1983 Ford Falcon XE S/Wagon 4.1 from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

Comfort of a 6 cylinder Falcon

Faults:

Front end suspension needed to be fixed.

Tends to need warming up in the mornings.

Minor electrical faults eg. gauges.

Radiator leaks, water pump.

Rust under roof racks.

General Comments:

Once warm it really goes well, got up to 140 kms once before.

When warm acceleration is great.

Does need regular servicing.

Very safe car.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 3rd May, 2002

1983 Ford Falcon XE 250 ci. Crossflow 4.1 Litre In from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

Excellent all rounder

Faults:

The car had an automatic transmission leak. This was easily fixed as it was only a loose hose tie.

"Walking" front end suspension, would veer off the road quite easily. This was due to old age and many kilometers.

Whole front end suspension parts needed replacement.

Slight small rust spots have been appearing.

General Comments:

For a car with more than half a million kilometers on it, it sure has done a lot of hard work. The car continues to work hard even after almost 19 years of service.

It still has its original engine and hasn't been rebuilt.

Power is more than enough to keep up with todays big torquers. At 310 Nm the car gets up and goes. And you can still tow half the neighbourhood and barely notice you're pulling anything.

Seating is comfortable.

However the interior colouring of "tan" is very bland and becomes dirty easily.

The steering wheel also can't be adjusted, and I found my legs slightly touching the bottom of the wheel.

The car has only had one major repair job in its life. The front end suspension.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 10th December, 2001

15th Oct 2002, 01:49

If your knees touch the wheel then drive with them.

27th Jul 2003, 00:18

I live in New Zealand and just bought an XE sedan and paid $1000 for it. 3.3l and factory 5 speed, power steering. The paint is a bit stuffed, but otherwise is a comfy, smooth cruiser and insanely economical. At 20 years old the cam and lifters have suffered a bit, but its all fixable and bits are cheap.

31st Jul 2003, 20:14

I recently was given a Ford Falcon 83 model S pack. Excellent to drive and extremely comfortable. Only ever had one problem with it and this is the power steering fluid is leaking a little.

Drives comfortably and has plenty of power.

1st Sep 2009, 22:53

I have a XE set up to race. It does 9 seconds on the quarter mile. Not a good car to drift, but as a circuit car it is brilliant.

19th Oct 2010, 20:48

I got an 82 August XE staight6 x flow with extractors 3 speed column shift, auto 6 seat Falcon.

I had to replace the upper and lower ball joints recently and encountered factory pot rivets holding them on. Solution... tungsten grinder bit for your drill.

No surprise, leaks water through the dash... my solution, a couple of holes under your feet and some damp rid under the seats and the door handles... be gentle and suck it up, nothing much to do here.

Seriously there is not much that can go wrong with this car, and you can fix it all by yourself.

28th Aug 2011, 18:30

I am interested, where are you?

1983 Ford Falcon GL 4.1 crossflow from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

An absolute bargain, in terms of reliability and cheap performance

Faults:

My brakes needed replacing at 250,000km. This included discs and master cylinder.

Rust is slowly appearing.

The differential has clunked the whole time I've owned it.

General Comments:

This car is amazingly quick, considering the ancient technology it has.

It is extremely reliable, but expensive on the fuel.

The interior is poor, and it is obvious that it was the base model.

The differential is clunking, but it refuses to die.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 29th October, 2001