858 Thanked: 27,925 Times View My Garage	Welcome on board You gave a true pic of Tata i n the UK. Salt was rubbed into the would with the phoenix 4 overcpricing the Indica. If they priced it cheap, it would have sold. Speed cameras in N Wales excepted, I really enjoy Wales. Used to go on school trips to Llangollen. Last month, I spent as spectacular weekend in Abersoc, near Pwffally (not good at spelling this on the fly!)
	() Thanks

21st July 2007, 21:51	#4
abhibh Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Back in the HOOD near you! Posts: 2,768 Thanked: 39 Times	Welcome aboard. have a nice stay here. Last edited by aah78 : 21st July 2007 at 22:39. Reason: moved. please use the Report feature for such issues.
	() Thanks

21st July 2007, 22:38	#5
V-16 Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2005 Location: mumbai Posts: 4,594 Thanked: 950 Times View My Garage	Welcome to the forum Foxy. Nice to know that someone in Wales is using a Tata Gurkha. Im sure if you have any problems, the parts will be very easy to source from India. Enjoy your stay here and Hwel Fawr to you too.
	() Thanks

22nd July 2007, 08:23	#6
Godfather Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Bangalore / Atlanta Posts: 1,387 Thanked: 70 Times View My Garage	Welcome to the forum Foxy. As V-16 said that the parts can be sourced from India. Have a great stay here. Godfather
	() Thanks

22nd July 2007, 08:47	#7
Thad E Ginathom Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Chennai Posts: 10,990 Thanked: 26,379 Times	I picked up some Tata brochures when taking my Rover for service a few years back. Rover being, of course, no more, who is importing and servicing Tatas now in UK? I'm afraid that my experience of Tata in India was not a happy one... and with stuff like cars, one's first impression of a brand tends to be permanent. Been watching the BBC news on the internet for news of my mother-country, and I see you guys now have a monsoon climate? I don't recall reports of flooding in Wales, but parts of England seem to be in serious flood trouble. I heard from someone in Ireland that he had had 44 days rain. You can tell it's a Brit writing this: talking about the weather straight away!
	() Thanks

22nd July 2007, 13:29	#8
iraghava Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Bhaiyyaland Posts: 8,033 Thanked: 265 Times View My Garage	Welcome to the forum Foxy! Good to see that you love your Gurkha, now if you have trouble sourcing any parts for it give it a shout out at the forum & I'm sure one of us could help you procure them! Have fun & looking forward to seeing you around! Hwel Fawr!
	() Thanks

24th July 2007, 01:05	#10
dafyddcoch Newbie Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Bangor in a country called Wales Posts: 0 Thanked: 0 Times	Thanks for the warm welcome Thanks for the warm welcome or diolch ar y croeso ghynes to give it you in Welsh. You are all really kind with your offers for help re spares. To answer a few questions here, Nobody is importing TATAs into the UK at the moment although I undestand that "discussions are taking place" but then they've been saying that for over a year. In relation to the idea of a 7 acre farm being 'small', in the uk a farm of less than 100 acres is considered 'small' and much less than that is not considered to be a viable farm. Farming in the UK is more like agri business these days and making a living from small farms is virtually impossible. my 7 acres is about 6 acres of mountain bog with a natrually occuring very acidic ph value and as we are on the west coast we frequently get winds speeds in excess of 90 mph (almost the top speed of my TATA lol). To compound matters further, there is no tree shelter here at all to give protection form the wind and we have to much rain. I know this might seem daft to those used to not enough rain but as we're on the side of mountain the ground water is constantly washing the nutrients out of the land. People in the past did live off these small hill farms and oats (oats being the only cereal that grows in this wet place) were grown on this farm until the 1950s. However, as well as the farm land, farmers around here still ahve teh right to graze their cattle and sheep on the open mountain side for 10 months of the year but if you have loads of animals on the hill you have to have somewhere else to keep them for the other two months. Anyway, this is a car forum not a farmers forum so I'll not bore you further with matters agricultural and sign off by reiterating my thanks for your warm welcome and I look forward to my stay here. Diolch (thanks) Dafyddcoch
	() Thanks