1990 Ford Falcon EA11 GL from Australia and New Zealand - Comments

Leaking head gasket, caused valves to corrode, apparently.

Front brakes have partially seized twice, causing dragging.

Oil leaks from motor.

Heater valve had to be replaced.

Front & rear shocks.

Cassette player, replaced with CD player.

Other than that, not much.

This car has to be one of the most comfortable and driveable cars I've ever driven, although it did tend to lean around the corners a bit, but it did have adjustable rear shocks which were set higher than the standard versions for load carrying.

Despite the horror stories I've heard about the 4stage auto boxes, mine had never missed a beat. Is the best auto I've ever had. I was looking for a manual originally, but found them very hard to come by, but one test drive of the auto had me hooked.

My only real gripes with the car were the head gasket leak and oil leak. I only found out about the head gasket during a routine service at a Ford dealer, they knew the history of that model and did a routine pressure test. It was leaking at 4 out of the 6 cylinders, and according to the guy who did the work, said the valves would have to be re-ground due to them being corroded by the coolant. Afterwards the motor was never as quiet, seemed to rattle more. I think maybe he didn't do the valves properly or maybe he did, I'm not a mechanic. I reckon he probably should have left them alone, as he showed me the head before the work was done and they looked pretty good to me.

The oil leak gradually got worse over the years, was coming from 3 different places, I put up with it as to get it fixed would probably be roughly half the cars value. It never burnt any though.

It chewed through the gas around town, but was excellent on the open road.

Acceleration was very good, better in power mode though, but due to gas usage kept it in economy mode most of the time.

I had to sell it when I moved to Australia from New Zealand, am now driving a company supplied, ahem, Holden Commodore VT. Gee I miss my Falcon.

I am the writer of this review. After having owned a Mazda 626 for last 2.5 years, and after reading back through my review and remembering all the faults this car had, I'm inclined to change my 'yes' to a 'don't know' under the 'would you buy again from this manufacturer'. The Mazda has more k's on it than the Falcon had when I sold it and apart from wear & tear (e.g. suspension) repairs, has been a lot more reliable and has cost CONSIDERABLY less to maintain. It's really nice to not have to clean up the oil puddle where it's parked, unlike the Falcon where I was doing it continuously.

I would only have another Australian car if someone else was paying for it. After reading car reviews from all around the world, it appears only the Japanese can get it right.

Incidentally, the VT Commodore was a pile of crap that I was all-too-happy to leave behind when I left that job.