Has anybody had any experience with Falcon longreach utes? I am looking,as I want more power and the tray lower than the Courier diesel I have now. Also dual fual and auto box attracts me.How about fuel consumption and general costs?Your views would be apreciated. Thanks.Bill
There getting a bit long in the tooth. The only model I have listed is 1993-1996. If that's the year model you are looking for then my listing gives a max towing of 2100 kg "When fitted with a Ford approved tow bar," "when fitted with a Ford load levelling kit" and "Tow pack required."
The "load levelling kit" means WDH and the "Tow pack required" includes both auto transmission and steering pump oil coolers plus strengthening bits and heat shields along the exhaust. You will have to check out which of those tow pack items your model will require, different weight tow bars require different tow packs, the highest weight rated bar requires more of those items to be fitted than the lower rated bars.
If those years do not apply to what you are looking at then let's know and I will look up the correct model.
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PeterD Nissan Navara D23 diesel auto, Spaceland pop-top Retired radio and electronics technician. NSW Central Coast.
I've had a few Falcons - XF EA EB Territory - all have been reliable and cheap to service as long as you use aftermarket parts which are readily available. Fuel consumption may or may not be good depending on what you compare it against - I'd say it's about the same as a Hilux petrol 2WD. They are comfortable and roomy as you can sit 3 across the front. Heaps of power. Not complicated so easy to fix/maintain. Any major parts like gearbox/motor/diff etc can readily be sourced from wreckers very cheap as they are common with sedans. Tray will be styleside unless a later model ute is looked at. They are cheaper than imported utes. 99% of utes will come with a towbar fitted and most will be heavy duty. Transmission is 4 speed electronic and reliable as long as you fit an external trans oil cooler though most will have this fitted already. Dual fuel will be aftermarket and usually a primitive setup like most dual fuel cars of that age. The ones not bought by tradies were mostly bought by older drivers so have been looked after. If you spend time looking around you can find some really good examples for not much money. Bottom line is they are not Japanese but Australian which turns some people against them (funny how things change with time) Good Luck.
I had an AU falcon sedan which returned about 10k/litre unloaded and never worse than 8klm/litre when towing my lighweight camper trailer (about 700 kg) depending on whether hilly or flat terrain. I would think that with your trayback camper the windage may be as big a problem (fuel wise) as the weight. I don't think you'd have a problem power wise and the plus is that there are plenty of them in wreckers for spare parts etc.
