That doesn't mean s**t, how can a few cases curse the build quality of the engine? Mines done 70,000 and is still goin strong with no engine probs. To start comparing the engine problems with other cars, you need statistical information on it, not "a few people have problems with their BA in this forum".

Pierre was telling me that Thrifty car rental (Where he works) have given Falcons the boot because of all their problems.

The thing is i know plenty of people who have them and haven't had a single problem, but i am just hearing way too many stories, far more than when the EA was released, and that was bad enough lol.

Well mate, you wanna put s**t on AU's with no factual back up... There's plenty of facts to bag out BA's, taxi drivers hate them, thrifty won't use em... I don't remember AU's having that problem....

all I said is when i'm in AU cab's, theres stuff falling apart, I'm not basing the entire cars build quality on it like you were though. How is testimonies from forum members as a thirdparty to cabs testimonies and now thrifty factual?? Mate if you reckon chinese whispers is fact, i'd love to see you write an essay.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/review-used/ ... 30796.html
http://www.drive.com.au/Editorial/Artic ... 0630&vf=18

heres a review of a BA and AU, I think this is more credible then your "facts"


Here is a bad point for the BA:

Now here is a bad point for the AU:

Again the only bad stuff they have to say about the AU, is opinion, about it being ugly...


If you think about it like a sane person, rather than be blinded by defending what you drive, the AU, is a car at the end of a model line, it was the product of 15 years of refining the i6 engine, and the other components, which were similar to the parts in the earlier models, Ford made sure the problems that plagues e-series falcon were addressed when making the AU.. Whereas the BA is the 1st in a new model run, so it stands to reason that the AU will have less problems.

he was saying the car had done 15,000km since the last service. I've never seen a BA Fan belt die in the warranty period.

furthermore, BA IRS is a 500x better setup then AU IRS

you'll be surprise what one ford mechanic said about the BA during there warranty period, "Its a f**k joke". Cracks around the edge of tyres, dead engines, brake wrap/stadder, dead front springs, fuel consumption problems, oh well, he was abit of a bludger anyways. prefer to roam the workshop instead of fixing BA's.

If you want a better car, wait til the BF II hits the used car market.

Ok, well thats not what he said, but if thats how he meant it, I stand corrected on the fan belt thing, still standing my ground on the rest of it though.


No one is arguing that AU IRS is better, but saying that AU's didn't offer it is BS... I agree with slick, wait for the BFII...

you'll be suprised that xpression *is* a ford mechanic.

I have had my BA for about 1/2 years, under warranty I have had the trans, fuel pump, valves, and the motors replaced for the central locking. As well has having belt slip, till I had the underdrives put on and faulty headlights. I still wouldnt buy an AU, have any of you been in a modded BA?

Only if they have heavy duty suspension, huge slotted disc brakes & top quality brake pads. other then that, I'll wear them down quick after I'm behind the wheel. And yes, they're fast when modded for straight line blast. BA XR6 turbo that is.

& for argument sake, there was never a perfect production year model. all had minor/major faults that were address on the next series release. maybe the once that are faulty is off the Friday afternoon shift & you just happen tobe the one that brought it.

of course he is, his not going to disclose all the problems with this particular model.

why not?

he has abused several things about them before

Indeed, the Focus has copped a fair bit of flak from him.

This is an old post i know, but would it be sensible to sort of split it into two categories.
1. ED-AU...go for the AU....or
2. if you'd rather the post AU looks, go for a BF or BA MKII at the least??

I think the AU's will be best for reliability....yet they are unique in a way, especially the XR series. Even though BA/BF look very cool, they have become very popular and the AU stands out theses day.To me, an AU XR6/8 and of course the T Series stand out a lot more than the BA xr series and FPV. Because they were disliked in their day, they were quite rare, however i think people have grown respect for them.

Another point to the argument would be tickford engineering? Would an an tickford six be better for reliablity, performance, etc that the factory stock Barra 182?

I've heard countless stories about BA -especially BA MK I. So if there's anyone trying to make the decision around this price mark, would the AU III still be recommended over the BA MK I and MK II?

Agrees? Disagree's? LMK...I'm interested on people's opinions.

Cheers

(A little story: a friend of mind recently bought a BA XR8 with an FPV boss 290 in it...anyhow he took it for a long drive...half way there it conked out - torque converter, transmission and rear diff - $5000 to fix!...... just another example of BA reliability. How would an AU stand in this situation)