1986 Ford Fairmont XF Ghia from Australia and New Zealand - Comments

Hmm Where do I start?

Headlights Bulb Holders

Globes loose inside reflectors.

Failed from heat/UV (from globes).

Reversing lights and tail lights -

Full of water

Couldn't locate leak.

Windscreen Leak

Passenger floor flooded.

Door Handles -

Approx 7-8 broke off

Do not use the child safety locks

on back doors as you have no way

of opening the door when the

handles break!

Door Hinges Failed -

Doors too heavy.

No adjustment possible.

Electronic Dashboard -

Failed due to cracking of PC board

Body flexed?

Alternator failed -

Due to dash wiring burning out.

Cruise control -

Accelerator jammed in maximum

when put foot on accelerator

pedal and turned C.C. off.

Very "exciting" problem due to

outer cable sheathing plastic

locator retainer failed &

dislocated under hood.

Mystery Problem -

There was a severe scraping noise

from the back wheels which could

not be diagnosed despite many

attempts.

Head Gasket -

Failed for no reason

Head was not cracked or warped.

Boot/Rear trunk Seals leaked -

Eventually gave up trying to

solve this and just punched

discrete drain holes in

undersides of rear fenders and

tyre-well.

Power Steering leak -

Left a stain on the driveway

Transmission Shifter -

Was loose and sloppy

Rattled continuously

Repair involved removal of trans.

Transmission Shifter Button -

Was not effective

You could all too easliy change

into reverse going forward at 60.

Repair involved removal of trans.

Seat Slide -

Front passenger seat slide jamed.

Seat could not be removed with it

jammed.

Ignition Switch burnt/caused fire -

There was no key in ignition

lock or any obvious reason.

Lucky I was sitting in the

car.

Fuel Pump -

Failed.

Airconditioner -

Gas leak at seals.

Central locking switch -

Worked to lock, but not unlock.

Door lock knobs -

Tops broke off meaning you

couldn't unlock doors without

power and you had to use the

(after market) alarm remote to

unlock the doors.

Temperature Gauge -

The poor person that bought it

cooked the engine about 6 months

later because the temperature

gauge failed.

The above things are what I would call "extraordinary" - in addition we had the following failures in the 5 years we had it.

Radiator - Re-core

Hoses - 3 Hoses

Exhaust - from engine pipe back

Catalytic converter - say no more

Disk pads - quite a few as top and second gear ratio is quite high and didn't really slow the heavy car down so you were always on the brakes.

Rust was starting between the rear window and the boot and in the bottoms of the doors and in the rear quater panels. Normal for a 9 year old car I guess, but surely accelerated by the fact that all these panels filled up with water as the drain holes were very blocked or non-existent.

Finally a chance to express my disappointment - too bad its so long ago, but you can tell the bitter taste in my mouth is still there.

There were many more problems caused Specifically by the fact that the car was on LPG gas. I have not listed any of these, but advise to not convert the car to gas. My wife was virtually on first name basis with the Emergency Roadside Service guys as a result of the gas issues.

I kept it so long as I liked the way it drove and the interior was spacious and extremely comfortable. It was easy to get in and out of especially for elderly relatives. I kept thinking - I will fix this thing and then it will be a great car because everything is done - huge mistake!

The worst car I have ever owned.

I paid good money for it $10000 after having the all clear on a professional inspection from our state motoring organisation. I added a $1000 alarm and $1000 seat covers and sold it 4 years later for $3500 which I estimate might have come close to covering the cost of the repairs.

Sounds more like its the drivers fault more them the cars I wonder what you were doing to it and in it.

Doesn't sound like the drivers fault at all, name one of those apalling design faults that could have been instigated by bad driving habits. There are reasons why Ford is known for its shoddy design, this is a perfect example. It's a shame things are intended to purposely fail these days...

I guess these sort of things happen when a car has been poorly maintained and neglected.

I have owned several of these cars and they have always served me well. They are known for their electric windows playing up when they get older. Apart from that, and costing a bit more at the pumps now days, they go forever. It makes me wonder if some of these people ever bother to maintain their cars. As for shoddy design, if that was true why do you still see them cruising around, going strong-how many other cars from that year do you see still going hard?

No, these cars have shoddy designs. My friend took his driving test on one that was two years old at the time and the car stalled eight separate times for no apparent reason. His family would never use the car for any type of long trip since they didn't know if they would ever get back home again.

These cars were crap new and even worse as time went on.

I have owned heaps of these cars & never had any serious problems with them apart from the usual maintenance & the odd problem here & there when the K's get higher. They are easy to work on too. If the car kept stalling, why didn't these people get it fixed instead of being in fear of driving it long distance?? Sounds a bit silly to me.

I have owned my XF Ghia for twelve years now.

The only problem I've had is it's very thirsty, but she never lets me down.

Craig (Penrith) NSW.

From past experience, I just don't think Fords and Holdens make decent cars; never have, and never will. Compared to Japanese cars like the Corolla, which are extremely reliable. There is no way these problems are caused by maintenance. I just think it was poorly built and was a lemon.

I also think that's another problem with Fords and Holdens is that they're prone to building models that are considered lemons, most likely on Mondays or Fridays.

Both the XF and XE model Falcons I have owned in the last 10 years have been extremely well built and reliable cars. I can say all of the things mentioned can go wrong with any car, it sounds to me like this one was in bad shape to start with. Japanese cars aren't built for Australian conditions, Falcons and Commodores are. ;)

Sounds like you got a real lemon, that's a shame. I have had two XF's, one was high kilometres and not looked after = it was awful. The second one was lower k's and maintained= it was a dream to own. Always drank lots of petrol, but never had any troubles at all apart from the regular stuff such as brakes, oil, etc. During one year I was unemployed and never serviced it, and it never missed a beat. Once I got another job I rewarded the car with a full service and a polish, and even then it only needed minimum dollars spent. Sorry to hear about your disaster!