Today we assess why Aussie Oscar is our next F1 campione del mondo and why you have a better chance of beating a Jeep in a foot race than extracting satisfactory repairs.
Stellantis, the car company with a name only slightly better than Urus, has been recalling cars faster than young Oscar at Baku, the city with a name only slightly worse than Mount Buggery, Victoria – and has been doing over Jeep (a car only slightly worse than the 1980 Ferrari Mondial 8, as Dan Neil says: “its transistor-based electronics had more bugs than a Barstow motel rollaway. Eventually, every single system would fail, not infrequently accompanied by the smell of burning wires. The factory-authorised service, meanwhile, was more like factory-authorised extortion”) readers!
BMW Group was alerted to a braking system fault in 2022 that is now expected to cost the automaker nearly $2bn to fix and could affect up to 1.5 million vehicles.
And in a blockbuster announcement, Toyota will field a minimum of four Gen3 GR Supras in Supercars 2026 alongside those other Aussie favourites the Chev Camaro and the Ford Mustang. Remember when Toyotas were banned from RSL car parks?
And Crofty tips his winner for tomorrow’s Singers GP which he tells me is on Kayo and Foxtel (all part of this paper’s online multimedia empire).
For those stories and more, read on.
First up, Oscar Piastri, 23, of Melbourne (the Baku of Australia). He is a Richmond supporter which is a team in the AFL that is currently running 18th. Let’s now cross to Crofty (David Croft, 54, of SDL). Crofty and Martin Brundle are the 21st and 22nd drivers in F1 except they steer from the commentary box.
Crofty, what do you think about Oscar and his sensational drive in Baku where he beat Chuck Leclerc by 10 seconds with Georgie Russell and Leaping Lando filling out the next losing spots?
“He’s exceptional in his maturity and his calmness. Did he sound like he had a stressful day at the end? No, not really.
“Sounded like Oscar Piastri, the guy next door that you can’t help but like, and who I think one day will be a Formula One world champion, if the car is up to it. And I think it’s great to see him help the McLaren revival too. Who’d have thought it – an Australian helping our British revival?”
And your prediction for Singers?
“Singapore has not been Red Bull’s best track. So don’t expect Red Bull to bounce back and be brilliant. Ferrari will go well there. Chuck can take pole. McLaren will go well, then Mercedes might be okay there as well but I’m expecting it to be a McLaren weekend.”
Moving on to our role as the car consumer’s friend, Stellantis is an American, French, Italian global multinational conglomerate carmaker that turns out winners like Alfa Romeo, Ram trucks, Chrysler, Citroen and our favourite, Jeep.
Anyway, the company’s problems are best summed up by Sports Illustrated that says: “Just two weeks ago, Stellantis was forced to recall 1.2 million Ram vehicles due to faulty brake software – the second recall for Ram pick-ups this year.
“A June recall saw almost 158,000 Rams brought in for faulty electronic stability control modules. This recall was concurrent with a Jeep recall, with 2020-2024 Wranglers and Gladiators recalled for an instrument cluster failure.
“These high-profile reports came the same week as new sales figures were released showing that five of the top 10 slowest-selling cars in 2024 were Stellantis offerings.”
Then a week ago, US auto safety regulators said they were investigating reports that the engines can catch fire on some Jeep SUVs and pick-up trucks even with the ignition turned off. The probe covers more than 781,000 Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator vehicles from the 2021 through 2023 model years.
So that brings us to Helen and Jerry Chaberka who, like Oscar, are from the Baku of Australia. Hels and Jezza bought a pre-owned Jeep Grand Cherokee Trail Hawk MY20 in March 2022. Just one month later, the engine failed in Wonthaggi at 10pm. The car was towed to the dealer, Berwick Jeep, and returned a month later.
“This year” Hels says “during a road trip to WA, the car went into limp mode near Madura. After 6 hours of driving at 60km/h, we reached Norseman and waited two days for transport to Perth for repairs. Two days later, we got the car back and continued our journey.
“On our way back, the engine failed again while overtaking on the Nullarbor. Stranded in Mundrabilla for three days, we were eventually towed to Adelaide, where the car was repaired after eight days. Both Perth and Adelaide dealers claimed they were unaware of the car’s arrival, despite roadside assistance organising it.
“Back home, we contacted Berwick Jeep, Stellantis, Jeep Australia, and the ACCC, but have received no response. We later learned that the previous owner had two failures and received a payout. We are seeking the same, as the car is clearly a lemon and should never have been sold to us.”
Now, since the Stellantis Group and brands don’t have media contacts on their websites we wrote to customer service, who nicely told us: “Stellantis Australia understands your email and we apologise but we won’t be able to provide any information on your inquiry.
“We suggest reaching out to the customer directly to retrieve more information or have the customer contact us regarding the vehicle.”
Hold on sunshine, the customer tried to contact Berwick Jeep, Stellantis, Jeep Australia, and the ACCC, and no one could be bothered to reply. Remember, 20 readers, this is the same Stellantis that the ACCC says is “the importer and distributor of Jeep vehicles in Australia (and) has undertaken to address ACCC concerns about the way it has handled complaints by consumers who have experienced problems with their Jeep vehicles, in a court-enforceable undertaking accepted by the ACCC.
“The ACCC investigated Stellantis Australia’s response to consumer guarantee complaints after receiving many complaints from consumers about Jeep vehicles and their difficulties in obtaining remedies under the consumer guarantees which are in the Australian Consumer Law.
“The reasons for the complaints included lengthy delays in obtaining a remedy, vehicles requiring multiple repairs for the same issues, and delays in parts being provided.”
So next week we will report on the following:
ACCC replies to our questions; the Singers GP; BMW brakes and the Sultan’s run-in with the Kensi’s owner.
jc@jcp.com.au
When being of good cheer means shifting through the gears
Whatever way you’re celebrating the festive season, let’s reflect on those less fortunate in Brunei, where it will be Christmas-less but at least you can spend the day admiring the Sultan’s cars.
When you have more money than sense, try a Pagani Zonda
It’s reputedly got the same power as a turbo-prop aircraft and probably flies faster when it leaves the road and buries itself in a tunnel wall. Life flashes by quickly behind the wheel of a Pagani.