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04/06/2009
By EWAN KENNEDY
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The introduction of the new FG series Falcon in May 2008 lifted awareness of the car, though it hasn’t done as much as Ford Australia had hoped for in the way of sales. Not many FGs are on the used-car market as yet, but it's timely for us to look at its immediate predecessors. Starting with the radically styled AU Falcons, introduced in September 1998 and leading up to the last of the BF series in April 2008.
The AU didn’t have the success it deserved as people didn’t like the futuristic lines, resulting in some frantic back-to-the-drawing-board work. Facelifts to create the AU Falcon series II in April 2000 and to AU III in November 2001 went some way to squaring up its appearance. These saw the introduction of standard rear wings to fill out the shape of the tail, a boxier bonnet and squarer bumpers.
 In September 2002, Ford Australia gave the AU a major facelift to produce the BA Falcon. This much more conservative car was a success, though arch-rival Commodore continued to rule the new-car roost. The BA was further upgraded to the BF Falcon in October 2005, but visual differences are minor. However, there were major changes to the transmissions at this time - more about them later. A further facelift saw the arrival of the last of the line, the BF II Falcon in September 2006. Sales slowed during 2007 as buyers were seduced by the new Commodore and awaited the arrival of the 2008 Falcon.
Ford Falcons are big, rugged cars that cope extremely well with rough and ready Australian bush roads. Comfort is very good and passengers can step out of a car after a trip of hundreds of kilometres still feeling fresh and relaxed.
Handling is surprisingly good for a car of this size and mass. You wouldn’t call it agile, but Falcons hold on at speeds far above those likely to be attempted by most drivers.
Falcons have seating for five adults, though four makes more sense because the use of rear-wheel drive means the transmission tunnel takes up a fair bit of footroom in the centre-rear position. Legroom and headroom are ample for all but the largest adults. Some find the relatively steep slope of the roof makes it awkward to get into both the front and rear seats. But if you're smart you will only hit your head once...
Boot space in the sedan is good, but should be better - the area is rather shallow in the older models and the slope of the bootlid on the AU reduces its practicality. It’s easy to load thanks to a good-sized opening. The BA is noticeably better, though still on the shallow side.
 Falcon station wagons are great load carriers, being built on a longer wheelbase than the sedan so they have a long, wide, practical cargo area. The rear end of the BA wagon remains virtually identical to that of the older AU and continues to this day, because Ford chose not to do an FG variant of the wagon. Instead it created a Series III BF model to sell alongside the FG sedans.
Ford's six-cylinder engines all have a capacity of 4.0 litres, but come in several formats, including some with a turbocharger. The standard AU unit is good enough in its own right, but the BA’s six-cylinder is noticeably smoother and better.
An interesting variant on the six-cylinder is a dedicated LPG engine. Very common in taxis, but less so in private cars, with the exception of Victoria, this engine is all but indistinguishable from a petrol unit to drive. It’s quite a bit thirstier than the petrol, so fuel range suffers. Thanks to taxation concessions, LPG costs considerably less than petrol, often being only around half the price.
Ford fitted a 5.0-litre V8 to the AU, but it didn’t have a lot more performance than the six-cylinder units, and was on the thirsty side. Much better were the BA bent eights: there was a choice of two, both with a capacity of 5.4 litres, one with a single-cam cylinder head, the other with a twin-cam setup.
Manual gearboxes are rare and probably best avoided in all but the sporting XR6 and XR8 as they can affect ease of resale. The manual was a five-speed until the October 2005 BF series, when a six-speed was installed.
Automatics were all four-speed units until the launch of the BF, when they leap-frogged five speeds altogether to go to a sophisticated six-speed ZF unit. The latter, only fitted in the topline variants, is a real beauty. The rest of the range stuck with the four-speed, albeit with some updates.
 Prices for spare parts, servicing and repairs are very reasonable and there are Ford dealers just about everywhere in Australia. Most spare parts for the Falcons covered here are readily available, on some older cars a few bits may have to come from a parts recycler.
These are very simple cars to work on, with plenty of underbonnet and undercar space. We recommend having a workshop manual at your elbow before starting the work.
Insurance prices are pretty reasonable and premiums for the everyday models are invariably at the lower end of the scale. It will generally cost more to cover a V8 Falcon than a straight-six, and be dearer again for a turbo six.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
Engine wear is indicated by a reluctance to start and by smoke from the exhaust and/or oil filler cap.
Four-speed automatics can cause problems on hard driven cars, especially the older models. Check they change gears cleanly and don't hunt up and down through the ratios. Be suspicious of any automatic that’s slow at going into gear from Neutral or Park.
Listen for a whining differential when driving at around 60 to 90km/h.
Check the cabin for damage caused by wild kids. In station wagons have a good look at the load area for signs of commercial use.
Rust is far less of a problem in these newer Falcons than old ones. To be on the safe side, check the door lower corners, door sill panels, mudguards and bootlid. If you do find serious rust the car may have been badly repaired after a crash – a good reason for steering clear of it.
Many thousands of used Falcons will have been taxis at some time in their life. Be wary of one running on LPG, while these are quite common in Victoria, they are rare anywhere else in Oz. Signs of an ex-taxi are vinyl, rather than cloth, upholstery, severe wear both inside and out, holes where signs and a taximeter have been removed, and a paint respray.
CAR BUYING TIP
Big family cars are gradually making a comeback in Australia, but used prices continue to be relatively low. It might be time to make a move soon...
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