What a good car !

[mik]

Do you have a car that has treated you really really well over a long period ?
its been you and your family's rock through out the years ????
i just thought id give my experience in my AU after 10 ish years of ownership.
Even my brother used it for a few months when his car kicked the bucket(quite trusting of me there ).

my AU despite a few minor flaws has been a bloody good car, yes i have replaced stuff as you do in the life of a 14 year old car, but most of it was general servicing and wear and tear items , radiator core, power steer hose, upper shock mounts a couple of years ago,

repaired a few minor known small flaws that do crop up in Au`s on occasion , power window switches needing a clean, or a slow window regulator or a steering rack when they get a few miles on them , timing chain tensioner o rings, boot strut support ball.

the car still has all the original rear suspension bar the konis,
nearly all the same front suspension also bar the konis, same ball joints, everything is unopened, diff /auto/engine, it did have a rear main seal done late last year , and it does burn a tiny bit of oil, but i reckon thats quite acceptable for its age,
steering shaft last year , again general wear and tear.
diff is getting a bit of backlash in it, surprisingly its still seems quiet other than a bit of a clunk on the odd gear change/downshift .

i have my other old limo i use about half the time now, but i still love driving the au, it still steers and goes well, handles good.

Never had an electrical gremlin other than the worn alternator at around 160,000 k`s and a misfire caused by coil pack at sometime over 100,000 k`s

the paint is showing signs of age and the body is all original never had a wack to warrant a repair, never had a touch up in my ownership, though it has a bit of light hail damage and a couple of blemishes, one i put on it :(, and general wear and tear, door hinges are still very good, very little rust i can find.
if the engine or something major had of gone bang a couple of years ago , the service i have had out of the car , i would still thought it was a good car, but here we are today nothing has gone bang.

Every time i get into it, hot or cold , i hit the key , it cranks 3 or 4 times as it has for 14 years, and fires straight up.....

i think to myself ....... "bloody hell this is a dam good car".

[Maka]

I love my 2 AU's! They earned they're place in my garage because of their overall competence on the road, dependability, ease of repair, parts availability & frugal fuel usage etc. If you look after your AU, it will look after you the same!

cheer's, Maka

[Uncle_Ken]

I must be luckily cause all the cars I have owned (what ever make) have never given me any problems.
I do agree that AU are for the most part, easy to fix for the average front/rear car prang (see my AUII thread for my quick front repair)
I hope it stays that way for my XR8
UK

[mik]

Thinking about it a bit more the only thing i miss out of my car that it no longer has , is the factory ford 6 stacker and radio with the nice big buttons and the delay one hour turn off feature once the key is pulled out, i loved how easy it was to use and delay feature.

also in the 6 cylinder versions we have the fail safe cooling system, how many other cars have this feature ??? i do not know of a single marque that has this, not saying there isnt one, but the au had it/has it, people dont realise what a dam good car they where/are even with the few minor build flaws.

[Maka]

I know what you mean mik! My S1 XR6 vct i've recently purchased come with a aftermarket stereo & i'm lost now because the steering wheel controls don't work lol, also cant play my old cassettes like in my AU Futura!

ps - i love bragging to my VT V6 Commodore owner mates about the cooling fail safe mode, they are envious of that one hey!

cheer's, Maka

[david lee]

ive had my 2002 xr6 tickford since 2006 its the best car ive ever had all my other cars were holdens from hr,s to statesmans

[mik]

Yes they are a pretty good David, i might add what a good tow car and in particular the XR6/8 models are with just the right steering ratio, and that very nice IRS and a bit firmer suspension.
no doubt the other models are good too , but the XR`s where a cut above imo.

[Strattos]

Totally agree with what everyone has said, plus it's the sweetest steering car I've had I reckon.

For me, the AUs were the last of the properly made Aussie cars, particularly internally. By this I mean, that when you compare the AU to the BA and everything after, there's a big difference.

Hopped in a mate's BA the other day and everything feels like brittle, cheap plastic compared to our AUs. The dash, the door trims, the whole lot feels cheaper to me. There's just that little bit of 'give' in the dash and the door trims in our cars.

And there seems to be something more special about buying an XR6/8 in the AUs than the BA. In the XR6/8s you got a whole different instrument cluster, including additional gauges, and all the other extras. In the BA and onwards, it seems from first observations that they just change the colour of the instrument cluster and seat graphics and a few other things (although the bonnet bulge is cool) and that makes it an XR6/8.

Also noticed you guys referencing mates with Holden equivalents. I'm the same. Most of my mates seem to have Holdens for some reason, and I give them (and probably receive more) a heap of crap for it.

[Spurious]

I found my '85 s-pack XF to be a reliable beast.
With a reco'd motor it saw me flog the blacktop for 10 years. It came close to letting me down a few times, (everything BUT the motor) but the enginuity of an owner is what makes a good car.

I'm now the proud owner of what society completely ridiculed back in '98.

Love my AU2 Fairmont. (see signature)

[david lee]

Originally Posted by Strattos

Totally agree with what everyone has said, plus it's the sweetest steering car I've had I reckon.

For me, the AUs were the last of the properly made Aussie cars, particularly internally. By this I mean, that when you compare the AU to the BA and everything after, there's a big difference.

Hopped in a mate's BA the other day and everything feels like brittle, cheap plastic compared to our AUs. The dash, the door trims, the whole lot feels cheaper to me. There's just that little bit of 'give' in the dash and the door trims in our cars.

And there seems to be something more special about buying an XR6/8 in the AUs than the BA. In the XR6/8s you got a whole different instrument cluster, including additional gauges, and all the other extras. In the BA and onwards, it seems from first observations that they just change the colour of the instrument cluster and seat graphics and a few other things (although the bonnet bulge is cool) and that makes it an XR6/8.

Also noticed you guys referencing mates with Holden equivalents. I'm the same. Most of my mates seem to have Holdens for some reason, and I give them (and probably receive more) a heap of crap for it.

me to until they drive one.u just cant educate some people