Editorial

NZ4WD

Volume 26 No 7. AUGUST 2022

EDITOR Mark Baker EMAIL: editor@nz4wd.co.nz

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Margaret Murray

CONTRIBUTORS: Ashley Lucas, Richard Soult, Aaron Rich, David Coxon, Geoff Anders, Peter Vahry

EVENTS MANAGER Ashley Lucas EMAIL: Ashley@nz4wd.co.nz

GROUP SALES MANAGER Dan Prestige EMAIL: dan@nz4wd.co.nz

NZ4WD ADVERTISING MANAGER Jacqueline Ngatai EMAIL: jacqueline@nz4wd.co.nz

PUBLISHER Cathy Parker EMAIL: cathy@adrenalin.co.nz

SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGER & ENQUIRIES Annette Colbert EMAIL: subs@nz4wd.co.nz

PROOFREADER George Ward

Adrenalin Publishing Ltd 56 Kuru Place, Papamoa, 3118 PO Box 65092 Mairangi Bay, Auckland 0754 Phone: 09 478 4771 Facsimile: 09 478 4779

SUBSCRIPTIONS: NZ4WD magazine is an 11 issue magazine plus one Annual Subscription in NZ $89 (incl GST). Please call us for overseas rates.

COPYRIGHT: NZ4WD is copyright and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher. Neither editorial opinions expressed nor facts stated in advertisements are necessarily agreed to by the editor or publisher of NZ4WD and, whilst all efforts are made to ensure accuracy, no responsibility will be taken by the publishers for inaccurate information, or for any consequences of reliance on this information.

PRINTING: SCG DISTRIBUTION: Gordon & Gotch

ISSN 1175–1827 (Print) ISSN 2253–2773 (Online)

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FROM THE EDITOR

Journey to the light

From the depressing depths of winter’s cold and wet days

Written from a dark, dank place, but heading for the sun: we’ve already crawled our way past the coldest and shortest days of 2022. Plenty of us are still out there doing the back-country trips and having a ball; others might be spending evenings in the shed sorting out the wear and tear of the summer just gone. Others are well settled into the couch. We don’t judge, it’s all fine.

A big theme of the past couple of years has been ‘are you okay?’

On that note, how are the 4WD fraternity faring with the price of fuel, parts availability, supply chain issues?

How many of us have changed our driving behaviour as fuel prices spike to new record heights? Will we switch from diesel to petrol as the former reaches new and outrageous price levels?

How easy is it to get the parts we need from dealers or third party outlets, or is there a constant response of ‘waiting for stock’?

How many of us are champing at the bit, having decided to buy a new 4WD and are now facing frustrating delivery-time waits of ten or more months?

How’s that ute tax affecting behaviour? Bought an EV double-cab 4WD recently?

We haven’t met many who have been deterred from their purchase of a traditional 4WD by having to add another $5-$8,000 to their shopping budget.

In fact, tradies we’ve bumped into over recent weeks have made a couple of good points: first, it’s the same for everyone – or pretty much the same. The ute tax is now ‘baked in’ to new 4WD prices.

Then our pet tradies are also quite philosophical about it. “We pay now, but we add the cost across the jobs we do,” was one comment.

Another points out that the tax will stick fast to the vehicle, so it will then raise the used-vehicle value when it comes time to sell and upgrade. He trades up every three years.

Finally, our pet chippie has just bought a lovely Hilux SR5 double-cab. He’s utterly Toyota-loyal and says simply: “What else will do what my ute does?”

There’s not going to be an EV ute available here for a fair while. In the meantime, we all need – and want – our utes and SUVs. Don’t we?

Time to keep calm and carry on. Sunny days are on their way.

Mark Baker

Editor, NZ4WD

On the cover this month: Jeep’s new Grand Cherokee L at Miranda; lower left, Steve Voschegang took his grandmother Ali out for a drive on the Ararimu Safari in his very original Suzuki LJ50; and Arrin Crabb drifts his Kiwitruck in racing at Manukau.