Best Used Large Car for 2022

For the second year running, the Ford Falcon FG X XR6 is the winner in the large car category of carsales Best Used Cars for 2022, proudly presented by Bingle.

The Ford saw off all-comers again, including its arch-rival, the VF Series II Holden Commodore, which had previously won this category in 2019 and 2018.

This year in review – 2015 – marks the FG X Falcon’s penultimate year of production, with Ford Australia closing down the local manufacturing plants at Campbellfield and Geelong at the tail end of 2016.

The large car segment has been a happy hunting ground for Australian-built cars in the past, the Commodore being more successful than the Falcon in recent times, and both outselling the Toyota Aurion.

Aussie cars have always been affordable and have cost relatively little to run and service. They’re spacious and easy to drive, also delivering the high-torque performance and exploitable dynamics that Australian drivers have come to expect from the local product.

The 4.0-litre inline six-cylinder engine of the Ford, coupled to a very smooth ZF six-speed automatic, gave the Falcon a slight edge over the Commodore, and Ford engineers worked hard to calibrate the Falcon’s suspension and steering to close in on the Holden – despite the Commodore’s more sophisticated multi-link rear-end and its better weight distribution.

Although there was little to separate the Falcon and its direct competitor, the Commodore SV6, the Ford was priced about $1200 less when new, and its retained value has held up better than the Holden’s.

While the Commodore was somewhat cheaper to run overall, the Ford offered lower servicing costs, according to RedBook.

The RedBook analysis of the Falcon XR6 scores 36.6 points for the Ford, with the judges’ scores of 43 combining for an aggregate score of 79.6 out of 100 points.

In 2015, the Falcon XR6 with automatic transmission was priced at $38,290 plus on-road costs. As a used car in 2022, the Falcon is valued at $27,907.

For the conclusion of a road test at the end of 2014, reviewer Matt Brogan wrote: “Overall, Falcon XR6 is a competent and capable family sedan with enough sporting flair to satisfy interested drivers. It’s a vehicle well suited to local roads, and provides power in a range useful to the conditions and speed limits for which it’s designed to operate within.”

You can read more about the Ford Falcon in our launch review here.

“In the blue corner – the FG X XR6 was the last and the best-looking sporty Falcon, offering low cost of ownership and 12-month service intervals,” said Ross Booth, RedBook data services director.

carsales’ used-car buying expert Cliff Chambers summed it up as follows: “World-class family sedan with strong retained value sadly killed off in its prime.”

Just one year out from the end of local manufacturing, Falcon sales were unfortunately in terminal decline. Even including sales of the ute, the Falcon was outsold in a ratio of 3:1 by the Commodore, and it was even outsold by the Territory SUV built on the same production line.

As a used-car buy, however, the Falcon remains an attractive purchase, and this has come to be recognised, with low-kilometre examples in the current overheated market asking prices that are close to what Ford dealers were asking when the car was new.

With its appealing design, plentiful spare parts, low running costs and driveability, the 2015 FG X Ford Falcon XR6 is a deserving winner in the large car category of carsales Best Used Cars for 2022, proudly presented by Bingle.

Find a used Ford Falcon FG X XR6 on carsales

Honourable mentions:

The sporty Holden Commodore SV6 scored 35.7 points from RedBook and 42 points from the judges for a total of 77.7
RedBook value: $26,218

“In the red corner – great combination of sporty design, luxury and reasonable safety level. Let down by nine-month service intervals” – Ross Booth, RedBook data services director

“Terrific car, works great on Aussie roads” – Bruce Newton, carsales senior journalist

The Mercedes-Benz E 200 scored 35.7 points from RedBook and 37 points from the judges for a total of 72.7
RedBook value: $31,803

“The heavily upgraded E-Class remains dimensionally unchanged but its dramatically sportier new exterior cocoons a slightly more amenable cabin” – Marton Pettendy, carsales managing editor

“Pictures don’t quite do it justice. It is better proportioned, better rounded in more than one sense of the word and altogether less fussy-yet-conservative. And from behind the wheel, the E-Class is a more cohesive design than models from the past” – Ken Gratton, carsales technical editor

What makes a car eligible for carsales Best Used Cars?
• Less than six years old
• Standard side curtain airbags
• Standard Bluetooth
• Standard electronic stability control (mandated for 2014)
• Standard reversing camera for SUVs

How did RedBook weight the categories for scoring?
• 10 per cent for resale
• 10 per cent for ANCAP rating
• 20 per cent for cost of ownership
• Five per cent for service intervals
• Five per cent for number of days for vehicle to sell

Read all about carsales Best Used Cars for 2022 here