1997 Ford Telstar Reviews

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1997 Ford Telstar Mystique 2 Litre 16v from South Africa

Model year1997
Year of manufacture1997
First year of ownership2004
Most recent year of ownership2006
Engine and transmission 2 Litre 16v Manual
Performance marks 7 / 10
Reliability marks 8 / 10
Comfort marks 8 / 10
Dealer Service marks 3 / 10
Running Costs (higher is cheaper) 5 / 10
Overall marks (average of all marks)
6.2 / 10
Distance when acquired132000 kilometres
Most recent distance176000 kilometres
Previous carFord Sierra

Summary:

An excellent freeway cruiser

Faults:

Inlet manifold gasket leaked and was replaced.

Front control arm bushes had to be replaced due to normal wear.

Distributor cap, rotor and ignition leads had to be replaced due to misfire on occasion. Problem solved. Dealer said it was a faulty distributor. Lucky I got a second opinion!

When turning the steering feels like something in the suspension is loose, but no problem can be detected and no abnormal wear on the tyres can be seen.

General Comments:

This is an excellent family sedan and was seriously under rated in it's time mainly due to very poor marketing by Ford in SA.

Performance and fuel economy is above average for a car of this size and weight.

The engine and the engine management system feels very smooth and refined.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 4th January, 2006

Comment on this review

15th Nov 2010, 13:48

I drive a Ford Telstar 1997.

I replaced CV joints and nothing else. This is truly a wonderful family sedan. My Ford has got about 330000 km on the clock, uses about a pint of oil on a 1000km trip.

It's one of the best cars I have driven so far. Good going Ford.

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1997 Ford Telstar XL 2.0 from Malaysia

Model year1997
Year of manufacture1997
First year of ownership1998
Most recent year of ownership2005
Engine and transmission 2.0 Automatic
Performance marks 8 / 10
Reliability marks 9 / 10
Comfort marks 9 / 10
Dealer Service marks 7 / 10
Running Costs (higher is cheaper) 7 / 10
Overall marks (average of all marks)
8.0 / 10
Distance when acquired0 kilometres
Most recent distance175000 kilometres
Previous carProton Iswara

Summary:

Good family car

Faults:

Central locking failed to function after 100 km - assembly defect. Service dealer rectified it.

Front suspension produced "click" sound going over bumps at slow speed at 20,000 km. Service Dealer never found the source of problem, but went away after a bit of adjustment and tightening of bushes.

Cooling system leaked after 130,000 km. Repaired in time without any overheating.

General Comments:

Very comfortable for long distance driving.

Generally very good mechanical reliability.

Fuel consumption very good on highways, but rather poor in city driving.

Assembly quality disappointing.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 18th November, 2005

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Average review marks: 7.1 / 10, based on 2 reviews