Boosted Falcon

hey everyone i was wondering what your opinions are for the best first car,i would like to eventually do it up,i made a list let me know what you think is the best:

Ford ED Fairmont (Sedan)
Ford EB Falcon (Sedan)
Ford XH Falcon Ute
Ford EL Falcon (Sedan)
Ford AU Falcon (Sedan)
Ford XE Falcon (Sedan)

The list isn't in any specific order

Cheers

I'd choose the ED or EL. Depends what you want.

well,i like all fords it's just hard to make a decision on what i want.

Going by the name a vl turbo (sedan) or a vk 5ltr (sedan)

Get a ute so you aren't everyones personal taxi

going by the name? lol

I don't mind driving people around but i suppose it will get annoying after awhile.

cheers

An EL and an AU are fairly similar except the AU is fairly ugly, so go for the EL and go for the ED if you want a bit more comfort

Cheers for the replies everyone,keep em coming

Get an EB/D, then start putting late model motor/interior etc into it.

This thread is of very, very low quality.

Commando wrote:This thread is of very, very low quality.

This is true....and yet I still posted in it

for your first car, you want something reliable.

dont go for something with big wheels or a loud exhaust. these cosmetic mods are not needed.

early e-series are getting quite old these days. unless you find one that has been very well looked after, id say steer clear.

im sure im going to get alot of people who disagree with me here.

^^^ sdoylie saved this thread. For now.

cheers for the advice 'sdoylie'

92EBFAIRMONT wrote:An EL and an AU are fairly similar except the AU is fairly ugly, so go for the EL and go for the ED if you want a bit more comfort

AU might be uglier, but it's mechanically the newer better option. AUII and AUIII finally got a decent headgasket from factory, they got better brakes, brighter headlights (that don't yellow like EF/EL ones) and generally don't have much go wrong with them at all. I don't particularly like the AU lower-spec dash but the Fairmont/lane one is quite nice (although climate control screens do have problems). When talking about the exterior styling, you don't see it while you're driving it . When I was looking for a new cheap daily last year, I was looking at both EL and AU options and have no regrets with choosing the AU.

EL. Ive had 5. Best cars ever

i'm leaning towards getting the AU Falcon.

Why not consider a BA? New again and yet not that much up price wise on an AU. + They are nicer all round?

i love ba falcons and fairmonts but i can't afford them,i have seen a few cheap au's and el's and of course eb's,so yeah i would if i could.

AU. Despite what most of the muppets on here say, they are a better car.

xe, so slow you wont ever get a speeding ticket. reliable as an axe.

Just like the rest of us you will probably eventually want to mod the car. The Au has all the newer technologies that usually get added to modded ea-ed's such as thermofans, serpentine belt, BBM. Plus there are many other little tweaks ford has done like better fuel spray pattern from the injectors, changes to the bottom end to allow for better revving, Independent rear suspension (not in all au's) as well as the others have mentioned such as bigger brakes etc.

Steer clear of the Au series 1. There are many changes between series 1 and 2/3 and those changes make the car much nicer to drive.

Regarding the styling, most people will write it off as soon as you say 'ive got an AU' but as a magazine article once pointed out, Its the series 1 pov pack that let the team down. These were mass bought by the taxi industry and so this was Australias first impression of the all new falcon which had been released. The series 2/3 fairmonts and XR's can look quite nice.

Dan do you still have that pic of your Au that had the Genuine pursuit front bar? That was a nice looking car. Im also pretty happy with how my car turned out with the TE50 kit.

http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo23 ... C00990.jpg

AU series 2 or 3 for sure.
I was amazed stepping up from an EL to AUIII

had a huge list typed out of the common faults in falcons that i have seen while working in the automotive industry for the past 7-8 years.
from steering to suspension to cooling systems to brakes to head gaskets etc.
but i accidently deleted it.

in short the point i was trying to get across was most people on this site are ford aficionados who will stick with their pride and joy through thick and thin. i dont think a falcon in any make or model is a good first car.

firstly, as they arent the most relaible cars on the road, which is what you should look for most in your first car. just check out some of the thread topics.
secondly, they arent extremely powerful from the factory, but there is enough there to get a young inexperienced driver into alot of trouble.
third, the fuel consumption on a falcon with a lead footed p-plater behind the wheel is massive.

personally a well looked after fuel injected 4 cyl will be your best option for a first car. these will cause you the least dramas. corollas, lancers, mirages, later model lasers, accents etc. the smaller cars seem to have alot less faults if any than the larger cars such as falcons, commos, magnas etc.

after saying all this, i do own two falcons at the moment, one of which i am turboing as we speak. i know them quite well and can do all the maintenance/service work myself.

but at the end of the day, the choice is yours. hope you make the right one.

My first car was a 97 ford laser. Still got it and although i dont like to admit it its probably worth more than my falcon and has been 11ty times more reliable.

But if its an eseries you want you better have some mechanical skills otherwise youll be forking out more coin to fix the car than you did to buy it.

Just on that point of smaller cars. I was looking at smaller cars for that purpose of fuel consumption but what I found was that the initial outlay is much higher for an older car. For example look at a '94 nissan pulsar. You can easily spend $4000 on one that has: No-air con, no electrics, no abs, no airbags just bottom of the range. So yeh you will save on fuel but parts can be harder to find. That same $4000 spent on a '94 ed which is already on gas is going to have similar running costs but you will be able to get (in a fairmont) air con, abs, airbag(?), a car that can tow, safety in an accident and most likely pretty neat too.

I know this isnt a perfect example because sounds like he will be spending more than $4000 but the same principal extends through the range until your looking at relatively new cars.

thanks guys,my dad suggested i get a tx5 laser.i don't know much about the car,but are lasers reliable and can you buy many mods for them?

just on another note,do falcon rims fit ford couriers and territorys?

XE FTW... Would be great first car to do up.... E series are cheaper though.

just on another note,do falcon rims fit ford couriers and territorys?

Couriers no, Terry's will take AU-FG wheels, as in they fit, but you have to have high load rated wheels for a Territory.

**** getting an XE for your first car. Would have been a good choice 10 years ago when you could find parts, but nowdays you won't find one at a wreckers. Plus you'll get raped with insurance, by the police, and people trying to steal it. Sure, a rebuilt XE with an AU I6 on LPG/T5/3.45 diff would be a nice car, but it would cost a lot, and they're not as easy to work on as an E-Series.

TX5's are Telstars aren't they? And TX3's are Lasers? They're both decent cars you can find parts for at wreckers, they are getting old though.

WogBoy5150 wrote:thanks guys,my dad suggested i get a tx5 laser.i don't know much about the car,but are lasers reliable and can you buy many mods for them?

just on another note,do falcon rims fit ford couriers and territorys?

the rims have different off sets pre and post au. I know that au, ba, bf, fg will fit on a territory and pre-au wont but dont know about the courier.

what year laser are you looking at?

http://redbook.com.au/used-cars/details ... 0A023BA960

According to redbook.com your looking at $7500 plus for the later 2002 models. I chose that year because its the same as a series 3 au. But for that money you will get a BA.

Dansedgli wrote:AU. Despite what most of the muppets on here say, they are a better car.

And, when you smash it, no one will care......

Yep, AU is the best car on the list.

Its up to you though, obviously you dont care which one you do up, so u may aswell start off with the best car out of them all.

TS50 kit and a turbo 6, cant go wrong!!

TX's reliable and easy to get parts for?????
Falcon would be a safe choice for a first car, Obviously an E series would be cheaper to buy and maintain then either X or A series but AU's seem to be pretty reliable and nice to drive. Have a look around and see what you can find.

the model i am considering is a 1994 ford KH laser TX3.

here is one:
http://www.tx3nz.com/img/picsbymodel/kh.jpg

it would be cool if i could put falcon rims on it,shame the stud pattern is different

I THINK new focus and fiesta (XR3, XR5) rims fit??
If so there is a decent range of wheels for those.

TX's reliable and easy to get parts for?????

Yep. Many friends and family have owned them, if I wasn't such an E-Series whore I would have bought one. Because of their reliability, most are getting up to 300,000km now.

Obviously an E series would be cheaper to buy and maintain then either X or A series but AU's seem to be pretty reliable and nice to drive.

How would an E-Series be cheaper to maintain if an AU is more reliable?

The wreckers have 100's of E series, so any interior bits, engine parts or driveline are going to be fairly easy to find. Although im starting to see more AU's at the wreckers, Parts arent as common. Plus Upgrading a falcon to XR or ghia (If your into that) is easier and cheaper on an e series.

if i got the tx3 would i be able to put a falcon steering wheel in?

Dont think so.... Maybe depending on what wheel you were looking at putting on, cruise control buttons and so forth.
Mock up Falcon TX3??