1994 Ford Telstar GLE 2.0 16v 4 cylinder from South Africa
Summary:
Excellent distance car, good value for money
Faults:
Air conditioner failed at 120 000 km.
Plastic drinks holder cover broke at 70 000km.
Intermittent central locking fault.
In very heavy downpours water gets into the inlet system and the engine runs rough for a few days.
General Comments:
An extremely comfortable car, especially for long distance.
Interior is pleasant with relatively few rattles or squeaks.
Engine superb, 160 000 km, touch wood no problems. Uses no oil at all.
Auto box is good, but tends to change down inconsistently.
Good performance, but not breath taking.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 23rd May, 2001
20th Dec 2001, 00:40
My 1984 Rover SD1 3500 has a light to indicate burned out brake light bulbs AND it works! Not bad for a 17 year old pommy car.
29th Jan 2002, 23:03
My 1983 KB Ford Laser Sport (2 door) has a light to indicate burnt out bulbs and so does the Ghia.
9th Jul 2004, 23:17
My family used to have a ford telstar 1983 model and it was a superb car. it had very little problem until 2001. it got a little rusty on the left-hand front panel and the boot lock kept failing and had to be replaced several times. It had clocked up 240000 km and then the head on the car cracked. it was drivable for a while, but then gave way and the front panel on the left hand side seemed to fall off. Though it was a great car until 2001 and had an excellent acceleration for a four cylinder. It was a great car to learn how to drive in. Easy to understand what functions were where. Great Car!!
27th Dec 2005, 20:35
I’ve got a 91 TX5 GHIA. It’s done just over 140000 & the air-con cuts out intermittently. The garages I visited say it is something to do with ECU & the timing starts going all over the place, spoiling an otherwise impressive car.
31st Aug 2014, 07:32
I agree totally. I'm talking about the awesome paint finish.
31st Aug 2014, 07:35
Fix it man; it's well worth the effort.
26th May 2001, 22:54
I bought a 1994 Ford Telstar new. I must say it was one of the best cars I ever owned. The gas mileage was great and the power from the DOHC 24V V-6 gave excellent acceleration. The great thing about this car was all the small extras such as ignition light illumination, power remaining to the windows after ignition is turned off, and the digital climate control. It was the only car I've seen yet with an indicator light for burned-out exterior bulbs. My plastic cup holder also broke (around 60,000K). The only maintenance problem I had was the spark plug wires, they needed to be replaced and distributer cap cleaned at around 70,000K. With my family getting larger we finally outgrew it. I sold it last October, within 4 days of advertisement! At 6 1/2 years old it still looked new with that incredible navy blue paint finish still shining.
Joe Siddall.