Faults:

Master brake cylinder, but the car was almost 30 years old.

General Comments:

You cannot compare a car from the 70’s to today, but the Granada was my second car, and my first V8. I loved this car.

Now for reliability and performance, stock it is mid range, but you can do so much to this car if you wanted to. A 302 V8!

The car also did very well in New England Snow!

Out of the many cars I have owned, this is one of 3 I wish I had kept!

Faults:

The car ran poorly from day one and only got worse. The dealer, which has since gone out of business, offered no support. Ford's only comment was the car was acceptable as it was.

This car, purchased new in 1978, basically self destructed.

General Comments:

Up until owning my 1978 Ford Granada, I was strictly a "Ford Man". Based on the extremely poor reliability of the car, along with the inexcusable build quality, this was the last American made car I ever bought.

From that point on I have owned only Hondas, which I have been extremely happy with.

Faults:

Transmission blew at 49,000 miles.

EGR valve.

Ignition module.

A frame driver's side.

Carburetor...

Had head gasket leak fixed with gasket sealer.

General Comments:

Had the car for 18 years, sold it and saw it still on the road 10 years later. It's a car you can't kill.

Faults:

Head gasket blew at 134,000 miles.

Tyres needed replacing at 137,000 miles and again at 150,000 miles.

Window motors failed at 142,000 miles.

Cylinder head needed replacing at 149,000 miles.

Bodywork always had a fair amount of rust.

General Comments:

Good value at £400 for an extremely comfortable and dependale luxury saloon.

Excellent ride, handling and performance.

Was still running as sweet as a nut when it was sent to the scrapyard as a result of rust.

Faults:

Bodywork was rusty for most of the 13 years I owned the car.

Some of the interior fittings were very breakable, but I soon fixed them with celetape.

The brake cable snapped after 161,000 miles and had to be replaced.

General Comments:

The Granada was my second car, after a 1959 Morris Minor which I bought on starting work in 1980 and wrote off in a head-on collision.

The bodywork was solid, but for years showed signs of rust.

The interior was originally strong, but started to show its age with fragility.

The brakes were excellent until the cable snapped and had to be replaced.

The V6 engine had excellent performance and was mated to an excellent chassis.

The engine gave good performance, reliability and was economical.

When I sold the Granada in 1999, it was 21 years old and the clock was showing 186,000 miles. I sold it to a family friend for £30. Over the past 13 years, the Granada had given me excellent service, but failed its MOT in 2003, when it was 25 years old. By then, the car had covered 223,000 miles and was still running well.

The Granada was a very reliable, solidly built, good to drive and relatively cheap to run car which I wish I'd kept even longer.

My next car was a 1991 Ford Sierra diesel estate. I bought it for £1,000, with 89,000 miles on the clock. I sold it 3 years later for £350, when it had 130,000 miles on the clock. I now own a 1999 Peugeot 206, which cost £3,750 with 32,000 miles on the clock. Both the Sierra and the Peugeot were reliable and good to drive, but the Granada is the best car I've ever owned.