1981 Ford Granada straight six from North America

Summary:

A piece of crap

Faults:

This car was a piece of crap. It would not start the first time. It would take up to five times to start.

It was lousy in the snow. It has a lot of slack in the steering.

The thing was a tank. That was the only thing good about it.

I had it for a year, then sold it to someone that knew more about cars than I did.

The other reviews are right, it is slow.

I truly hated this car. I would stay away from this car.

General Comments:

The car is a tank. Do not buy these cars; it is hard to find a shop to fix them.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 29th November, 2014

7th Dec 2014, 04:39

These engines have carburetors. Mechanics who can fix them are still out there. Look harder, and you'll find them. The bigger problem with one of these cars is the fact that they were way slow by 1981 standards (66 MPH 1/4 mile), let alone today's standards.

8th Dec 2014, 05:39

Needs a 5.0 V8 under the hood to move better.

In reply to 8th Dec 2014, 05:39

11th Dec 2014, 16:02

Really, a V8 would make it faster?

In reply to 11th Dec 2014, 16:02

14th Dec 2014, 21:11

Yes it would make it faster. It's a very common mod for these old Fords.

1981 Ford Granada L 200 from North America

Summary:

A good low-cost family or work car that's cheap to fix

Faults:

Starter, A/C, heater, radio and rust.

General Comments:

Bought new, still keep it around as a backup. Has had no major problems and has been far less troublesome over the years than my wife's Hondas and Toyotas.

Comfortable, slow, okay gas mileage, and unfortunately starting to rust.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 29th August, 2000

16th Jun 2009, 10:33

I agree that the Granada is not a fast car, but not necessarily slow by any means... I have an 81, Straight 6. This motor has been a juggernaut, I've ran with no oil, I've put 10k miles on it in 3 months and I believe the more this car is driven the more it loves you.

I have however had some problems with the key lock cylinder. It has been replaced a few times. But, I installed a momentary ignition switch on the dash and it's running like a champ. Not to mention that my car is twice as cool since the start up is similar to that of a race car!!! LOL.

16th Jun 2009, 12:35

The Granada is a piece of crap. Our 1975 only made it to 325,000 miles before we got fed up and traded it. During those 17 years it nearly broke us with repairs. We were out almost $500 in repairs on that unreliable piece of junk. We very stupidly traded for yet ANOTHER of those unreliable Fords. Us domestic owners are stupid that way. Why, I'll bet you do good to get a measly 500,000 miles out of yours.

You might consider doing what we did later on. We read all those wonderful things about Japanese cars and got ourselves one of those nifty little Hondas. We got to meet all sorts of nice, friendly mechanics and spend lots of time in the dealers service waiting room watching a nice big COLOR TV!! The tow truck drivers were just as nice as could be too. Even that nice junk yard man was very friendly and nice when he hauled our wonderful Honda off to his junkyard at 99,000 miles with parts of the engine's innards poking out of the side of the block.

Yup, that little Japanese car was a BARREL of laughs. Oh, and we stupidly bought yet another of those unreliable, crappy Fords.