ColinT

I am about to be in the same postion in 2 months when my lease finishes. An idendical spec vehicle as described. My residual is $24,500 plus for release, and I intend to release mine for another 2 years. This is because you have already been hit with the greatest amout of depreciation in the first 2 years. Looking at redbook and glasses guide figures the depreciation rate reduced significantly after 3 years. As you mention you know the service history, and if its still running great then keep it.

I've had the TPS replaced twice in 2 years. Very rare it ever fails the dealer told me and he never had it fail twice on a vehicle until mine.

It lists the time as a total of 54mins to carry out the additional service of tightening the inlet and exhaust manifold bolts. Page 43 of the service book. I thinf Ford dealers are around the $65-70 per hour mark. According to Ford this must be done with every scheduled service.

Did you recieve a Ford booklet called " Ford Solutions Product Disclosure Statement" " Extended New Vehicle Warranty" This warranty is a full extension by Ford anywhere in Australia. NOT just a warranty from where you purchased the car from. There are cheaper warranties out there that only cover certain items at the place of purchase.

Be carefull though. Page 15, section 19, states; Provided the plan price has been paid by the owner and Ford has not made a claim under this warranty, the owner may cancel this warranty at any time by writing to Ford to request cancellation. Page 16; Again, no refund will be provided if Ford has paid a claim under this warranty.

Interestingly the cover is jointly underwritten by Ford and Swann Insurance. Yes it does cover Australia wide. The price that the dealer charges is up to the dealer though. Although Ford have a RRP for the cover. My suggestion would be take 20min to read through the booklet on the extended warranty at the dealer so you know exactly what cover you get.

I good link http://www.fordxr6turbo.com/forum/index.ph...topic=25507&hl= I purchased my 3 extended warranty mainly due to the costs involved in replacing turbo and other critical parts. There are a few threads here on turbo failure. So the cost of $1250 over 3 years I think is a good investment. On the other hand this is the first car I have felt it necessary to have to purchase an extended warranty on.

The fog lights if adjusted correctly do very little to help as would a real driving light. Should book everyone who has them on just because they come with the car. In all states it's illegal to drive with the rear RED fog light on. A lot af European cars, and bloody Hyundia's have a rear red light which come on and the drivers are ignorant to this fact. It's annoying if you are behind them. I think all those people who replace the 1/2 globes that are standard from Ford also deserve to be fined also.

Error codes checked overboost problem - fixed with reflash Brake shudder - discs machined (then I replaced with PBRs) Throttle position sensor - replaced Rust starting in upper corner of boot - respray inside Rust starting behind the rear bumper bar - respray area. (found when fitting reverse parking sensor) Throttle position sensor - replaced again Interior cabin light fitting could not switch on - replaced Turbo outlet pipe kept slipping off at the engine crossover - replaced

From a manufactures web site. The other design mostly is used in the USA., where tanks are on the top & bottom of the core, causing the charge air to make two 90 deg. bends. By using a second manometer with a long thin probe, we found that 80% of the intake charge flows through the end 25% of tubes on our first test tank, which was of reasonable length. Flow rate was good but cooling rate was terrible. When we doubled the length of the tank, 55% of the intake charge flowed through the end 25% of tubes & overall flow dropped 9%, indicating that this design has too have very long tanks, but should be able to be avoided anyway. http://www.are.com.au/feat/techtalk/inteco...m#Configuration

Not wanting to put too negative aspect on your cooler, but. From what I have read about IC design when the inlet and outlet manifolds are fitted as yours are its not the most efficient design. 80% of the flow will go through the bottom part of the cooler as the air will take the shortest distance between the inlet and outlet pipes. The header outlets should be the opposite each other and in this case wider at the top instead of the bottom. Just like the WOG cooler which is an excellent design. I think this is a case of bigger might not be better. Not saying it wont work, but PWR should go back to basics of IC design.

Same here. It's cheap enough and is Ford spec to change every 7500 klms and Its a must to change the oil and filter at least every 7500 klm.

Had the oil changed at 3,000klm's. The next next change was at the 15,000 service. There was no noticable change in the oil level on the stick prior to the change. Next change was done at 30,000 and again no notciable change on the stick. So I don't think the car uses very muck at all.

Ford actually sell the matching item at last. On ebay there are 2 types, one looks like the main grille and the other is a finer mesh and usually comes with a piece to cable tie over the normal grille. I have the open type and that doesn't affect the intercooler.

The Ford Extended Warranty is exactly the same warranty you had for the first 3 years. But as I mentioned in a previous post, the one I bought has a limit of 100,000klm's. Paid for mine today, and it will automatically start when the existing warranty expires.

Just got the prices for the Ford Factory Extended Warranty. Time Extension takes you to 100,000klm's 12 month $965 24 month $1065 36 month $1265 Time and Distance Extension 12 month $1265 to 120,000klm's 24 month $1365 to 140,000klm's 36 month $1565 to 160,000klm's As I'm only looking at having less than 100,000klm's up at the end of 6 years I think I'll purchase the 36 month 100,000klm extension. Don't like the possible costs of turbo damage while I still own the car. Anyway trade it in before 100,000klms could have it's advantages too.

Your right Turbo6man, I tested them on my way to work tonight. It's bound to be foggy in the morning on my way home. Want to see how they help in the fog mainly. They actually light up something now. Most of my driving is done on country roads surounded by farms and some pine plantations. In the last week I have seen a dog, a roo and a cow hit in the fog. They weren't there when I went to work but were when I came home.

Sorry but I agree. If it ain't foggy, "bookem danno"

If they were meant to be true driving lights then according to Australian Design Rules they would only be able to come on when your headlights are on high beam. SO that makes them fog lights then. The wiki extract also says "They may be either white or selective yellow."

It's getting to that time of year again for me when I need to use the fog lights. That is in the fog, unlike others. I have always thought these Ford fog lights to be totally useless. I've had to peer over the bonnet to see the effect when driving. Today I set the car up as per the manual for setting fog lights. I.e. 5m from the rear of the garage, full tank, no other load, level ground. The light pattern should be the centre of the fog light globe less 150mm. At a distance of 5m on the wall. Adjustment is by a 6mm alan key from under the fog light. Mine were set at a distance of 150mm less at 2m. So they were pointing at the ground. One of the adjusters was at its maximum travel pointing the light down. Now they are set right I can't wait to give them a try on the way to work tonight. In the fog.

The extended warranty sounds interesting. Is this through the Ford dealer, or where can I get one. MY car is under lease but I intend to keep it fo 3 years more than the warranty. I should be able to buy the ext warranty through the vehicle lease. Saves a few dollars.

One bonus is that you are only charged for the oil and filter, or at least I was. There was no labour charge for the extra work.

Here's the reply I recieved from Ford. Thank you for your e-mail to Ford Motor Company of Australia Limited (Ford Australia). The automatic transmission and differential are both sealed from the factory. The fluid level does not need to be checked unless leaks or reduced performance are noticed. For further information we recommend you speak to your Authorised Ford Dealer.

Isn't "Rust perforation" a hole. Even a Late model camira won't get holes in 5 years.

Here is the link from a closed item. He puts one kit on every ~24hrs. Otherwise contact him on his email address invisyguard@hotmail.com http://cgi.ebay.com.au/INVISIBLE-REVERSE-S...1QQcmdZViewItem I noticed they have now gone to $32 Buy it Now. Getting popular I guess.