1988 Ford Sierra GL review from Finland
"Good car, cheap to maintain"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
Automatic choke went - I changed over to a manual one, as advised by other Sierra users. The ESC II electronic ignition system has been disabled because of this.
Clutch - was easy to replace. Also fixed a leak from the rear main seal at the same time.
The drive axles and the final drive are acting up now - due mainly to a a leaking oil seal and a mechanic who failed to refill the final unit after changing the oil seal. I have a replacement final drive, but in Finland the labour is quite expensive.
The front brake discs seem to have braked - from the other reviews, this seems to be a common problem on the Sierra.
General comments?
The car is a basic model without any mod cons. Even so, it is very comfortable for motorway driving.
The car is quite torquey compared to the Mazda 626 1.6 that I had before. But the gearing is a bit too tall for city driving, and the car literally drinks petrol. Motorway driving returns a decent 7.5 l/100 km.
The rear wheel drive makes the rear end of the car a bit twitchy in wet weather. Special care required in icy conditions - I am thinking of putting a couple of sand bags in the rear to increase the weight.
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| Simple and reliable motoring |
|
| 1987 - Sierra CL 2-door 2.0 EFI+Catalytic Find a good one and you get very good value for your money! |
| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | No |
| Year of manufacture | 1988 |
| First year of ownership | 2002 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 2002 |
| Engine and transmission | 2.0 OHC Carburetted Manual |
| Performance marks | 7 / 10 |
| Reliability marks | 8 / 10 |
| Comfort marks | 8 / 10 |
| Dealer Service marks | 3 / 10 |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 7 / 10 |
| Overall marks (average of all marks) | |
| Distance when acquired | 169000 kilometres |
| Most recent distance | 181000 kilometres |
| Previous car | Mazda 626 |
| Date of Entry | 11th November, 2002 |