Advice needed!

BG Perana V8 · 16-03-2009, 05:49 AM

Hi everyone, am from South Africa and looking at purchasing an AU Falcon XR6.

Am desperately trying to find out info on these cars but so far have found nothing.

Hopefully some of you on here can assist me with a few of my queries.

As far as reliabilty goes what are these cars like, one of the reasons I am attracted to the car is its simple and hopefully built Australian tough.

Are there any common problems with this cars and if so what are they?

Any help or advice would be much appreciated!

AUIIForte · 16-03-2009, 07:23 AM

I don't have an XR6, but I do have an AU Forte, its gone over the 300,000km mark and still going very smooth. The only major thing I had to do is replace my gearbox with a strengthened one at about the 280,000km mark because that was acting up a bit.

This car has been constantly pushed hard on tracks and quarter mile runs, its seen many days driving on very rough dirt roads and has been through 2 minor crashes, but still, the car runs absolutely fine when driving on normal roads, except for a few minor rattles on the inside, which don't bother me.

I get about 500km's in one tank of fuel and my tank is about 62L, so in my eyes, its still running well.

Alanbxr8 · 16-03-2009, 12:05 PM

I owned one (a manual) & could not have been happier, by far the best handling car I ever owned. I traded it in after 100K because I wanted an XR8, you will find its ride is very hard & you will feel every bump on the road but that's the trade off if you want a car that handles like they do.

I never had any mechanical problems, however they do scrub out the inside of the front tires

platinumXR · 16-03-2009, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alanbxr8

however they do scrub out the inside of the front tires

all Falcons do that...there's even a part number for it

:

Lightning Strike XR6 · 16-03-2009, 05:02 PM

Strech the budget for a BA. More power and better looking IMO.

dreadly · 16-03-2009, 06:39 PM

Ba ewwww Lol Au looks 100 times better... ba's are looking old and dated. An au dosent look 8+yrs old lol.. and power? what a whole 10rwkws? The Au xr6 is a far better car, and far better buy. ;)

The Monty · 16-03-2009, 06:57 PM

Good luck scoring a BA in SA...

T3man · 16-03-2009, 07:07 PM

XR6 is one of the sweetest drives - if you aren't power hungry. They are a good honest well-handing family sedan. Very reliable - you would do well to look for post Aug 2000 build (Series II or Series III) The tyre wear problem isn't a problem at all - the front end is adjustable and easily set up. Also they have IRS standard which is simply the best IRS ever fitted to a production vehicle being double wishbone design. Definitely a better proposition over a BA which has very suspect handling by comparison.

JC · 16-03-2009, 10:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T3man

XR6 is one of the sweetest drives - if you aren't power hungry. They are a good honest well-handing family sedan. Very reliable - you would do well to look for post Aug 2000 build (Series II or Series III) The tyre wear problem isn't a problem at all - the front end is adjustable and easily set up. Also they have IRS standard which is simply the best IRS ever fitted to a production vehicle being double wishbone design. Definitely a better proposition over a BA which has very suspect handling by comparison.

T3man - that's all true for the VCT, but what if SA only got the HP? Live rear axle still, but with 164kw, still goes well.

BG Perana V8 · 16-03-2009, 11:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JC

T3man - that's all true for the VCT, but what if SA only got the HP? Live rear axle still, but with 164kw, still goes well.

We did indeed get the one with IRS and VCT...they are very rare though. Am looking for one of those. 172kW is enough for the moment but I do read that these motors do respond well to turbos....

mik · 17-03-2009, 02:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alanbxr8

I owned one (a manual) & could not have been happier, by far the best handling car I ever owned. I traded it in after 100K because I wanted an XR8, you will find its ride is very hard & you will feel every bump on the road but that's the trade off if you want a car that handles like they do.

I never had any mechanical problems, however they do scrub out the inside of the front tires

mine does`nt ....well aligned and correct tyre pressures you wont have a problem.

**Papa Smurf** · 17-03-2009, 09:33 AM

I have an AU XR6 and I am really happy with it, the ONLY thing I didn't like when I first got it was the ride height, it looked awful sitting higher in the back and so I added a set of lowered springs and evened the ride.

One thing I keep hearing is that the brakes aren't that good on AUI but I can't fault mine, I have ABS on it and have NEVER had any trouble stopping Lucifa.