Faults:

I've only had a few small things go wrong with this car. One is an aftermarket universal fit radiator hose was on it and sat so close to the belt pulley that the pulley eventually rubbed a hole into the hose.

Another problem is as another person mentioned in their review, the temperature gauge seems to be a little off, it will sometimes show the temp as all the way in the cold, then jump to overheating, then go down to normal.

I only seem to have one "big" problem and that is a lack of power to the engine, not always, but on some days if I press the pedal all the way to the floor, my car only kind of stutters forward very slowly and eventually picks up speed, and on good days when this problem isn't very apparent, I still don't seem to have the acceleration that I've heard so much about on these cars. I'm not sure what could be causing this problem and I want to get an opinion about it from other Thunderbird owners before taking it to a garage to have it fixed.

General Comments:

Other than the lack of power in acceleration, I really enjoy this car. It handles quite well and rides amazingly smoothly. Quite comfortable as well as aesthetically pleasing.

Faults:

* Bearing in rear axle.

Replaced, never heard from it again.

* AC Compressor went out in '98.

* Transmission rebuilt in '01.

* Front End worked on by shady Mechanic, don't think he fixed anything, was traveling and didn't do good follow up.

* Window motors, all died '02.

* Interior roof came loose after I let it sit for a year.

* Leaky Radiator, finally replaced. No problem since.

General Comments:

Long list of problems, but you have to understand I've been drivin' the crap outta the thing for nine years now. The odometer quit at 158k+ five years ago. It sat for a year, and suffered some neglect.

I've been thinking about giving it a refit, and am now starting to look into aftermarket replacement parts, and get another 250k out of it.

The Engine has been solid and considering all the abuse it's taken, I'd have to say it's a Good Car.

Faults:

Recalled to fix a light switch. I changed the batteries, tires, shocks, light bulbs, radiator, and one power window switch. The overdrive gear in the transmission stripped at 235,000 miles. A transmission linkage part broke at 115,000 miles, it was a minor fix, costing only $20 dollars, but the car ran like it needed a new transmission.

General Comments:

I felt that this car was well made with quality parts. It got 20-22 miles per gallon. The dash and head liner stood up to being parked in the tropical sun. I used Slick 50 in the engine every 50,000 miles. This seemed to lower performance slightly, but the engine lasted.

Faults:

I had some extensive work done to this car, but well worth the money.

At 190,000 km I replaced the ORIGINAL clutch.

At 208,000 and change, the harmonic balancer came apart and sheared off the crank sensor bolts, which wasn't a cheap fix.

I replaced the transmission at 224,000 km.

The brakes were all redone when I first bought it, and didn't need to repair them at all in the three years I owned it.

Head gaskets went at 229,340 km, and that's when I decided to sell it.

General Comments:

To me, there's no nicer car on the road than this generation of the Thunderbird.

Everyone commented me on mine; it was black with black leather interior, and looked very aggressive!

Even though I put a few thousand dollars into it, I regret getting rid of it - it seems like overall the car was worth putting the time into it.

If you want a value-priced sport-luxury car, get one of these before they are extinct.

I would take one of these over a 5.0 litre (spellchecker says LITER, but I AM CANADIAN!) Mustang any day!