Reliable Ford for $1000-$1500?

[ebxr8240]

Originally Posted by EDManual

Get a manual EB,ED or EF. They last forever I have found, only just did a clutch on our ED Manual at 320,000!! They head gasket is starting to get a small leak to the outside though, not inside. Stuck some of that gasket fixing solution and its fixed it so far!

Could possibly fix it with replacing old head bolts with new [better designed] head bolts..Before gasket blows from weakened head bolts..

[FuturaFalcon]

Originally Posted by MITCHAY

You can't reasonably expect to buy a car for $1-1.5k and expect it to be reliable. It's pure hit and miss mate :

Yea you can you just gotta look in the right places and know what to look for if there was something wrong with it.

[Romulus]

BF FPV. At their current rate of depreciation they'll be down to the price range you've selected within a couple of years.

[cosmo20btt]

84 model xf ute is the way to go apart from some rust that wasnt to hard to fix, i have had it for five years & have spent about 500 dollars apart from the usual rego, petrol etc. only problem fuel gauge goes haywire everytime i put e10 in it.

[XBROO]

I would go a xd/e/f as they go for ever and are easy to work on but are a bit thirsty in the fuel department. I like the look of e-series falcons but they seem to have the most problems. Mostly head and corrosion issues water pumps, header tanks etc. Then there's electric problems like coils, throttle sensors etc. I have owned a few from EB to EL and aways cop atleast one of these problems with them. And know people that own them and have also encountered these problems.

[LUXO_8]

as has been mentioned already, the head and corosion issues in eseries are 99% of the time caused by poor maintainance!..... a reco head, an AU MLS gasket kit, and keep it maintained, you will never have a head or cooling issue again....

[RepSpec]

dang someone beat me to it.

buy an xf ute on gas. unless u need the extra room for passengers.

they are bullet proof and require little maintenance, and can tow fairly well

[XBROO]

Originally Posted by LUXO_8

as has been mentioned already, the head and corosion issues in eseries are 99% of the time caused by poor maintainance!..... a reco head, an AU MLS gasket kit, and keep it maintained, you will never have a head or cooling issue again....

Yeah your proberly right but buy a XD,E,F and you don't have to worry about good maintainance just put petrol in and drive.

[thunderoo]

I would go a kb / kc laser. They are very cheap to buy, very cheap to run. And when something mechanical happens to it, they are easy and cheap to repair. Might not be a car to look at, but hey....its only a get around car until your beast is finnished.

[big_landau]

xd xe xf is better built and will out last a ea to el,infact ea to el are puss boxes i have owned a few and never again.

[buickman]

Originally Posted by big_landau

xd xe xf is better built and will out last a ea to el,infact ea to el are puss boxes i have owned a few and never again.

Have owned both and the EA-ED are the most common with little issues for the price range in fact I have now a EB for over 2 years and it cost me about $1,500 with road worthy and 12 months rego and I've had it for over 2years .

No problems also no rust in the car compared to my old XE with door handle, ball joint, pitman arm and rust issues in the plenum bottom of doors and behind rear window

My vote goes to the early E series for the price range and parts are very plentiful.
A half decent EF/EL which are nicer cars are out of that price range you would have to up the $'s to get a good one

[TUF_302]

Id go for an EB wagon or XF ute or van, if you can get an EFI xf id jump at that!

[BENT_8]

For that money i'd be looking at an XE myself.
You could easily get an E series but in what condition and how well maintained, could be a pig in a bag.
On the other hand a tidy XE can be had for that money which will have been reasonably well cared for.
The good thing about XE's is the main problems can be easily fixed, apart from plenum rust but a good inspection prior to purchase will find any issues there (look for wet carpet, lift and check floor and felt)
Im undecided on wether to go carbi or EFi though.
The XE efi setup is less complicated and seem more reliable than the XF.
The carbi is easier to mod with, but standard the EFi is better to drive, depends if it will always be just a hack or something you'll 'play' with later.

[LUXO_8]

try finding a tidy XE for under 2k now though - especially an EFi model...... XD-XF are actually on the up in terms of value

[BENT_8]

I sold one 6 months ago for $1700, was factory s'pak running straight gas through an EFi manifold and 4sp.
Had full front rebuild, new top end, exhaust and in very tidy cond.

Ya just have to look around and i'd say non collectables will be flooding the market soon as people scramble to get decent $$'s.
I've noticed a definite increase in older cars hitting the market relatively cheap in the last 3 mths.

[dallasv8]

i voted for the ef/el as i own an EF fairmont now thats got near 300 000 on the clock and ive had it since it had 100 000 on it and ive had basically only the aircon pump die and the speedo transducer go and thats about it.

ive also owned a 1990 ea s pac and a 1991 eb fairmont and both were great cars. the ea copped a god damn flogging from me,i raced it, smoked it up etc and done everything pretty much that the boys in blue detest and it took it all in its stride...i didnt win many races but haha.

as it is, my current EF fairmont auto gets about 9.7 l/100km on the highway and about 11 l/100km in town,pretty good as far as im concerned,and parts are easy and cheap to get

[red_hotxr6]

I would have to think a good eb/ed model as i think the ea,s are worst than the xf,s and to buy an ef for $1500 something has to be wrong with it?

[Pinch]

I love X series, but as a daily driver I find that especially the petrol (carby) are a fair bit heavier on fuel.

For mine though, I would go high series (monty, Ghia) Eb2 to ED. Wouldn't knock back an NC either as these are worth nothing : - unless you need to park it in crowded areas Otherwise I might go a later (EF/EL) futura or similar.

A mate just picked up a EF futura wagon for 500 that looks straight runs well and had a bit of rego. Uses it for a high k commute rather than the 'good' car - still safe with ABS and airbag too.

[buickman]

Originally Posted by Pinch

I
A mate just picked up a EF futura wagon for 500 that looks straight runs well and had a bit of rego. Uses it for a high k commute rather than the 'good' car - still safe with ABS and airbag too.

Did the car come with a roadworthy for that price! As when I was looking for a cheapo as a runaround the EF/EL's I looked at for under a $1,000 needed a bit of work on them for a roadworthy and if FOSSIL was looking at $1,000-1,500 for a reliable car the EA-ED falcons/fairlanes are the cars that can come in that price range with roadworthy's.

[LUXO_8]

just bought an NA Fairlane for 500 bucks....runs great, has rebuilt 3 speed auto and LPG.
had a roadworthy inspection done on it today and looks like its not going to take much work at all...bit of a list but all easy stuff.

plenty of cheap cars out there!

[mrbaxr6t]

I bought an XF ute on gas for 1k got it rwc (owed me 2.1k all up) and I can assure you they are NOT bullet proof it blew a rear main seal at 2 am and it ripped the engine a new one - I am not even game to crack it open I know its fubar bigtime so I got a smokey engine given to me (yes free!) and I am rebuilding it when I slot that in the ute I have should go till the cows come home! I would stay away from anything pre EA that is EFI you strap gas to that and its time for breakdowns!