8th Sep 2006, 06:30

Exploding airbox is an LPG thing, this can be solved very easily with a pressure release device.

Auto down shifting is probably due to the foot to the floor attitude you obviously have, same applys to the fuel consumption.

As for the brakes, If your constantly braking hard buy sports brakes. Stock brakes on a family car aren't designed for that kind of constant heavy braking.

22nd Nov 2006, 06:03

Just while every one is getting in with their two cents here, I thought I might add my own in defense of the car in question. All the water leak headaches this guy is talking about is purely poor preventative maintenance. Hoses fail with time and should be replaced before they leak, not when the problem hits and you can’t drive the car because of it. So it is not the cars fault, it the owner's lack of insight into the proper preventative maintenance required to keep an engine in good working condition. I own the same model car and have virtually replaced every aspect of the cooling system over the years except for the water pump, which will be changed out soon before it fails. Also just for the record, I have found non genuine ford parts to last many years longer then the original components ever did. Food for thought.

19th Jan 2007, 00:06

Well, looks like I need to clarify some things.

Yes, I am heavy on the accelerator and I am aware I have to pay the price for that (higher fuel consumption, more brake wear etc). But these Problems have nothing to do with my driving, unless all Fords behave like this when "challenged".

I've had a lot of cars in my life and They've all been driven the same way. Funnily enough, none of them had these issues, even the ones that were a lot older and had higher mileage that the EF.

Yes, the exploded airbox was caused by running the car in LPG mode but if there's a known problem, then why does Ford not install measures to avoid the problems? Have you ever been on a busy freeway in a 200HP car accelerating beyond your control? Not a very nice experience.

Brakes: Yes, I do expect higher wear on the brakes. If a car's brakes fade to the point, where there's virtually no braking power left, when you reach the bottom of a windy mountain road, then the car is dangerous. If I have to fit sport brakes in order to safely reach the bottom of a mountain (with a car in front of me doing between 30 and 50km/h), then there's something seriously wrong. And even my driving style does not wear the discs and pads down in just 20,000km.

Fuel consumption: True, big engines use a lot of fuel and a lead foot certainly doesn't help. But 15l/100km in city traffic and no less than 12 at a constant speed of 100/110km/h? The old 3.0l 87 Skyline I had was happy with 12 in city traffic and about 9.5 long distance and my current 2001 TJ Magna with its 3.5l 24valve v6 is happy with about the same, sometimes even less. Considering this, the Falcon is very thirsty.

Maintenance: I'm not a mechanic. I have my cars serviced regularly and if they tell me a part needs to be replaced, I do that. If they don't tell me, I don't. When I had the cooling system fixed, they could have checked the other hoses and recommended them to be replaced. They didn't, so they were either OK or they didn't bother checking. The latter doesn't say a lot about the quality of Ford workshops does it?

Transmission: If I cruise on a freeway, doing 110km/h and the tranny decides to shift back into 2nd, then it has nothing to do with "my foot on the floor" but with a dodgy transmission. I don't know about your car, but the Falcon I had was not the type of car that requires it to be "floored" in order to keep it at 110km/h. Sometimes it really helps to actually read the post you are responding to.

Of course some hardcore Ford fans will go apes**t if somebody dares to say something about their beloved brand (same goes for hardcore fans of any make of course), but my review of the EF I had was simply based on my experience with the car. If I flog a car to bits, then I have no problem admitting it. It has happened in the past, when I was young and wild, but now, in my 40s, things have slowed down a lot.

As I said in the original post, I am more than happy to accept that the car was simply a lemon. That happens everywhere and no matter how much you spend on the car, it'll never be OK. But it happened to me twice with a Ford and that is enough to deter me from them forever.

6th Nov 2008, 03:01

Well mate, God help you if you buy a Commodore. Holdens haven't made a decent car since the Kingswood.

Your mileage is average; I had a RAV4 and that would only get 11 ks to the litre on the highway; that's thirsty for a two litre, and they are all the same.

I like Fords, but over the years, all up I have owned 56 cars. I will drive any thing from an Austin to a Zeta, and anything else between A to Z, except a Commodore - I have driven them, they're a boring overrated Ausi icon, so life is too short.

Have to go, more cars to buy and drive. The road in front is shorter than the road behind me. Happy trails.

22nd Dec 2010, 03:48

I have no idea what you're on about. All I've owned is Falcons and I've never had any problems with them as long as you keep them serviced.

10th Jan 2011, 00:47

Yes, but like any car you can get a God or you get a dog. Clearly the reviewer thinks he has had a dog, but you believe that you have had a God.

It just depends on what car you get.

4th Oct 2021, 10:11

With the choice of mainly semi-metallic and metallic brake pads these days, you're 'moving deckchairs on the Titanic' with a car with the small lining area of the EF. I remember driving a near-new VE Commodore (so with the original brake pads) in 2011 at Redbank Plains in Brisbane.

Whilst it was brainingly powerful, I was shocked at its lack of comparative braking capability going straight down a steepish but short hill to an intersection. Pressing harder didn't seem to make that much difference, just like an EH Holden with drums. It opened my eyes.