im thinking of selling the xr6 and buying a au falcon ( was looking at a ba) but found out the seem to be to expensive so i thought might try a au falcon.

do they have the head gasket problem?

whats the rev limter?

whats the inside like on them better then the ef/el?

any other things i should know about them? im might be having look at mine tomorrow

the headgasget problem on the e series can be fixed with the au head gasget, so like any engine, the head gasget can let go but its better than the way the original head gasgets were on the e series sohc...
as for the outside they look like a whale, and ive seen the bottom of the boots rust out, they have the same btr autotragic transmission so check how it shifts etc, just the usual crap you check when buying any car

The AU is quite a good car mechanically and the interior is quite nice too but the body shape and styling is rather off putting...The EL was a much better looking car.
Please keep in mind that this is only my opinion. Apologies to those who love the shape of the AU - Not trying to offend anyone.

As said, their styling is down to personal tastes - before I got mine I thought they were hideous. Strange things happen to your perceptions once you get them though...

If you can manage to get one with IRS do it.

imo, the au's are one of the most mechanicaly reliable falcon in a long time, head gasket problems are rare, they handle and drive better than e series, a series 2 or 3 au will have much better brakes and are easily upgraded to larger b series brakes..

other than not being the most popular due to there styling and still look ahead of there time..
my next car will be an au..believe it or not i would still buy an au xr or fairmont before i would buy a ba...

Another big vote for an AU from here.
The styling is somewhat different and there is no disputing a series 1 Forte front end looks like balls. The commercial front only slightly less so.
But for comfort , reliability etc you cannot beat them in my opinion.
I have the 5.0 5 speed AU ute and the missus has a 5.0 Fairmont Ghia and they are a bloody good thing.

I did the same thing a few years ago, Was looking at BA's and ended up with an AU2.
It's been great car. I can afford to replace it with say a late-ish BF but I just can't find any reason to get rid of it.


A few things i've noticed, It leaks a little water in through the boot lid spoiler mounting wholes.

The weather strip in the door jams is coming apart, (this is the same part number for AU to BF and will cost $250-300 per side depending on the dealer you go to)

They are also at that age when the A/C is filling up with leafs and dirt and dust making the AC inefficient.
The plastic parts in the cooling system are also at the end of their reliable life, Things like radiator end tanks, header tank ect.
Front crank seals leak and the chain tensioner O ring leaks

Just make sure you give them thorough going over before you hand over the coin.

AU's kick a** for build quality, as mentioned styling can take a bit of getting used to. If you can get a T-Series!!

And they still have an accelerator cable!

Oh aye they are good. I've had my AU2 SR for just over 5 years now, and it is only mods that I have made that have sent me wrong

The chain tensioner O ring is about the only thing I can fault. They are a fantastic modders car as well. They are well built, and upgrades are cheap and relatively easy to install. A non IRS AU weighs in at 1.5 tons, so they are a damn sight lighter than B and FG series. If you are of the less is more, lightness is better persuasion, then an AU might just be better suited to you than a B series.

I have driven mine from Geelong to Bacchus Marsh TWICE on zero oil (the oil pressure sender wasn't installed properly by the last owner, and had worked its way out to the point were a full sump of oil would dissapear in 20 mins of driving). The head gasket is aok, the rings are f**k- you get big blue beyond 4700 rpm especially in second (5spd manual). Its down on compression, and runs way rich thanks to the tune we put on it after the auto-manual conversion... BUUUUT it just will not die. I have tried to kill it, with my home based bodge jobs on everything that spins and turns, as well as driving it like a maniac in the early days. This AU is probably the best car I have ever owned in my 12 years of motoring. I have learned a lot mechanicaly from tinkering with it, and it repays me every day in fun, puts a smile on my face, and refuses to die no matter what I do to it. I will hopefully NEVER sell my AU. My goal is to complete this degree with it, and then retire it to the shed after I graduate and get a job. The new car will be a small runabout probably of the 4 cylinder persuasion. The AU will get the treatment it deserves for such faithful service- a complete stripdown to the bare bones and rebuilt properly as a weekend car for the amatuer track days, where it will continue to serve me well, and put an even bigger smile on my dial.