Gday. Me and my family have mostly been driving older euro cars, and they are fantastic, minus the expensive parts and servicing. We have had one aussie car, it was a brand new EL falcon. The car was horrible, and we still have it, and it has so many problems. The diff is stuffed, the tranny is really bad, suspensions, pretty much everything on it is badly worn out. The interior is also in a bad way. Lots of buttons have snapped off, and many features have stopped working.

I really like the looks and power of the BA Xr6t and the Xr8, and i am considering one of these, as they are both in my budget if i go for a 03/04 model. My only concern is whether or not ford have addressed all of these quality issues with the BA, because there is no way i will buy one if it will be in as bad condition as our EL after 5 years. I can not afford to be rebuilding diffs and trannys and cant really be bothered with a car that will wear out that fast. Our EL falcon is in worse shape after 10 years, then our 30 year old beema, and both were regularly serviced since new.

So yeah dont get me wrong, i love the BA otherwise i wouldnt be considering buying one, but i would like input as to the quality of the car, and whether or not ford has cracked down on its poor build quality with the BA.

Thanks, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I think you just got a dud EL mate. Happens to all sorts of makes and models.

You could get a good BA or a bad one, depends on your luck.

i had a horrable au

Stick to euros, you whinging prick!!!!!!!!

We had a bad EL. A/C has lost some of it's cool, motor leaked a bit of oil and then stopped, Steering rack is bent to bugger, steering is heavy (as a result). Crusie button caps fell of on the right, transmission sounds like a vacuum hose with a hole in it. Diff clunks like a haunted house at night, economy and power is lacking. Paintwork is pretty s**t after 6 or more years of being parked in the sunlight, NVH is harsh indeed. Window winders up front are very hard, passenger window broke at bottom and winder is inop. I could go on and on and on as things come to me, but I'll finish by saying this car has had a city driving life, 120,000km of which was highway driving, the other 75,000km was 1 hour city back and forths.

We also have an EL Fairmont Ghia V8. It's a brilliant car.

So all in all, get a BAII if you do, or a BF, and if you want my opinion, they are pretty reliable, but if you get a trouble child, look out!

go for at least the 04 BA (mk II) or BF. Also, if I were going a BA mkII, i'd be inclined to go for the 6spd manual over the 4 spd auto and if you were going BF, the 6 spd auto would be the go.

i've got an EL thats been well looked after, low k's. and its running great bar one small prob thats just come up. but nothing major. and its a fact, sometimes holden and ford have brought new cars off the production line that were 'brand new lemons'. anyone remember that blue ba xr6 ute that was at bathurst? i've also seen an 03 Hsv ute that had a s**t engine they couldn't fix.

im not sure, but i was told by a sales person that there were minor probs with the water pump on xr6's? dont know about that, thought the b series xt and xr shared the same engine config.

all australian build quality is s**t compared to euro's so dont be suprised if the ashtray door stops working or a cover falls off.

some cars had some HIDIOUS brake problems. warping and shuddering like you wouldn't believe. but in the later models and mark II they supposedly sorted it out.

other then that, i'd buy one. just make sure you dont get an ex fleet or thrashed family car

Well, both of my BA's have been flogged quite a bit, and the only time either one has ever had a problem was when I hit a kangaroo in the XR6.

We have and EF and I have a BA.

The EF after 11 years has it's problems, but not much other then wear and tear.

I have a Ba, and the build quality is average, and honestly that's what I expected! When I say average though, looking at it, and riding in it everyday makes it feel perfect, the only time you notice bits and pieces is when you start pulling it apart

It's a ford.

Not a friggen merc.

yeah I think all cars have their issues..

I had a citroen xantia before my EBII, it was nice but when things went wrong they went really wrong and you are dumbfounded as to what to do about it. everything was made absolutely impossible to get to. Engine was a bizarre thing and basically it scared me off as weird things started happening with the alternator, the a/c, the auto etc and each time I thought 'I'll just go have a look at that..' I would stand there 'looking' for quite a while.. 'hmmm i'll take that cover off and have a look.. oh.. hex bolts everythere.. damn.'

before that I had an XF which was a clunk old pos really.. but it was simple and easy to fix. My mate ended up blowing the engine throwing it into 1st gear doing 120kmph and planting boot.
We still drove about 40kms with no water.. no oil.. 5 pistons and one rod burying itself into the block.

before that I had a honda integra.. and I don't even want to START mentioning the problems I had with that!

Moral of the story is I expect to roll the dice with all cars, problems can occur with all of them if you are unlucky. My EBII seems the most reliable so far, yeah i blew a headgasket but it's going on 320,000kms and is as strong as ever.

Whilst were on this subject what were the differences between the mark1 and mark 2 falcons?Was it just refining the mark 1 problems or did they improve some areas?

mkI had diff probs apparently.. among other things

[quote="fordfalcon460"]Gday. Me and my family have mostly been driving older euro cars, and they are fantastic, minus the expensive parts and servicing. We have had one aussie car, it was a brand new EL falcon. The car was horrible, and we still have it, and it has so many problems. The diff is stuffed, the tranny is really bad, suspensions, pretty much everything on it is badly worn out. The interior is also in a bad way. Lots of buttons have snapped off, and many features have stopped working. quote]


if the car was horrible from new i would have taken it back..
you say the diff is stuffed and the tranny is really bad..
but how many kms is on the car and how often does it get serviced and do you thrash it?? things like suspension are going to wear out..eventually..

so lack of servicing or poor quality service ..and if you dont look after the car well it will become a horrible car..

otherwise you have been unlucky and got a bad one!!

Thanks for all the replies guys, much appreciated.

Our EL wasnt a lemmon, when we bought it it was working properly, but as we had never owned a falcon before, we were just surprised at how fast everything wears out on these cars compared to beemas and mercs (obviously fords are much cheaper though, so i guess this is fair enough).

I have driven other E series falcons, and they are all much the same, many seem to have problems with the gearbox and diff, and poor quality interior materials, but apart from this, the engines in particular seem to be very strong, much stronger and more reliable than most euro cars we have owned. We have never had any problems with the motor in the EL.

I guess in the end, my main concern is regarding the quality of the diff and 5 speed gearbox in the BA, since i am already convinced of the quality of ford engines, and things like suspension, brakes etc. are relatively cheap to repair anyway.

Also, i was actually planning to go for a 03 model, since i dont want to spend over 25k, but like others are saying, what makes the Mark2 so much more appealing than a mark 1? BTW regardless of which falcon i get i will definately be going for a manual.

Thanks again, I am a totally subjective car buyer, i dont care what brand a car is, as long as it suits my needs i will buy it.

Hate to say it but the diff and 5-speed in the BA's is pretty much the same as what's found in E-series.