2001 Ford Falcon Reviews

Replaced the battery June 2011.

Previous owner stated nothing of any significance - car has had all services

Bought it in Brisbane Boxing Day 2010. As a result of floods, had to return to Darwin via Syd/Cnb/Adel/Asp, an extra 5000kms.

The car performed faultlessly with absolutely no problems.

Fuel range was just under 800 kms per tank (approx 65 litres).

Comfort and handling were superb.

Power was just a twitch of the right foot away.

The Black interior makes reading the dash hard through the day - easy at night.

Driver's power window stopped working at 185,000km ($100).

Rear muffler blew up at and left about 1 metre of exhaust bouncing down the highway at 195,000km ($80 for to replace with a 3" pipe).

Water pump died at 200,000km ($200).

Idler pulleys needed replacing at 200,000km ($80).

Both rear power windows stopped working at 210,000km (still haven't bothered to fix them).

L/H cat rattles at 2000rpm at 230,000km (still not fixed).

Front rotors and pads needed replacing at 230,000km ($380).

Front muffler blew up and has a huge hole in it at 230,000km (still not fixed, it sounds like a truck now).

I've owned the car for nearly three years now, and it's never stopped on me. It uses next to no oil, and the engine and transmission still work great.

I bought the car in Brisbane, and have since driven all over the country in it, mainly in WA. It is an awesome cruiser, and even rides great for a sports oriented car. Overtaking is a pleasure, and it dispatches with B-triples easily and quickly. Only problem is it demands 95ron, which can be hard to find in the outback sometimes.

However, I've never been a big fan of the way it handles. While the suspension seems well sorted, the heavy all-iron V8 is all to obvious when hustled; it has too much understeer. The only way to solve this is to stomp on the throttle, and then the car will adopt a wild oversteer attitude. Balancing the two is difficult (especially in an auto).

The interior and paint are still in good nick, but a rattle has developed in the dash just under the windscreen.

It's had a few minor problems, but recently it seems like they might be getting out of hand. The air con has failed to work a couple of times in the last month for some reason, and the rear rotors need doing soon.

Overall, owning my XR8 220 has been a good experience, it's a very comfy (and fast) way to cover big distances, and handles the daily commute too.

180,500 Exhaust Leak - replaced by the mechanic that gave it the RWC.

195,000 Clunking diff - replace with a reconditioned diff.

195,000 high pressure power steering hose leak.

Have the car as a weekend car, so not treated too nice...

Love this car; the handling/performance/comfort of it when it was stock was amazing. The clutch is fairly heavy, but I like the feedback from it...

Have added some BF XR Mags, lowered Tickford suspension and cat back exhaust. Since then I haven't had the back end of the car come out... it just grips to the road and with no body roll feels greet accelerating through corners.

The ride quality has got a lot worse with the new larger, wider mags... Feel a lot more of the road, but I don't mind.

Passengers electric window slow to wind up (problem rectified after cleaning out window rails)

Instrument panel plastic was cloudy and hard to see through.

Crack in the exhaust.

The faults listed were rectified during services with no problems whatsoever.

The car is the 220 kw model and accelerates quickly and has good torque for overtaking. The car performs well and starts first time, every time.

The seats and the cabin layout are quite good and I find the car a pleasure to drive. Nothing has broken or failed in the interior.

Economy is reasonably good on long trips once cruise control is engaged (and if I keep my right foot off the firewall), however, she can be a little thirsty around town.

Handling and steering are good. Care has to be taken on wet roads, but I believe that has more to do with my driving style than the car.

Having owned a few performance Fords over the years, the wife and I decided it was time for another. I was originally going to purchase a new XR6 Turbo, but decided against it due to it being the first model run (the dreaded lemon). The dealer had this car in the lot also, so after much deliberation, we purchased this car. We were going to hold onto the car for a couple of years then purchase another. After owning the car for 3 years, I have no plans of getting rid of it. The car has met and exceeded expectations.