Ford Falcon Problems

We'd like to think that our cars would last longer and not give us trouble, but the reality is quite different to that. The ZF 6-speed gearbox is a troublesome one that can fail, as yours appears to have done. But as Ford has pointed out to you your Territory is out of warranty, although that doesn't end Ford's responsibility to back the product. You could pursue a full payment for replacing the transmission from Ford, but I doubt you would have any success. Should you choose to do that contact your state Consumer Affairs people in Perth for advice and support. But in my view your best course of action would be to accept Ford's offer of part payment.

It's hard to make recommendations without knowing much about what you want. The choices of vehicles for a family of four are many and varied, as you say. I would consider a Kia Sportage SUV, Toyota Camry mid-sized sedan, or a Ford Falcon is you want a large sedan. You would certainly be better off shopping for a one to two-year-old used car.

It's very low mileage for a car that is 18 years old, so make sure the odometer is correct. If it is you've most likely got a good buy on your hands. The BA Falcon is a solid and generally reliable car. There's little to worry about with the engine, there can be problems with the automatic transmission, but it shouldn't be a problem if it drives normally when you test-drive it.

With local production shutting down the big-car choices are getting fewer and fewer, but right now you can still buy a Calais if that's what you like. You can also buy an equivalent Falcon or Toyota Aurion. There are more expensive cars, from the likes of BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi etc. that would suit, but they come with a much higher price tag than a Calais. Others you could try are a Skoda Superb, a Honda Accord V6 Luxury if you're prepared to give up a little in size, and there's also the Chrysler 300C.

Ford's official fuel consumption was 11.3L/100km combined, now that's a blend of city type driving and country driving.

Given that, if you're driving mostly in the city I would expect you to get a little more than 11.3L/100km, so maybe it's not too far from what you should be getting.

It shouldn't be pinging on 91-octane fuel, and I'm guessing the engine is carboned-up.

I would give it a solid blast down the highway and see if you can blow the carbon out. You could also try an engine cleaner in the fuel.

The Falcon engine has a cam timing chain, so that's not your problem. If the auxiliary drive belt looks like it might be slipping, it could mean that it's worn, so have it changed. It won't cost you much to have it done. The oil leak could be from the head gasket, it might be sealing correctly. A head gasket change would cost you up to $1000.

When a globe in one of the indicators goes out the other indicator on the same side as the one that has failed will flash quickly. At the same time the indicators in the instrument cluster will flash quickly and the audible indicator will click quickly. Turn each of the indicators on and check that they are working. If they aren't it suggests a deeper problem, which could be a fault with the cluster. One thing for sure it won't fix itself. If you want to get a second opinion take it to an auto electrician.

They are very different cars, the Viva is small, the Falcon big, so it comes down to what you want from them. The Viva is newer and will have done fewer kilometres, the Falcon is getting old and is likely to have done lots of kilometres. That said, Falcons tend to be relatively reliable at high kilometres, so if you are after reliability that's probably the better bet for you.

You can purchase keys to replace lost or damaged Falcon keys from places other than Ford dealers. I would suggest you Google 'replacement keys for Ford Falcon' and you should come up with a number of people who could supply the keys.