Warning: Rant
In 2009 I decided my NF fairlane was beyond economical restoration. First car I looked at was the falcons, but they were rubbish. The cars the dealers showed me looked like they had come from a $ shop and the service was appalling.
So I could get a hilux V6 auto xtra cab for 31500 but they only had a single cab workmate to test drive. It was appalling. I later found out the SRs ride a lot better.*&^%...
So I looked at other stuff and eventually settled on a subaru forester manual X. Hated the car soon after buying it. In retrospect one of the worst decisions I've ever made, and it's got solid competition for that.
So a couple of years ago after a particularly painful service bill (1200!) I built a spreadsheet to try and work out how they could possibly justify the $ (hint: they couldn't, I got ripped off). So just for fun (cos I have a weird sense of fun) I added the data for m EL falcon. Incredibly the EL was cheaper to own and run than the subaru, despite $200/yr extra rego ad 20%more fuel. I did not include depreciation or finance.
So 6 months ago the 125k service which includes cambelt is $1800! Then the air con starts playing up. The other day car stops dead no clutch, slave cylinder, $350. Now they want $2100 for a clutch.
Utter garbage. Awful ergonomics, no bottom end, pitches, ordinary seats. Just a horid car. The only area it is superior to the falcon is wet weather adhesion.
130k and it's borderline beyond economical repair. Money pit.
My 2 falcons do break down. About $500/yr for repairs, but the service costs are so cheap that it totally wipes out fuel and reg savings on the forester.
I'll never buy a subaru again, and I'll probably never buy a new car again. I think next time I'll get an XB or something (LTD?) and restore it.
Stick to your falcons. Great cars.