1983 Ford Falcon GL review from Australia and New Zealand

After one year of owning the car the transmission blew up. It was slipping in all gears and ended up getting it towed. After installation of a reconditioned transmission everything was fine until it hesitated to go into reverse after 11 months luckily it was replaced under warranty.

The Drivers door handle broke (very common in these cars). Easily rectified by drilling a screw through the handle as replacement parts genuine and Chinese import are both faulty.

The Liquid Petroleum Gas system used to get air leaks which made the car stall, but the system was an after market installation.

Rust became present in both quarter panels near the rear window and in the boot.

The Air conditioner compressor broke twice the first time a second hand unit was used and the second time a new after market one was used (recommended).

The windscreen wiper motor broke away from the wiper arms.

The front seat wore loose and the seat back was able to be rocked.

There was an oil leak at the main seal which was repaired twice when the transmission was changed, but soon returned.

The power steering pump blew up and was replaced with a $90 XF pump as found on the 1984-1987 falcons no problems after that.

These cars are really cheap now and not because they are generally bad, but because there are far more people selling them as there is people buying them.

The car is fast once your moving its not really quick off the mark.

The suspension on the car is fairly basic and old fashioned. They tend to struggle for rear grip especially when cornering

I would not buy another falcon as the Japanese cars offer better reliability and build quality.