Are Australian Fords REALLY so bad?

[mik]

I don't think fords have any more faults than any other brand, probably less in a lot of cases, the difference i see is in the way they are presented to the public in some cases , i would say the same for all our local built cars, japanese/asian high end euro tend to try and get the presentation right before it gets to the dealers, ie they go the extra mile to work out most of the small bugs worked out on the production line, where as local cars tend to allow small problems to be sorted by the dealer/pre delivery which doesn't always work out for some, as for reliability my old falcon has been the best car i have ever owned, still trying to wear the bastard out.
i would happily line up for an FG or Terri.

[ryeman]

Re indicators on the 'wrong' side,
That's what the UK market DEMANDS....amazingly!
They complain about the Asian cars for that reason!!

[Wretched]

Originally Posted by LeadFoot81

Crazy Dazz I appreciate your passion, but (I think) your post is a venomous, muddled mess of broad brush strokes that will offend too many different people (many on these very forums) for you to get your point across.

I agree, the post had good intentions but came across as offensive, immature, full of spite and mixed with a lot of baseless assumptions.

There are a variety of reasons why Ford can't sell the Falcon. These range from a market that shifted years ago to more versatile vehicles (SUV), downsized to a more suitable car or simply want something different. Then there is the quality, the lack of innovation and the poor after sales service that many have experienced.

I have been brought up in a Ford family, we've owned many Falcons and I myself had two B series ones.
Initially I wanted an AU3 Fairmont ghia V8. Instead I bought a brand new BA. I wish I had bought that AU3, the BA was the worst car I ever owned, I won't go into detail of what went wrong with it but lets just say the only good about it was the I6, and the air conditioner. The rest, well lets just say I couldn't offload the thing quick enough.

I thought ok, lets give it another go and bought a BF2 XR8. Initially it was good to have the power and the sound, there far less issues with this car than with the BA. Overall though the I6 was a better engine, a better package. Still, like the BA there were too many quality issues that I just couldn't afford the time to keep getting fixed. For a car that was designed and built for Australian conditions like we're led to believe both sure faltered under these conditions (did Ford make the interior out of cardboard?).

I then decided ( and after sampling a friend's XR5) I would "downsize" to a Focus XR5. For once I made the best purchasing decision. After 5.5 years I have only had one issue with the car mechanically and that was fixed for free out of warranty. The car is far from perfect, I mean the A/C is pathetic at best and I would have liked bluetooth (Ford not able to get it for the LT Focus XR5) but other than that I cannot fault it (interior is like the day i picked it up). I don't want to move on to another car, I love this car to bits and each time I drive it I just want to keep driving. Will my next car be a Ford? Not sure, depends on my requirements and what they have on offer compared to the market. Of course I will look at what they do have in their range but now they are not the automatic purchase they once were.

My Focus ownership also drove my father (a 7 time Falcon owner) to "downsize" and get himself a 2013 Focus ST and he loves it. First time since I was born we have not had a Falcon in the family and really that's not going to change. The LW Focus is that good.

I don't blame the market, other makes or other countries for the demise of the Falcon, I blame Ford, Ford AU, Ford NA. They had it good until the mid 2000's where the market shifted and they didn't read it right, whether that was management or just a lack of insight.
The other problem is quality and the product, for something made here for here and for so god damn long they sure have a long way to go. Again I blame Ford. I don't know if it is the penny pinching or just an attitude issue but them alone are to blame.
People can bag Koreans, Japanese (and to a point US) and Euro all they want but with each iteration of their cars they went that extra step, that extra mile to address the criticisms, not all the time they have fixed everything (Hyundai still dynamically is a boat) but they're adapting and learning and this is where I think Ford (and Holden) locally have fallen, they have gone a little here and there to fix issues but still have such a way to go.

For Ford the Territory is their car that could milk the market, as good as the SZ is, it only caught up to the market, I really hope that Ford AU ditch the "she'll be right" attitude and start to get ahead. The Ranger is a brilliant car and shows what Ford AU can do, lets hope they keep the momentum for the next Territory and Falcon.

[nstg8a]

Originally Posted by Wretched

I agree, the post had good intentions but came across as offensive, immature, full of spite and mixed with a lot of baseless assumptions.

There are a variety of reasons why Ford can't sell the Falcon. These range from a market that shifted years ago to more versatile vehicles (SUV), downsized to a more suitable car or simply want something different. Then there is the quality, the lack of innovation and the poor after sales service that many have experienced.

I have been brought up in a Ford family, we've owned many Falcons and I myself had two B series ones.
Initially I wanted an AU3 Fairmont ghia V8. Instead I bought a brand new BA. I wish I had bought that AU3, the BA was the worst car I ever owned, I won't go into detail of what went wrong with it but lets just say the only good about it was the I6, and the air conditioner. The rest, well lets just say I couldn't offload the thing quick enough.

I thought ok, lets give it another go and bought a BF2 XR8. Initially it was good to have the power and the sound, there far less issues with this car than with the BA. Overall though the I6 was a better engine, a better package. Still, like the BA there were too many quality issues that I just couldn't afford the time to keep getting fixed. For a car that was designed and built for Australian conditions like we're led to believe both sure faltered under these conditions (did Ford make the interior out of cardboard?).

I then decided ( and after sampling a friend's XR5) I would "downsize" to a Focus XR5. For once I made the best purchasing decision. After 5.5 years I have only had one issue with the car mechanically and that was fixed for free out of warranty. The car is far from perfect, I mean the A/C is pathetic at best and I would have liked bluetooth (Ford not able to get it for the LT Focus XR5) but other than that I cannot fault it (interior is like the day i picked it up). I don't want to move on to another car, I love this car to bits and each time I drive it I just want to keep driving. Will my next car be a Ford? Not sure, depends on my requirements and what they have on offer compared to the market. Of course I will look at what they do have in their range but now they are not the automatic purchase they once were.

My Focus ownership also drove my father (a 7 time Falcon owner) to "downsize" and get himself a 2013 Focus ST and he loves it. First time since I was born we have not had a Falcon in the family and really that's not going to change. The LW Focus is that good.

I don't blame the market, other makes or other countries for the demise of the Falcon, I blame Ford, Ford AU, Ford NA. They had it good until the mid 2000's where the market shifted and they didn't read it right, whether that was management or just a lack of insight.
The other problem is quality and the product, for something made here for here and for so god damn long they sure have a long way to go. Again I blame Ford. I don't know if it is the penny pinching or just an attitude issue but them alone are to blame.
People can bag Koreans, Japanese (and to a point US) and Euro all they want but with each iteration of their cars they went that extra step, that extra mile to address the criticisms, not all the time they have fixed everything (Hyundai still dynamically is a boat) but they're adapting and learning and this is where I think Ford (and Holden) locally have fallen, they have gone a little here and there to fix issues but still have such a way to go.

For Ford the Territory is their car that could milk the market, as good as the SZ is, it only caught up to the market, I really hope that Ford AU ditch the "she'll be right" attitude and start to get ahead. The Ranger is a brilliant car and shows what Ford AU can do, lets hope they keep the momentum for the next Territory and Falcon.

Great post!

[AU Mont]

who would buy a focus to replace a falcon?

quality aside, these are 2 very different cars for different markets. I think people still want larger vehicles just not in sedan form. People still need the interior & luggage space, things havnt changed that much.......

[AU Mont]

Originally Posted by PG2

BUT, are these expectations realistic? They are a mechanical thing and they WILL have things go wrong with them.

Our 2007 Subaru Liberty has done 140,000kms, absolutely nothing wrong with it apart from brake squeel but thats just poor brake pad choice.

After the experience with this car im looking at more subies for the family. Just a shame they hold their market value so well because theyre friggin expensive to buy !!

[BPXR6T]

BA XR8 blown diff at 4000
BA XR8 stuffed motor at 30K
BA XR6T stuffed abs and tc module 90K
BA XR6T engine bay, door, rear gaurd, and boot lid rust at 80K

Both cars looked after and not thrashed. The heart wanted an FG GT then he hed kicked in and I remembered the problems with the two last fords. So I went elsewhere. So since when has ford forums only been for one eyed "ford fanatics". Ford isn't a football team FFS. I use the forums primarily when I'm having a problem as usually someone else already has the solution. What are you gonna do next time you have a problem with your ford. You can't post it here, according to your logic that'd be having a whinge wouldn't it.

[jpblue1000]

I think the reason that Faclon and ford has a bad reputation even on these pages, Or especially on this forum is many one eyed dyed in the wool supporters claim the brand and model to be the greatest ever all time anywhere. anyone who disagrees in time honored tradition is either a commie, a poofta or a holden lover.
Yet anyone who has traveled, had the opportunity to test other cars in other regions of the world and or has driven other than a falcord and has a differing opinion based on experience and probably really appreciates the falon and other ford product for what it is. Good cars, good product at a reasonable price point which suit the Australian conditions, oh and they sometimes have V8's in them which is nice. But they are not the best at anything they do, mearly good at most things which is to be applauded.
All manufacturers have issues, their products are built to a price and aren't designed to last forever otherwise who will buy next years model...wed all still be driving 1970 models or whatever.
Im on these forums because I like the brand have owned 12 Fords adn currently own 2 1 of which is a 2nd hand falcon which needs more fixing.
So I don't see a lot of unnecessary bagging, I do see many common faults and those blind enough to ignore them.

JP

[tezxr8man]

[QUOTE=
My family and friends who own local Ford product like the robustness of the design but some are a bit dissapointed with wet road handling of AU or fuel economy of Petrol Territory.[/QUOTE]


I don't wanna have a go or any thing but has anybody driven a hilux in the wet?? there are dangerous and they are brand new ones . territory do use a bit of fuel but Land cruisers of the same vintage are hopeless in that regard as well

on a whole Aussie cars are robust and keep going for years longer and with less cost than most of the competition sure they have a few small dramas but hardly ever stop completely

[PG2]

Originally Posted by AU Mont

Our 2007 Subaru Liberty has done 140,000kms, absolutely nothing wrong with it apart from brake squeel but thats just poor brake pad choice.

After the experience with this car im looking at more subies for the family. Just a shame they hold their market value so well because theyre friggin expensive to buy !!

So there was something wrong with it? When the Falcon is reported to have brake squeal a lot of people jump on the band wagon and say that the Falcon is crap. However it appears that when another brand of vehicle has a very similar problem it not the car's fault.

Yes, I agree, there's no denying the Subaru is a great car. They may be a little more expensive to buy but they appear to be a good car. My brother, sister and mother all have one and it doesn't appear that either three of them have had any problems with them so far. However, they all have under 50,000ks on them.

[AU Mont]

Originally Posted by PG2

So there was something wrong with it? When the Falcon is reported to have brake squeal a lot of people jump on the band wagon and say that the Falcon is crap. .

the brake pad fitted was incorrect for that car. Was done before we got a hold of it........... i wouldnt call that a factory fault

im still mystified about the reasoning for the thread? To get a rise out of everyone? To get the same old arguments thrown around (like it doesnt happen enough on this forum already)?

[PG2]

Originally Posted by AU Mont

im still mystified about the reasoning for the thread? To get a rise out of everyone? To get the same old arguments thrown around (like it doesnt happen enough on this forum already)?

I think that we finally absolutely 100% agree on something!!!!

[peteypete]

My family have always owned fords, I've owned two in my past 4 years of driving (NL Fairlane and now a 2008 BF xr6)
Mum and dad own a F250, and they used to own an explorer.
Out of these four cars, the explorer was the worst. But it was always little problems which were rectified quite quickly and didn't take a huge chunk out of the hip pocket.
The f250 has been a great car and has racked up about 140 thousand K's, never ever had any problems. It's a work car and gets treated like one, dints in every panel, broken tailgate, headlight held on with gaffa tape etc but mechanically it is very sound and doesn't miss a beat.
Mum traded her explorer in on a 2003 honda accord with only 60thousand k's on it, about 8 years ago.
It is at 190 thousand, the transmission has fully **** itself. It slips and carrys on, and after some research have found that this was a common problem with such a model and Honda offered warranties for a BRIEF amount of time after the release of it.
There has been other issues with the honda but that was the worst and the fact that the transmission is going to cost two and a half g's to repair for a 10 year old car just makes me wonder why someone would even bother keeping it when the trade in value is about 7k for said car.
My fairlane (which I gave to my parents because of their honda) Has never skipped a beat. It has now reached 230 thousand kays, and the car is great.
Apart from some old creaky ball joints in the front, it is perfect.
My xr6, which I've now owned for a year and cops the occasional spirited drive has never had any problems and I've chucked an extra 50 thousand k's on her.
The biggest thing I've had to replace on the car is a wheel bearing hub, and that is when we had floods down here in kooweerup. I went to a mates place down the road, where it started to rain. Came out 3 hours later and bam, his street was a lake. Car was hub deep in water and thats when I stuffed the hub driving through it.
I fixed it myself and two new hubs cost me 140$ and it took me what, 2 hours to do with basic tools and a torque wrench.
its now at 190 thousand k's and I think the ORIGINAL diff bushes have just given out so she'll be in getting some new ones which is the first major fix I've had
My brother bought a BMW, 1994 e36 coupe 4 banger thing.
Piece of junk. 130 thousand k's. Coolant leaks. Manifold leaks. Idling problems. Lots of other problems I forget.
It now has a blown head gasket. Pretty pathetic for such a low mileage car, but then again buying second hand you never know what it's been through.

Good thing about the honda dieing is that I've let my parents drive my XR which convinced dad to buy an FG mk2 xr6 Woohoo.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by AU Mont

who would buy a focus to replace a falcon?

quality aside, these are 2 very different cars for different markets. I think people still want larger vehicles just not in sedan form. People still need the interior & luggage space, things havnt changed that much.......

Ask DJM83.

Originally Posted by peteypete

My family have always owned fords, I've owned two in my past 4 years of driving (NL Fairlane and now a 2008 BF xr6)
Mum and dad own a F250, and they used to own an explorer.
Out of these four cars, the explorer was the worst. But it was always little problems which were rectified quite quickly and didn't take a huge chunk out of the hip pocket.
The f250 has been a great car and has racked up about 140 thousand K's, never ever had any problems. It's a work car and gets treated like one, dints in every panel, broken tailgate, headlight held on with gaffa tape etc but mechanically it is very sound and doesn't miss a beat.
Mum traded her explorer in on a 2003 honda accord with only 60thousand k's on it, about 8 years ago.
It is at 190 thousand, the transmission has fully **** itself. It slips and carrys on, and after some research have found that this was a common problem with such a model and Honda offered warranties for a BRIEF amount of time after the release of it.
There has been other issues with the honda but that was the worst and the fact that the transmission is going to cost two and a half g's to repair for a 10 year old car just makes me wonder why someone would even bother keeping it when the trade in value is about 7k for said car.
My fairlane (which I gave to my parents because of their honda) Has never skipped a beat. It has now reached 230 thousand kays, and the car is great.
Apart from some old creaky ball joints in the front, it is perfect.
My xr6, which I've now owned for a year and cops the occasional spirited drive has never had any problems and I've chucked an extra 50 thousand k's on her.
The biggest thing I've had to replace on the car is a wheel bearing hub, and that is when we had floods down here in kooweerup. I went to a mates place down the road, where it started to rain. Came out 3 hours later and bam, his street was a lake. Car was hub deep in water and thats when I stuffed the hub driving through it.
I fixed it myself and two new hubs cost me 140$ and it took me what, 2 hours to do with basic tools and a torque wrench.
its now at 190 thousand k's and I think the ORIGINAL diff bushes have just given out so she'll be in getting some new ones which is the first major fix I've had
My brother bought a BMW, 1994 e36 coupe 4 banger thing.
Piece of junk. 130 thousand k's. Coolant leaks. Manifold leaks. Idling problems. Lots of other problems I forget.
It now has a blown head gasket. Pretty pathetic for such a low mileage car, but then again buying second hand you never know what it's been through.

Good thing about the honda dieing is that I've let my parents drive my XR which convinced dad to buy an FG mk2 xr6 Woohoo.

When I did my brief stint at a Honda dealership in 2010, we were doing a lot of autos under warranty on new cars, Honda autos really suck, at least 5 cars a week.

That was a bastard of a job, you and 5 other people get called over to hold the sub frame under the car on the hoist while another guy undoes it with an impact gun, man that **** was heavy.

[Resurrection]

Q. Are Australian Fords REALLY so $#!%&
A. As a person who has owned six Falcons (EA, EL, AU, BA, BF & FG) my answer is no. Only one of these cars was a piece of $#!%& (and it wasn't the AU).

[WPR1]

I have 2 Aussie Fords, a GT and a Territory and they are fantastic - I just think people like the idea of driving a Euro car.

[Firstfordv8]

Well the old man had a ba ute dedicated gas it's now done well over 200000ks and I think it's had 2 or 3 services in its life and it still gose as good as the day he picked it up a little hard to start first up in the morning. Once warm runs well. Told him to service it but as long as it starts he is happy. Go the Fords can't beat them I don't think. I love my BF fairmont ghia.

[flooded one]

Originally Posted by tezxr8man

I don't wanna have a go or any thing but has anybody driven a hilux in the wet?? there are dangerous and they are brand new ones . territory do use a bit of fuel but Land cruisers of the same vintage are hopeless in that regard as well

on a whole Aussie cars are robust and keep going for years longer and with less cost than most of the competition sure they have a few small dramas but hardly ever stop completely

yep like most utes in the wet!! I find it fun :p

[flooded one]

Originally Posted by Resurrection

Q. Are Australian Fords REALLY so $#!%&
A. As a person who has owned six Falcons (EA, EL, AU, BA, BF & FG) my answer is no. Only one of these cars was a piece of $#!%& (and it wasn't the AU).

from experience the worse falcon of the whole lot was the EA series. shame too I like the shape of the EA. thou oddly enough I know of one or two that are getting around with no problems!! ford must of built these ones on a day other then Friday lol. I really think with cars its the luck of the draw. there is no such thing as the fault free car.

[AU Mont]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Ask DJM83.

im sure people have their reasons for crossing over from falcon to sardine tin

but to compare both is not realistic?......... might as well say " my Toyota Landcruiser was such a pos, i bought a new hyandai i30 and couldnt be happier !!"

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by AU Mont

who would buy a focus to replace a falcon?

quality aside, these are 2 very different cars for different markets. I think people still want larger vehicles just not in sedan form. People still need the interior & luggage space, things havnt changed that much.......

Ill tell ya a story

I was looking for a car to replace my AU TE50, now i was dead set keen on an FG XR6T Ute with a 6 speed proper gearbox.

Now i always loved the XR5 and thought id own one no worries but its not for me.
Alas i went to have a look at cars and there was an LS XR5T, i said to the used car folk do you have a newer LV i went to have a look at it and i was bloody surprised. I had never driven one and was mighty impressed, enough so to put a deposit on a new one in 2010.
Now i live interstate, away from mine and my partners family. So packing gear inside it, it was gonna have to try hard to swallow the gear that my AU did. Well it did it with aplomb, and it did everything my AU did on a long trip and i had a hell of a lot more fun in it compared to the AU.
Now the LV came up for change over (Well it didnt as it was still faultless with only 2 warranty issues). And upon trade in day it never had a rattle, squeak or any other.
A falcon never even come into the picture unfortunately, i have no need for one. My new Focus IMHO is a much nicer place to sit compared to an XR6T, yeah sure it aint as fast in a straight line but again IMO thats the only thing it has over my ST is straight line speed.
I dont wish the falcons demise, but again IMO the falcon went south after the AU.
Id love too see the falcon kick on. But i wont have one as it doesnt suit my needs but it does for some people.

[Bossxr8]

The BA seems to be the common link in people complaining. People need to realise the FG is light years ahead of the BA is in terms of quality, and stop using the same old tired "my BA was crap so every other Ford ever made must be crap too" excuse. The BA is over 10 years old now.

If Ford could actually release the TGW ratings to the public, instead of there being a gentlemans agreement not to with the other local manufacturers, people would be shocked how well the FG does. Even rating better than the Toyotas.

But you still hear the old "Toyotas are so reliable" crap

[mik]

yes instead of singling out the falcon, really the title of this thread should be renamed are australian big cars (commodore/aurion /falcon) (*&^*^$% because they are all losing sales each year hand over fist to other brands/platforms, because it is a problem for all of them, i might add in an article i read last night, holden has dropped the price of the vf by $10,000.00..... yes $ 10,000.00

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

The BA seems to be the common link in people complaining. People need to realise the FG is light years ahead of the BA is in terms of quality, and stop using the same old tired "my BA was crap so every other Ford ever made must be crap too" excuse. The BA is over 10 years old now.

If Ford could actually release the TGW ratings to the public, instead of there being a gentlemans agreement not to with the other local manufacturers, people would be shocked how well the FG does. Even rating better than the Toyotas.

But you still hear the old "Toyotas are so reliable" crap

My BA has been a great car. Never let me down but it is showing its age now. As you would expect for something used daily, with 163,000 on the clock that is nearly 10 years old. My new Territory is quite frankly a brilliant car, and I have no doubt it will give me as many years and klm's worth of hassle free driving. It proves that we can make great cars in this country.

[pmacc]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

But you still hear the old "Toyotas are so reliable" crap

Bloody oath its a load of crap especially the 'bulletproof' Hiluxes

At one stage 2 years back me and my mates had 5 current gen D4D Hiluxes between us. Every single one of the diesels around 100k mark had atleast 2 leaking injectors $400 each injectors to fix if your lucky enough to have a diesel mechanic mate with a trade account otherwise a toyota to fix was $1200 per injector. On further research i found that pretty much every one of the D4D motors suffered the same problem and toyota still hasnt sorted out the problem.

Problem is alot of people go on so called legends of a product. eg ford 9 inch is the best rear end, t400 is the strongest tranny, brembo make the best brakes and the toyotas are so reliable. in many cases it may be true but nothing in life (besides death) is guaranteed but for most thats good enough

[LeadFoot81]

Originally Posted by AU Mont

who would buy a focus to replace a falcon?

quality aside, these are 2 very different cars for different markets. I think people still want larger vehicles just not in sedan form. People still need the interior & luggage space, things havnt changed that much.......

People are realizing (in droves) that hatches (such as Focus) are bigger than they used to be but are packaged more efficiently so:

They have comfortably sized cabins
They're easier to get in and out of
They're easier to park
Have usable space that's easier to access

They're also a good compromise between power, speed and fuel economy.

Add the fact that most look very smart, come loaded with features, and are cheaper than a large car...its easy to understand why someone would cross shop a large sedan with a hatch (if only out of curiosity) or swap from a Falcon to a Focus.

I went from a string of Falcons to a Fiesta because it met all the points I've listed AND I realized I didn't need the larger car. I suspect many hundreds of thousands of people in Oz have done or are doing the same.

[AU Mont]

Originally Posted by LeadFoot81

Add the fact that most look very smart, come loaded with features, and are cheaper than a large car...its easy to understand why someone would switch to a Focus or cross shop a large car with a small one.

nah?

i cant see anyone wanting to downsize to a focus to replace a family car? Dunno mate, have you ever done a trip with kids and all the junk that comes along for the holidays?

anyone who could fathom the change from falcon to focus never really needed the falcon in the first place. 'OR' all the kids have grown up and left home which means a large sedan isnt required anymore which is the case when my dad put electrical tape over his falcon's flashing fault codes and traded the car for a mid sized Euro lol

[LeadFoot81]

Originally Posted by AU Mont

nah?

i cant see anyone wanting to downsize to a focus to replace a family car? Dunno mate, have you ever done a trip with kids and all the junk that comes along for the holidays?

anyone who could fathom the change from falcon to focus never really needed the falcon in the first place. 'OR' all the kids have grown up and left home which means a large sedan isnt required anymore which is the case when my dad put electrical tape over his falcon's flashing fault codes and traded the car for a mid sized Euro lol

BINGO.
This is what so many on these forums just cannot comprehend. I'll happily bet vital parts of my anatomy that most of the buyers who have abandoned large cars came to the realization that they never needed them in the first place. Many on FF have replaced performance family cars with performance hatches (that better suit their needs) In fact the back seat of every Falcon I've bought have been practically in as new showroom condition, hardly ever (if ever) sat on! Its easy to move on from a family car if there's no family to put in it.

Generally speaking, people with kids have moved up to SUVs and the golden oldies have abandoned large sedans for small hatches or SUVs.

The age of the large three box sedan being an automotive mainstay has come to an end unfortunately. Jack of all trades, master of none (but still relevant as a luxury niche, like the Fairlane/Statesman once were)

[Crazy Dazz]

Originally Posted by LeadFoot81

Crazy Dazz I appreciate your passion, but (I think) your post is a venomous,

Venomous? Gees, you should see me when I actually get fired up?
As for offending people, I AM offended everytime I come into a dedicated Ford Forum and read idiots slagging off the cars and the brand, or proclaiming that they will never buy another Ford because they had problems.
We ALL buy cars that fit our needs and our budgets, and I certainly don’t condemn people for their choices. It does however annoy me when supposed Ford Enthusiasts fail to support the brand because of ill-conceived and foolish notions. When I last bought the missus a NEW car, we almost went for the Terri, but opted for a Honda Odyssey because it was better suited to the role of people carrier we needed at the time. It was a great car, but I'm not going to defend my decision by PRETENDING that it didn’t have problems, claim that it was as powerful as a Terri, or that its driving was any match for the AWD.

[mik]

I reckon a lot of the oldies(just a theory) that once populated the highways for the annual caravan pilgrimage up the highway at each holiday are probably (or have gotten)getting a bit past it, and i suspect the younger generation no longer stick to a stable diet of falcadore as their parents once did, with the vast array of choice in motor vehicles in oz, in my eyes it is hard to see locals ever going back to the old days of sales domination..