1986 Ford Falcon GL Sedan review from Australia and New Zealand

Heater tap rusted out.

Major rust spots everywhere.

Had to replace the idler arm.

Door handles still not fixed.

Mysterious coolant leak.

For $1000 it's an awesome car I reckon because you just can't get a better all-round car than an XF.

Being a 6 seater and having a bench seat up front makes for an interesting combination, but the lack of power steering makes it hard to park.

As with most of my automatic cars, I manually down-shift and up-shift and I believe that this has a few definite advantages. You can control at what speed the transmission will shift and also helps when braking and slowing down. My car has never had transmission problems and I genuinely think that some cars - in particular my old XF - need to be thrashed in order for them to keep going strong! I absolutely cane the car and it keeps coming back for more! You couldn't ask for more, could you?

Performance? Hell yeah! It's only a carb model, but I run it on premium or even 98 octane unleaded and man, does she boogie! In gear response is awesome, but only from about 20 km/h as the diff ratio is horrible for quick take-offs. My car revs cleanly and you can really feel the power band between 3000-4000. Oh, and did I mention she rides unbelievably smoothly on the highway? 100-140 is THE cruising speed!

The car squeaks 100 times worse than an old rusty-hinged gate, but I reckon it adds character and everyone can hear me when I pull up! This is something that most old Falcons have to deal with.

Fuel economy? Amazing fuel economy when you leave it parked in your driveway - but then again, you have to pay for the privilege.

Yucky interior, until I added a shift-light tacho; seats are gross - a pillow under the seat-cover fixes that a bit.

If you want a tough, roomy, cheap, and powerful ride for $1000, you can't go past an XF! They are better and cheaper than EA Falcons and despite a few hiccups, they just keep going and going and going...