1996 Ford Falcon Reviews

After purchase, needed new front brake rotors and bearings - usual wear and tear.

Annoying little rattle from rear - probably lower shock absorber mounts.

Air-conditioning will need a re-gas soon - again, usual wear and tear.

I must have had a lucky day - the EF Series 2 Falcon I have, apart from being a little grubby (an ex business car) is all but perfect for our needs, and in tip top condition. No leaks of anything from anywhere, not a drop. Now cleaned properly inside and outside. Also it had a brand new exhaust system, five ROH mag wheels and five brand new tyres. And for some reason, that silly "wing" on the boot lid.

Mechanically the Falcon is just like it rolled off the production line yesterday. The engine is sweet and has more "grunt" than an old codger like me will ever need. Auto transmission is the same, perfect. The car was fitted (on the production line) with the Ford 1600 kg towing pack, which means that the auto trans has an extra cooler mounted in front of the radiator - big bonus.

Around town it just woofles along at 1100 RPM in 4th gear.

It is obvious from the log book (found in the glove box) that the servicing had been kept up to date hence, and so far, no problems at all.

Early days, but from what I have found on the net and reviews, the EF Series 2 was given all the improvements that the Series 1 lacked. The EF Series 2 is generally written up as far better than the EL and the AU.

Handling, on rails.

Brakes (with new front rotors and bearings), solid and straight.

Interior trim and plastic-ware, perfect.

Auto trans - like new.

Sound system - good, but crying out for a radio/CD/MP3 player.

Engine - quiet, all the grunt I need is under 3000 RPM.

Check what I write after six months and after a year I suppose. But for now, the Falcon is the best of any used car I have bought over the years, and better than some of the new ones I have bought.

And, last thing - the Falcon cost $1499 from a used car wholesaler. Have seen the same model etc on the net for up around $3000 or more.

Radiator cracked, and was replaced in the first year of ownership at a cost of around $450.

Transmission flaring just after the new radiator was installed, due to an incompetent mechanic who didn't secure the transmission lines correctly. Ford dealer identified the issue, and topped up the transmission fluid and sealed the lines for $100.

Courtesy lamp fuse (responsible for items such as the smartlock system and the radio wiring) blew, which prevented me from disengaging smartlock and starting the car one afternoon. A Google search and one of the Ford forums helped to identify this as the culprit; I would have never guessed.

Inhibitor switch failure, resulting in erratic gear switching and engine flaring. Had the transmission serviced and was told by the service centre that if the flaring continued, they would have to rebuild the transmission for around $2000. The flaring continued, but I wasn't buying the mechanic's story, and a bit of research indicated the inhibitor switch on the transmission could be causing the problems. Bought the part and changed it in my driveway - all fixed. The former switch had become entombed in mud over time, which was obviously shorting it out.

The heater had never worked in all my years of ownership. After changing the thermostat to an AU model and flushing the cooling system, the heater came back to life. The old thermostat looked like the wrong one. I'm sure there's a logical explanation to all this; I can't offer it though.

The power windows have been problematic; probably need to lubricate the runners, as they get stuck easily. I've had to replace a couple of switches and window regulators. I plan to replace the switches again soon, but for now they are out of action.

The headlight wiring and sockets had burnt out a couple of times, but after splicing in some heat resistant sockets, they've been working perfectly.

The horn has petered out lately.

The car isn't particularly interesting to drive, but it's gotten the job done for the last five or so years with minimal complications or costly repairs.

I had it converted to LPG soon after I bought it, and it has proven to be very economical considering the size of the vehicle. Even though LPG isn't as cheap as it once was, it's still preferable to petrol, and the loss of performance running on LPG is negligible.

The interior is quite dull and plastics fragile, but these issues don't concern me too much.

The seat fabrics are a bit rough, but they are holding up, and I've even managed to sleep in the car on a few occasions without being too uncomfortable.

If I had my time over, I would have installed a transmission cooler rather than rely on the radiator to cool the transmission fluid. When you're driving up hills in summer with the air conditioning on, you can tell the transmission would rather be elsewhere. It also takes away the risk of the two fluids coming into contact, leading to expensive repairs.