Just bought a Eibach. Should I join the RAC?

Johnd1 · 04-07-2010, 12:32 AM

Hi, I just bought myself a Cougar SW MY99 Eibach on a whim. I had never seen a real one, didn’t know what they were or where they came from but after seeing a photo of one and doing a bit of checking I just had to have a Cougar. I am in Western Australia but managed to get one from NSW about a month ago.

It’s an Auto and has done $156,000ks and has been serviced regularly so most of the things that go bung during that time have been fixed by Ford.

I paid $9,240 for it and I had to add $1,400 to transport it over here plus a few dollars to have it registered in WA so she owes me $10,936 so far.

It got the Wynn’s treatment: Anti rust, Paint and Leather protection when new so all that is good. The Body has a few scratches and a couple of very minor dents which I will get fixed so add $700 for the full treatment which includes a thorough clean and paint protection treatment.

She got a new gearbox not too long ago so I (perhaps) can forget about that for a bit.

It goes like a dream and is very comfortable to drive so that’s all good.

But and there’s always a but! Reading the forum I am starting to get a bit worried about driving her because of the amount of things that appear to go wrong with these cars.

At the ks she has done what should I expect to go wrong, if anything, and do I really have to join the RAC?

Cheers
John
Perth
Western Australia

baz · 04-07-2010, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Johnd1

Hi, I just bought myself a Cougar SW MY99 Eibach on a whim. I had never seen a real one, didn’t know what they were or where they came from but after seeing a photo of one and doing a bit of checking I just had to have a Cougar. I am in Western Australia but managed to get one from NSW about a month ago.

It’s an Auto and has done $156,000ks and has been serviced regularly so most of the things that go bung during that time have been fixed by Ford.

I paid $9,240 for it and I had to add $1,400 to transport it over here plus a few dollars to have it registered in WA so she owes me $10,936 so far.

It got the Wynn’s treatment: Anti rust, Paint and Leather protection when new so all that is good. The Body has a few scratches and a couple of very minor dents which I will get fixed so add $700 for the full treatment which includes a thorough clean and paint protection treatment.

She got a new gearbox not too long ago so I (perhaps) can forget about that for a bit.

It goes like a dream and is very comfortable to drive so that’s all good.

But and there’s always a but! Reading the forum I am starting to get a bit worried about driving her because of the amount of things that appear to go wrong with these cars.

At the ks she has done what should I expect to go wrong, if anything, and do I really have to join the RAC?

Cheers
John
Perth
Western Australia

I bought my 2001 cougar about 4 months ago and the first thing I did was join the racv, at least that way you can get towed.
Baz

thearrow · 04-07-2010, 02:16 PM

Like any car that is over 10 years old they can be prone to breakdown. For the most part the engines a re pretty much bullet proof. You should check if the front struts have been replaced as these are prone to failiure after 100,000KM.

The main thing is find yourself a good mechanic and stick to him like glue as the key now is regular maintenance.

On my Eibach I have had a few little problems but nothing major apart from the struts.

When and if you need parts I can recommend here if you can wait five days or so for delivery from the USA

http://www.rockauto.com/

Or here if you are after parts a bit more quicker as they are in NSW.

http://www.ussp.com.au/

Whatever you do don't try and buy parts from Fraud as they are a rip off.

Good luck with it and post some pics for us.

As for your question YES I would join the RAC, cars are so technical these days fixing it yourself on the side of the road just isn't going to happen.

gcg2503 · 04-07-2010, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Johnd1

It got the Wynn’s treatment: Anti rust, Paint and Leather protection when new so all that is good. The Body has a few scratches and a couple of very minor dents which I will get fixed so add $700 for the full treatment which includes a thorough clean and paint protection treatment.

Greetings John and welcome to Aust Ford Forums

I am a bit of a sceptic when it comes to paint protection from the factory and believe it is a total waste of time and money. So are you saying for $700 you will get some dents fixed and the car will get washed, clayed, polished and waxed?

Speak to Dave at Waxit (a forum sponsor) and you can get the products yourself and the car will look a treat

I have purchased all my carcare products from him and have detailed my own cars, friends lambos, porsches, benz's etc and they all come up looking mint

http://www.fordforums.com.au/forumdisplay.php?f=116

Simply put a post in his section saying the colour of the car, where it is garaged overnight, parked during the day and your budget and he will recommend the most cost effective solution. That's what many of here have done and havent looked back

Post some pics of your car when you get a chance

sorry for the long post

George

Johnd1 · 04-07-2010, 02:58 PM

Have to change the plates next week but here are a few photos.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/abloodyparaplegic/

I just sold the XB Coupe and also have a XC Coupe that I will be selling in a month or so. Just have a few bits and pieces to finish on it. The XA was my first Ford after changing from Holdens.

Cheers
John
Perth
Western Australia

gcg2503 · 04-07-2010, 03:01 PM

Sold one Coupe and you are now selling the other coupe!!!

Why do such crazy acts???????

PS: nice pics. The XA coupe was a GS and simply gorgeous.

nstg8a · 04-07-2010, 03:12 PM

what happened to the taillights on the xb coupe?

gcg2503 · 04-07-2010, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nstg8a

what happened to the taillights on the xb coupe?

please do not mention the tailights again......

Johnd1 · 04-07-2010, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nstg8a

what happened to the taillights on the xb coupe?

I used to have a boat(s) and the back end got a bit rusty back when you couldn't get the after market bits that you can now. A good days work will see it back to normal again. Was never meant to be a permanent fix.

Not sure when the bit on the boot was added as I had the XB since new but again that is going to be taken off when the back is changed.

Why sell the V8 Coupes? I am 63 years old and over them.

Cheers
John
Perth
Western Australia.

REDDYZ · 08-07-2010, 01:53 AM

John, why did it cost you so much to get the car transported? I spent around $650 from QLD (Townsville) to VIC with Ceva.

Dshibi · 15-07-2010, 12:06 AM

Very nice with the Cougar - done well. They're certainly going cheap, but still look so great for cars that are around 10 years old now!

It's seems to be a common thing now to see the Eibach's with their front lips missing or is it just how drastically they cut them back for Australian roads?

Welcome to the forums though and becoming a Cougar owner! I can't say what to look out for past 150,000km's as mine's not there yet but just keep an eye on things and heed Dave's advice about finding a good mechanic for when things do go wrong and you should be right

Dan

Johnd1 · 24-07-2010, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yoga_hoops

John, why did it cost you so much to get the car transported? I spent around $650 from QLD (Townsville) to VIC with Ceva.

Hi Yoga, Not sure why it cost so much to get Ceva to transport the Cougar from NSW to Perth but there is no way that I will ever use CEVA LOGISTICS again (see here)

My new Cougaar Eibach has the lip on the front and I didn't even know that there was supposed to be one until I saw it but my ex is happy not to have it because the car only just slips over parking curbs as it is.

I now have to try and find a couple of bits for hers (a) the left front door sill strip which CEVA LOGISTICS damaged and (2) a wheel cap that was missing when I bought the car. I have been sending off emails to people who are advertising that they are wrecking Cougars but haven't received any replies back (bit rude) and also to Tickford for the wheel cap but again no reply as yet.

Can anyone tell me what that bit is actually called in spare parts language?

More on my new Cougar Eibach here

Cheers
John
Perth WA
A Bloody Paraplegic

Dshibi · 24-07-2010, 02:34 PM

Hey John,

That bit along the window would be a window sill or something like that. I had to source an end-cap for it (common thing is for them to fall off) a while back.

Dan

REDDYZ · 24-07-2010, 03:58 PM

Hi John, I had few dramas with CEVA too. It costed me extra $120 and rear bumper left with bugs and insect marks. They paid back $50 though. I thought its just my bad luck but looks like am not alone. It is called window seal and I can help you with that. There were a couple of cougars sitting at the wrekers in Melbourne and not sure if they are still there. Next time when I go there I will get one for you. Its very hard to get wheel cap as there are only 100 Eibachs in Australia which have these type of wheels. Until you find one I would suggest to find any plastic cap which fits in that hole and paint it. Atleast it doest look ugly. Alternately, you can try here.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-FORD-WHEEL...#ht_2528wt_913

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/4-x-FORD-WHEEL...item2a02dc805b

And forget about front lips. Unless someone want to get rid of the one they have its kind of impossible to find one. I have been searching for it since long..

thearrow · 26-07-2010, 10:39 AM

John you are out of luck when I bought my new wheels form the USA I threw the old ones out, end caps and all, as they were taking up to much room in my garage. Keep plugging away and you should join here......

http://www.newcougar.org/content.php

NECO has been a huge source of help and information from the day I joined and a ready source of all kinds of parts.

You have got yourself a great car.........every day I walk out of my house look at mine and say to myself....."Self look what you get to drive today yohooo".

You will also have to get used to people coming up to you in the street and asking "what kind of car is THAT???"

Johnd1 · 02-08-2010, 10:46 PM

Thanks Arrow :-) those wheels are as scarce as hens teeth I am told. What wheels did you put on yours?

I have a new problem. This is with Cougar no 1 as my ex grabbed that and I bought another identical one.

Every so often the ABS, Brake Warning light and Traction Control lights come on and stay on. Neither rhyme nor reason to it but if they are going to come on it's after about an hours freeway driving. Not after braking. Brake fluid is okay.

I have spent AUD$250 with the local Ford dealers who played with the computer and reckoned that they had fixed the problem (they thought that the computer hadn't been re-adjusted after putting slightly bigger tyres on the back) but it just happened again.

Has anyone got any ideas on what might be causing it?

PS. If you leave it parked for a half hour or so the lights are off when you start again and may not come on for another week!!

Cheers
John
Perth
Western Australia.
A Bloody Paraplegic

thearrow · 03-08-2010, 10:37 AM

John this is a common problem as mine had exactly the same problem. The issue is a fault with the ABS module as explained to me by my sparky the problem is that as the module is located low down next to the engine they are subject to heat, and worse, a lot of vibration which causes the circut board inside to crack.

I was lucky as my sparky was able to get mine fixed for A$550.00 as new ones available from on line suppliers are over U$1000.00 so take it to a friendly auto electrician and see what he can do for you.

It is important to get it fixed because when it is ON it means the ABS is NOT working.

As regards the wheels if you look through the other threads you will see some pics of mine. What I did was imported 4 x new wheels from the USA at about A$200.00 each and got them fitted here. The reason I did this is because Fraud quoted me A$1000.00 per wheel and as I need two of them it just wasn't going to happen. Also it is hard to get anything decent in the 4 bolt configuration we have from local suppliers. I was lucky I tracked down a set of SVT (Special Vehicle Team) wheels from a supplier in the USA. I got a set of Focus wheels. SVT is Ford's USA performance division.

Let us know how you get on.

Johnd1 · 24-08-2010, 02:41 AM

My ex has gone on holidays so we decided not to do anything about the ABS module until she gets back. The lights (ABS, brake and traction) still only come on once in a blue moon so I am not sure what that tells us.

The person who sold us the car has been chasing up a Ford badge for the wheel. Apparently it has to come from Germany!

I still haven't drive a Cougar yet as I am waiting for hand controls. It's starting to drag on a bit now and maybe I should take the opportunity to put a performance exhaust system on.

Is there a recommended system and what else can I bolt on to get a few more hp? They say an extra 20% would be nice to aim for.

Cheers
John
Perth
Western Australia

A Bloody Paraplegic

thearrow · 24-08-2010, 12:50 PM

John, this where I got my exhaust and they are highly recommended by all the guys in the USA. I got the Magnaflow dual system and it is plenty loud enough. However you should hear it when it gets REALLY ANGRY

man o man it sounds like a race car

.

http://www.trubendz.com/home.asp?pro...e=productIndex

This modification is easily the best value for money you can get.

Where else are you going to get a 2.5inch stainless system fully installed for about A$1200.00 ???

The only problem is that you won't be able to hear the engine "growl" anymore because of the racket from the exhaust.....but it's worth it.

Now when I "light" mine up it gets very noisy...............

Get in touch with them as they are easy to deal with as long as you have paypal you will not have a problem.

Cougar2K · 02-09-2010, 08:39 PM

Hi David,

Regards the exhaust system mod you got for your Kitty when idling and 'lighting' her up as you say, does the external 'note' being produced and heard sound great?

Reason why I ask is I have heard times where people do exhaust mods on 4cyl & 6cyl cars and they just sound so awful like a loud ****y fart box.

Conversely I know smaller car/engine combos can in fact sound sweet with the right exhaust mod coz many years back I had a lil Sigma which was done up, motor tweaked, weber carbies and put new exhaust through and it sounded awesome even for a lil 2.0L run about....

Cheers

thearrow · 03-09-2010, 10:23 AM

Please believe me when I tell you that you WILL NOT regret it. At low revs you get a DEEP note that is very noticeable in the car whereas when you get up to higher revs the thing just SCREAMS and sounds like a race car.

I have spent a lot of money on modifications and can tell you that this was the best value of all of them.

Johnd1 · 02-03-2011, 01:42 PM

Alana's Cougar has now done around the 160,000k mark without any major problems however the ABS, brake and traction control lights are now staying on. It has been pretty hot here in Western Australia so that may have helped however she has decided to get it fixed so watch this spot.

I saw a link to a guy in the East (of Australia) who has fixed the ABS Modules in the past but have lost it. Anyone know who it might be?

My Cougar just ticked over 115,000ks and the only thing I have had to do since I bought it at 145,000ks is replace a valve in the aircon and have it regassed. ($260) at a local Ford Dealer. I wanted them to service the car but they couldn't get a jack under it so I booked in with a larger Ford Dealer for Monday 7th March 2011. This car has only done 700ks since 2009 when it had it's last service so it will be interesting to see what they find.

Cheers
John
My Cougar Eibach.

05_ENFORCER · 02-03-2011, 02:03 PM

Hi John, give Barry at BPT in Wangara a call re the computer.
He is an absolute wizz on Ford ECU's, he may be able to help you out

.

REDDYZ · 02-03-2011, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Johnd1

Alana's Cougar has now done around the 160,000k mark without any major problems however the ABS, brake and traction control lights are now staying on. It has been pretty hot here in Western Australia so that may have helped however she has decided to get it fixed so watch this spot.

I saw a link t

Cheers
John
My Cougar Eibach.

John, you should hook up the front lip. I know its a bit hard to get in and out of fuel stations, driveways but they deserve it. Makes hell lot of difference.

Yogi

Johnd1 · 02-03-2011, 03:21 PM

Thanks for that. I will give them a yell.

Here's a couple of other bits I want to get hold of.

On the front lip: While Alana's is missing mine is okay and I have had a chat to a guy about making a mold of mine in case I get it knocked off. If anyone is interested give me a yell.

Cheers
John
My Cougar

Johnd1 · 02-03-2011, 03:28 PM

This one is mine.

This one is Alana's. (Foreground)

Cheers
John
Perth
Western Australia

thearrow · 02-03-2011, 05:12 PM

John, what is wrong with the left side window trim??

Dshibi · 04-03-2011, 04:23 PM

Mine's covered in marks from weathering I think.

As for the piece that runs along the lower part I think Ford were asking around $65 or so a couple years back to replace those. I was lucky and only needed the cap to go on the end.

Dan

REDDYZ · 05-03-2011, 05:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dshibi

Mine's covered in marks from weathering I think.

As for the piece that runs along the lower part I think Ford were asking around $65 or so a couple years back to replace those. I was lucky and only needed the cap to go on the end.

Dan

Same story with mine's. I think thats inevitable unless you park in garage most of the time. Easy fix is to apply a coat of 'lens clear coat' liquid that comes with headlight restoration kits. Not sure if all kits have the same. I have no clue of what the cap is

mine doesnt have such. Only one piece that runs along the lower part from mirror till the door opening edge.

Dshibi · 05-03-2011, 09:24 AM

The cap sits on the end of the long piece that runs along the lower part. It was quite common for the driverside one to fall off (passenger side in the States/Europe). So there should be an end piece "cap" on that long bit

Dan