Ford Falcon 2016 Problems

Back when LPG was between 10 and 20 cents a litre, it made all sorts of sense. Even when it had crept up to 50 or 60 cents a litre, car-makers like Ford and Holden were producing LPG-dedicated vehicles to make the most of that cost advantage.

Now, however, when LPG is 80 or 90 cents per litre (versus $1.40 or $150 for petrol) the arithmetic no longer presents the sound financial case it once did. Given that Australia still has plenty of LPG, this probably means a couple of things. The first is that the companies who produce the LPG would rather sell it offshore in bulk that mess about transport it to a few thousand individual service-stations. The second is that maintaining a service station to incorporate petrol, diesel and LPG is too much trouble, so there’s a move to get rid of the latter as a streamlining measure. The death of local cars with LPG engines has only sped up this process. Again, though, this is only conjecture.

My guess is that you’ll still be able to buy LPG from a service station for many years to come, but it may not be every service station you pass. The bigger issue, though, is that now that LPG is no longer the money saver it once was (yes, it costs less, but you use more per kilometre than a car running on petrol) what’s the point of an LPG-dedicated vehicle? Dual-fuel (where you can run on petrol or LPG at the flick of a switch) is one thing, but a dedicated LPG car stopped making a lot of financial sense for many people a few years ago.

There’s good reason why you should buy the original fitment tyres, after all they were developed by Ford’s engineers to deliver the best compromise of ride and handling for the FG. Against that, some would say that Ford used the cheapest tyre they could find that gave them the ride and handling they wanted. But you know what the original fitment tyres were like; if you buy other tyres you don’t know what you’re going to get.

There are some limited-edition cars in the pipeline and I'd go for one of those with the special equipment. But keep in touch with a friendly dealer and don't delay, as they are likely to sell out and — as we've seen with the rundown of Falcon production — the factory numbers have to be set early.

It’s not a myth, it’s the law. It’s also why Ford is stamping a 10-year supply of Falcon and Territory body panels this month in Geelong before closing down that part of its local production operation.

Your car and also your mate’s car are both old and you’re filling them with new bowsers that have a higher flow rate that the old tanks can’t handle. It affects lots of old cars, and some not-so-old ones. One way is to avoid using the full flow rates, instead only use ½ to ¾ of the full capacity of the pump, but that can be hard with the filler located down behind the rego plate on the bumper. Your idea of using a hose and funnel so you stand while filling up should be easier, you just need to judge when you’re getting near full and slacken off so you don’t lose too much fuel if it overflows.

Larger wheels are used mostly for styling and image reasons, plus the fact that the carmakers can charge more for them. As for the ride, larger wheels go in tandem with low profile tyres, which ride harder and are less comfortable.

Ford spokesman, Neil McDonald, replies: “We checked with the engineers and both the rear and side widows use tempered glass which can show up the heat-treatment pattern with polarised sunglasses.  You need to get the right angle and the right light but you can see this on every piece of rear and side glass in every manufacturer’s product”.

It's an easy choice for me. I'd go for the VFII SS-V with the new Corvette engine. It's a new high-water mark for Holden and, in any case, all the XR8s have already been allocated to owners.