Comments on: 2008 Ford Falcon gets five star safety rating

By: boss

boss — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 05:06:56 +0000

i have an au XR8,HO RAM INJECTION, and personaly have had absolutely no probs with the old girl.it has never given mechanical problems, the steering and suspension has remained tight, and the paint and interior has worn very well, even being a family daily driver.
the styling of the au was a little over done, but it is a great car overall, and an absolute blast to drive even by todays standards.
the competitive nature of holden and ford will always see 1 bettering the other.
the fact of the matter is both companys make a terrific product, it all comes down to personal choice by the consumer.

By: Bret

Bret — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 03:28:57 +0000

Realcars,
I know of one joint dealership, what part of the world did you see that?

By: realcars

realcars — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 02:21:18 +0000

Seen a FG Galcon xt in a lot yesterday next to one of the work sites I visit and the dealer had Honda Euros parked next to it.

The fg had a big window sticker with 36990 on it plus orc.

I couldn’t help but think that potential buyers would overlook the base fg and go straight for the Euro.
The base FG has no bling about it whatsoever.
This is despite the bigger engine,safety,comfort,etc

Prob is with the fg u need to sped at least 10k more than this to get a car that actually looks new.

Ford need to dress the base model up if they are serious.
Looks are everything to most buyers especially buying new.

By: Adam (aka Mada)

Adam (aka Mada) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 02:21:38 +0000

Richo…

Get your info correct.

The falcon has lost less share than the commodore over the last 5 years.

Holdens marketing is far superior than Fords.

The better vehicle does not always sell better.

take a look at last months sales figures and if you add all of Fords locally build and locally sold products they are only a couple of hundred behind Holden.

The big difference between the two is Holden has a much bigger LHD export markets, besides that Ford actually sells as much as Holden locally.

Also, take a look at Ford and Holdens’ overall market share YTD, Ford is up while Holden is down, Holden is only 14,000 odd units ahead of ford while this time last year the gap was 24,000 units.

You were saying?

By: Richo

Richo — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 09:10:11 +0000

companies don’t survive on public sentiment, they survive on sales, which is the reason why holden has been (the only) GM outpost for quite a while now that is financially stable, even despite recent losses which where mainly due to development costs and where fully anticipated. This year, with VE’s development out of the way, holden are scheduled to break even, ford aus ofcourse aren’t due to the FG’s development costs. Case of bad timing with the issues BOTH parent companies are facing in the US

By: Richo

Richo — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 09:06:04 +0000

Andrew you keep saying this “holden builds cars for fans” stuff but what exactly is wrong with that? I would have thought that ALL car companies design cars to appeal specifically to their target market… i mean that just makes sense doesn’t it? I mean do you really think there would be an XR6T if it wasn’t for the “fans” who would buy it? The average family car buyer doesn’t buy a turbo model, the fleet buyer definetly doesn’t! So that leaves on the fans doesn’t it? Hmm…

No one is trying to say that the VE is a better car then the FG, i think everyone accepts the FG is superior, but lets give credit where its due. Like them or not commodore has dominated the large car market for a very long time while falcon has been slipping in comparison to the commodore for a very long time.. now there just HAS to be a reason for that. If thats because holden builds cars for “fans” then shit mate who can argue with their logic given the runs on the board!

By: Andrew M

Andrew M — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 08:39:37 +0000

the people that dog the AU obviously dont know what they were talking about.
the AU had better motor and gear box, better handling etc etc etc.
the only thing was that the VT had more conservative styling that struck a better balalce with the public.

the AU11 how ever absolutely creamed over the VT.
the AU11 had slightly better styling when the changed the grill (over the first series), bonnet, boot and rear tail lights to name a few majors.

Richo,
find me a review where it says the VE significantly bettered the BF11…….
the BF still had better motor and gearbox (like the falcon has had for decades)
the VE marginally bettered the FG in the handling stakes. that was the main difference.
the quality of the VE interior is heavily critisised, so i dont see a win to the VE there either.

holden build cars for fans, and engineering comes second

Duck,
and you better watch what you say because ive seen plenty of AU’s with interiors in good nick

By: Bret

Bret — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 08:02:47 +0000

Duck,
Falcon achillies heel has always been power steering leaks – crap 3rd party product.
Anyway I believe finaly fixed with new system in FG.
(Wish I could put a smily face here)

By: Duck

Duck — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 07:52:07 +0000

Sorry, did I forget to mention the blokes AU I drove had a Power steering Pump leak, so that may have been why it was not that good sorry. So I take what you said and I do believe the AU had better steering. Sorry, forgive me. But like I’ve said I know alot of good VT’s interior thats pretty good. Even the layout and door handles were better inside.

Though I do know from fact that the AU didn’t have Power Steering Pump leaks so someting might have happed to it obviosoly.

By: Duck

Duck — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 07:42:02 +0000

^mmmmmmmmmmm. You have to be carefull what you say because I know a lot of people with their VT interior in good shape, perfect. Though the only problem I have heard is the fabric on the seats sorta have ripples in it, if you know what I mean. Though that hasn’t happened to my VT.