Most reliable Falcon

[Mercury Bullet]

Haha, probably because they were all the mpefi versions?

[stock1991]

nah cause everyone was in a bad mood
(hungover?) on Mondays and thinking about the weekend on Fridays

[.:4:.]

Originally Posted by stock1991

nah cause everyone was in a bad mood
(hungover?) on Mondays and thinking about the weekend on Fridays

Ha never buy anything local that's built on a Monday or a Friday. It's either the hangover day or no attention for the time for 2 days off.

[Sprint XR8]

The build process takes about two weeks they were all built on a Monday and a Friday.

[OzriderXR8]

I've driven a lot of Falcons as cabs over the years, XB / XC were shockers but the XD onwards were pretty good.

Drove a 'Yellow Cab' XD with over 1,000,000 klms on it.

My current FG2 has had more warranty repairs than anything else I've owned, diff, bushes, shocks, climate control etc. but has never actually broken down.

[stock1991]

Originally Posted by OzriderXR8

I've driven a lot of Falcons as cabs over the years, XB / XC were shockers but the XD onwards were pretty good.

Drove a 'Yellow Cab' XD with over 1,000,000 klms on it.

My current FG2 has had more warranty repairs than anything else I've owned, diff, bushes, shocks, climate control etc. but has never actually broken down.

million k'2 and 2 transmissions, most likely 3

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by stock1991

nah cause everyone was in a bad mood
(hungover?) on Mondays and thinking about the weekend on Fridays

Must've been true over at Holden as well, cause I once bought a Friday WB Panel van, rope tied to the A arms spanners found under the bench seat. P.O.S.

[Mercury Bullet]

If it was a Wednesday car they would have left an 18yr old Sheila with big bank accts in a pano.

Or was that only sandmans?

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by Mercury Bullet

If it was a Wednesday car they would have left an 18yr old Sheila with big bank accts in a pano.

Or was that only sandmans?

Yes only Sandmans and Sundowners had those.

[mick taylor]

Originally Posted by Dr Terry

IMHO not quite so.

The sweet spot for simplicity versus reliability would be XY-XA.

Assuming it is a basic 6-cyl 3-sp manual, but with disc brakes, all the old suspension & other engineering woes were sorted out by then. The earlier Fords (XK-XP) needed work to make them reliable.

The 250 ci log motor was near bullet-proof, with a Stromberg carby & a Bosch points dissy. By XB, anti-pollution gear was creeping in. The diff & gearbox were much stronger than the earlies, as was most of the body hardware. Also these models were so simple any back-yarder could fix them with a 12-piece toolkit.

I worked in the taxi game in the early 70s & these cars could commonly achieve 1,000,000 miles (not kms) without spending big $$$. HK/T/G/Q Holden were similar.

Later cars with their EFI, electronics, a/cond & modern suspension & steering systems will drive much better, but they are far more complicated, with so much more to go wrong.

Dr Terry

From what I seen mainly from most people got was out of a XR to XB Ford 6 would normally get 100,000miles to 130,000miles before it was bugged and the B/W 35 auto 100,000miles diffs were fine.
Windsor V8 160,000 to 200,000miles.
Cleveland V8 120,000 to 160,000miles.

Some can claim real high mileage but the engines been gutless rubbish for many of them miles and using oil, I don't think they and rattle traps don't count.

My mum had a HR Holden from new Aug 1967 to Aug 1977 with 250,000miles up and original auto still good, driven had as, with towing a trailer a lot, but blue a diff at about 125,000miles. but it was serviced well and doing high mileage every year makes a difference.

[Syndrome]

BF MKII was the most reliable Falcon I've owned.

[4vxc]

I've had every model from 1968 XT up to the 2016 FGX except for XA.
Still have a few different Falcons, but in all honesty my 2001 AU2 Fairlane Sportsman beats them all for reliability, quality and basically doing exactly what it was designed to do with no issues.
Every thing works perfectly no rattles or squeaks or any problems.
All my Fords are maintained correctly but it seems to me that interior quality and reliability and went out the door with BA onwards
I'm sure the Fairlane will still be motoring on well after my FGX calls it a day.

[stock1991]

I was going to generalise and say imo cars with less technology are more reliable but maybe it's more to do with quality of components, After all the internal combustion engine is pretty robust ,it's all the bits and pieces bolted on that fail. An example is a thread that details someone replacing a faulty plastic part for a nut and bolt. No doubt in this space age they could use an indestructible plastic but it comes down to cost, I noted the plastic piece that crumbled was underneath the car, not even in direct sunlight

[janddbone]

The only thing that will stop AU's in the future are rust and dealing with coding modules and keys etc. Even that is manageable. Otherwise all good.

[Trump]

I've had multiple Falcons, the least reliable was the XF, dead fuel pumps, carby issues, snapped clutch cables (every xmas eve the clutch pedal would sink to the floor). The most reliable was the FG. It never broke down and was in for warranty for very minor issues.

[EBSXR6]

AU I know a couple of people have had them since new and still drive very well.

[Evgeni]

I've had an XC, XE, 2x AU's and a BA. None of them ever broke down on me and all were up around 400k when I got rid of them.
Reliable? Yes, but they did have little maintenance items.
I won't count the XC as I blew that up myself, but the number of door handles I changed on the XE or passenger steering boots, power window motors and switches on the AU's.
Engines though were bullet proof, even with 15000km oil changes. It was always everything else around it.

[au350hp]

Originally Posted by stock1991

I was going to generalise and say imo cars with less technology are more reliable but maybe it's more to do with quality of components, After all the internal combustion engine is pretty robust ,it's all the bits and pieces bolted on that fail. An example is a thread that details someone replacing a faulty plastic part for a nut and bolt. No doubt in this space age they could use an indestructible plastic but it comes down to cost, I noted the plastic piece that crumbled was underneath the car, not even in direct sunlight

These are the reasons I like the AU Windsor V8. The motor is proven to last, has very few plastic parts & sensors. All these plastic bolt on bits seem to be the ones that stuff up & are damaged by high temps in engine bays. The AU was the last V8 with access space for ease of service. I am looking at a Raptor blower this year to fix the only thing about AU's I don't like, and that is the limited power. I want the 220 badge to represent rear wheel KW, then I will be happy. The Falcons I have owned have been very reliable. I did a head gasket in Brisbane in a 4.0i EF Fairmont & drove it to Sydney stopping to fill the radiator every 40 minutes, still did it in 11 hours, leaving Brisbane at midnight.

[ebxr8240]

First AU wasn’t exactly pretty and kept the rev heads away ? I’m a little older . Any Falcon with 250 or cross flow heads did very well also . Age seems take their tole . If your 20 - 35 these cars had done their work before you where born !! In fact it could be where your life started !!

[mik]

Hi guys , good to see many of the same dudes on here ;) .
i dont get on here much anymore , but amazed to see this thread still going .
I still have my liquid silver xr6 , not much has changed since my last post this thread.
But the poor old girl is looking somewhat tired now , and never seeing the inside of a garage has taken its toll on the paint work , body and body rubbers ,
and due to ill health the motorvation to get out and start spannering eludes me these days unfortunately .
a couple of years ago i decided i was going to spend nothing on the XR other than engine oil changes , and i have pretty much stuck to that plan even though it hurts to see my beloved au getting closer to its retirement .
the funny thing is , about 3 months ago the rego was nearly due and i was going to retire her ,
the front tyres where getting a bit down and some other general maintenance items could use some dough spending on , disc rotors/pads /etc drivers side electric window mechanism is getting tired , gained a water leak in the cabin during a down pour , the windscreen and seal are buggered , mostly all tedious items , but never the less all these things add up on an old car.
and i thought well this is as good a time as ever to mt the driveway for something that is not worn out and will require very little maintenance for some years .
The day came before rego was to run out and i could not do it , the dam car still runs like a top as far as driving goes , starts perfectly , still drives like a 3 year old car , steering is still magnificent .....every day i come back from a drive , i say to myself what a good car , still same ball joints all around , 99% same bushes except for the upper shocker mounts , and two steering tie rod ends a couple of year ago ish which where still usable , but had lost nearly all friction .
same head gasket , same timing chain , same auto , same diff,
dont get me wrong all are showing sign of wear , the diff is a bit clunky (but surprisingly is otherwise fairly quiet ) , the auto still changes ok , but you can tell the gear changes are not as snappy as they used to be 17 years ago .
I`ve thought it over soo many times , what if i was to refurbish the old girl , maybe put a v8 in or an xr6 turbo motor from a newer wreck , but again the old age and pain defeats still feeling like your a 20 year old in the head , not to mention spending quite a bit of dough on an old car thats had a hard life and probably still wont be worth anything after it ..
The au has been the rock of the family (tears may flow ), i will be sorry to her go when the time comes .
most reliable a trouble free and best driving experience of any car i have owned .
sorry for the long post , and all the best .

[Maka]

All the best to you too mik, we've missed ya, good to hear from you again mate!!

cheers, Maka

[mik]

Originally Posted by Maka

All the best to you too mik, we've missed ya, good to hear from you again mate!!

cheers, Maka

Thanks Maka , cheers .

[78xcgxl]

I'd say FGs are the most reliable. IMO they are so well built. I had a BA ute before hand and it never broke down but the little things like power steering hoses, starter motor playing up, dash rattles, door actuators, lower ball joints, Blocked a/c drain etc all were extremely annoying for a car with only 140,000 when i got it. I now have a FG2 XR6T ute which had 40,000km when i got it and now almost has 70,000km. It has been flawless, the build quality of the FG is so much better than previous falcons. The interior fit and finish, materials is leaps and bounds ahead of previous falcons. Panel and door/ seal fit so much better. Front suspension also far better, no lower ball joint issues, steering issues etc. I have 100% trust in the car. My brother and dad also own FG2s and both have been super reliable as well. Sensational cars!

[jphanna]

AU.......

there is no second place.

even the Holden die hards, respect the AU for reliability and toughness.

[GO FURTHER]

Originally Posted by 78xcgxl

I'd say FGs are the most reliable. IMO they are so well built. I had a BA ute before hand and it never broke down but the little things like power steering hoses, starter motor playing up, dash rattles, door actuators, lower ball joints, Blocked a/c drain etc all were extremely annoying for a car with only 140,000 when i got it. I now have a FG2 XR6T ute which had 40,000km when i got it and now almost has 70,000km. It has been flawless, the build quality of the FG is so much better than previous falcons. The interior fit and finish, materials is leaps and bounds ahead of previous falcons. Panel and door/ seal fit so much better. Front suspension also far better, no lower ball joint issues, steering issues etc. I have 100% trust in the car. My brother and dad also own FG2s and both have been super reliable as well. Sensational cars!

I would also go so far as to predict that in years to come, the FG MKII will prove to be the series even more reliable than the FG X's seeing Ford lost interest in the final models knowing it was the last.

[roddy1960]

Originally Posted by jphanna

AU.......

there is no second place.

even the Holden die hards, respect the AU for reliability and toughness.

Never met a Falcon I didn't like but AU just keeps hanging around two decades on in numbers most other cars don't. Says it all really when even in little places you are almost certain to see AU sedans , wagons and utes still plying their trade on a daily basis.

My own one almost 15 years on (bought at Easter 2003) two years old has had only the alternator replaced in 2015 and the factory CD player would only read the occasional disc by about 2010 so I put the harness in and an aftermarket head unit . The ol' silver bird just never quits. Transmission check in 2016 revealed it was still in near perfect order with no debris on the magnets and oil as clean as. No hint of diff whine or leaks. No hydraulic lifter noises in the engine whatsoever , no dash rattles , slight squeak from sway bar rubbers in dry weather if it's been dry for a while and the clock needs a new backlight bulb. Tyre wear exceptional too . Current Goodyear NCT's have over 50k on them and still fine. Even the ball joints and all the suspension is all original . Nothing failed yet.

Needing attention - Dull tired paint thanks to being out in the weather a lot although not peeling on clearcoat , a bit of rust now eating into the bonnet bracing near the catch and in the bootlid under the numberplate where water collects. Courtesy of a wildlife hit or two a cracked front air dam, headliner letting go around the front screen and rear window edges , driver seat stitching letting go a bit around bolster and backlight in clock not working. Even all four power windows , A/C / all fans etc function fine. Slight weep now just starting to be seen in the power steering and cracking in one of the p/s boots underneath noticed on recent service.
She's a beaut . If my FG XR6 gets anywhere near the old AU with this sort of reliability I'll be over the moon.

[78xcgxl]

Originally Posted by GO FURTHER

I would also go so far as to predict that in years to come, the FG MKII will prove to be the series even more reliable than the FG X's seeing Ford lost interest in the final models knowing it was the last.

FG MkII are well sorted. FG series 1 had little issues like with every first model. FGXs are in my opinion the same as FG MkII just with different sheet metal. But fundamentals underneath the new looks are solid and well sorted like on the FG2.

My FG ute is used as a work ute, carry 500kg constant with a big alloy canopy, ladders, conduit holder, tools, materials etc. Couldn't ask for a more comfortable work ute! Absolute pleasure to drive everyday!