Faults:

Computer has had to be replaced, sent away for this and off road for one week. Originally took the car into Ford twice, as the car was losing power and cutting out. Ford told us there was nothing wrong with it, sent it with a full tank of gas and got it back with 1/4 of a tank, and we took it our own mechanic who told us straight away the problem with the computer.

Left hand steering rack has been replaced, once again off the road for a week.

Left hand steering rack boot has since leaked and had to be replaced. We have been told by two mechanics this will now be an ongoing problem and will need replacing frequently.

Central locking has had to be replaced twice.

Makes a clonking noise when hot weather, Ford have told us this is not an issue.

Passenger window is sometimes difficult/slow to get up.

Brake switch has just had to be replaced (controls brake lights).

Air conditioning switch has had to be fixed.

Passenger seat belt is now not retracting properly.

General Comments:

We bought this car thinking we would be getting a reliable, comfortable, safe family car capable of towing our son's race car. We got the comfort and size, and a good towing car that is when the car wasn't in the workshop, but as for reliable, forget it! This car has cost us more to keep on the road than any other car we have owned, and we have unfortunately had to keep it 5 years as we couldn't afford to replace it, as every time we went to sell it, it needed more repairs done to it before it could be sold.

We have previously owned Fords, which were always trouble free. Even learnt to drive on a 67 XR Falcon (when they obviously knew how to build them), never let Mum & Dad down and towed the caravan without effort.

We will NEVER buy another Falcon.

The inconvenience of constant breakdowns when you have kids is not great, let alone the cost of the repairs and having no car for several days while it is fixed.

Surprising quite economical on fuel.

For the size the vehicle the boot space is useless.

Faults:

The radiator was replaced while under warranty.

The water pump was replaced while under warranty.

The buttons on the steering wheel for the radio and cruise control stopped working and were cleaned while under warranty, however they have clogged up again.

The differential makes a tonk sound at slow speeds and a whirl at higher speeds.

The back right central locking motor has developed a grinding sound.

The passenger side front window some times stop working, but after a few presses of the button works again.

The fan button broke off, but was easy and cheap to fix.

The steering rack has developed a leak which will need to be fixed at the next service (110,000).

General Comments:

The performance of the vehicle is surprising good. Its economy is 11.6 litres per 100 kilometres on petrol and 14 litres per 100 kilometres on gas.

The engine runs a little rough some times at idle while running on petrol.

I have had a liquid gas petroleum (LPG) system fitted so that it can run on gas and petrol. At least a quarter of a tank of petrol must be kept in the car's tank at all times because the fuel pump continues to work even when the car is running on LPG.

The brake rotors need to be machined or replaced every 20,000 kilometre service.

The handling is good for such a big car and it stops really well.