2000 Ford Falcon Futura AUII 4.0 from Australia and New Zealand
Summary:
Great car IF it was reliable. Ford, get your act together, you're losing customers
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.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 17th July, 2009
16th Apr 2011, 06:35
I had a '98 AU Falcon series one.
I never had a problem with it, which ran on LPG and towed my car trailer fully laden without a hassle. It was quite reliable.
It sounds like you've just got the lemon of the bunch, and as for Ford's input in regards to the problem, you shouldn't take your car back to the dealership as they don't really help you and they charge like wounded bulls for anything they do or sell. I had to have the A/C fixed once, but this was a minor thing compared to other cars that I've had (VN Commodore wagon which was constantly having problems!).
In the end my AU Falcon got stolen which had me quite annoyed because it was quite good for what I used it for and just general everyday driving.