Should I Buy A Mustang

[Tysonecko]

Hi I'm new here,this is actually first post.so I'm sorta of a car noob and try to do as much research I can,but there are still some questions that i cant find answers,so i wanted to post some of my question that was in my head before buying a mustang 2000-2011 v6.
1.are mustang reliable
2.do mustang really loss traction fast because I've seen a whole bunch videos of people crashing there mustang.they loss control and slide into traffic.
3.where I live it's always raining so do you think a mustang would hug the street while it's raining
4.hows the handling in a live wheel axel,i do own a 1998 blazer RWD and it's OK on corners.
5.what year should get it.

 

[MustangIIMatt]

1. Not really. I've owned 2 or more Mustangs of every generation except classic, SN95, and S550, with a total of eight Mustangs altogether, and only the 2.3L fox-body and the 2010 GT were what I would call reliable. The rest broke down frequently for one reason or another. You don't buy a Mustang because it's practical, you buy it to enjoy driving.

2. ANY car will lose traction fast with a moron behind the wheel. I've yet to wreck a Mustang I've owned, and six of the eight were V8 cars, and three of those were over 300hp.

3. Totally depends on the tires and how you drive it. My 2010 GT would get squirrelly in 1/4 "of water on its Pirelli P-Zeros. My 2009 GT/CS was fine in heavy rain with its Uniroyals.

4. Handling will depend on what options are on the car you buy.

5. 2016 if you want reliability, older if you can't afford new. There ARE 50 model years to choose from. My personal favorite is a 2010 GT with a manual transmission. You get the looks of the 2011-2012 cars without the Chinese transmission, the 4.6 is smoother, more reliable, and sounds better than the 5.0, but you are down 1 gear and 97hp compared to the 2011-2014 GT. If you can't drive a manual, the 2011+ automatic is better than the earlier cars. If you don't want a V8, get a 2011+ 3.7L car, 300hp from a six with a 7000rpm redline is fun.

 

[David Young]

The 2011+ v6 Mustangs are reliable. The 3.7L was used in the Lincoln for a few years before the Mustang. Plus the 3.5L was used several years before the 3.7L. The 3.7L is a bored out 3.5L . The standard rear gear ratio on the 2011+ is a 2.73 which is mostly to get the over 30 mpg on the highway. This was so Ford Motor Company could advertise , "over 300 horsepower and over 30 mpg" . My 2011 v6 had the optional 3.31 rear gear ratio, i felt it wasn't enough for me so i had it changed to a 3.73 gear ratio. I have a Ford Edge for my highway drives and trips. Good luck on your quest

 

[Tysonecko]

Ya I've heard that the 2011 models are one of the better models.thanks alot for answering my questions, you guys helped me alot

 

[1987stangman]

Hi I'm new here,this is actually first post.so I'm sorta of a car noob and try to do as much research I can,but there are still some questions that i cant find answers,so i wanted to post some of my question that was in my head before buying a mustang 2000-2011 v6.
1.are mustang reliable
2.do mustang really loss traction fast because I've seen a whole bunch videos of people crashing there mustang.they loss control and slide into traffic.
3.where I live it's always raining so do you think a mustang would hug the street while it's raining
4.hows the handling in a live wheel axel,i do own a 1998 blazer RWD and it's OK on corners.
5.what year should get it.

Great post! I totally agree with everything you mentioned. I could have had a 2011 over my 2010 when I bought it but the 2011 had a bit less miles and was also a few grand more than I wanted to spend because I was paying cash. Looking back, I sometimes regret it but my 2010 coupe has so far been my favorite out of the four I have owned to date and have not had to do anything other than change the oil and I replaced the brakes recently. Unless you are an irresponsible driver and are always hard on the go pedal your asking for trouble no mater what V8 Mustang you own and especially in the rain. So far I have not noticed any bad habits from this car and I feel completely safe in the rain and poor driving conditions (stock 18' wheels) which I didn't feel that I had any confidence in my 2000 GT convertible I was driving before it, even with the Cobra R wheels wraped it big z rated tire but it was no different with the stock 17s on it either. My '96 was an auto and had the same feel as my new edge did. Dry weather was great but the T45 5spd left a lot to be desired. My 87 Fox was heavily modified and end the end it wasn't really a good street car. The 2010 has the highest rated factory 3v at 315 HP at 6000rpm and 328 lbs ft tq at 4250rpm so it was a bit quicker than any stock s197 GT before it. I beleive the engine was borrowed from the 09 Buillit Mustangs and even has a factory cold air kit that IMO makes buying an aftermarket cold air kit a waste of money. The 2010 also has traction and stability control and although the previous model years had traction control I think 2010 was the first year Ford starting using stability control as well. Driving a s197 is miles ahead of the previous new edge Mustangs in terms of comfort. The new edge just felt clunky and shifted like a bus even though had low miles. The S197 is also the first factory Mustang to receive a hydraulic clutch instead of the cable operated models of the past.

I know that when the 2011 GTs came out their were some reports of Transmission problems and I think there was a issue with the number 8 cylinder not getting enough cooling and eventually caused piston ring damage from to much heat. I never researched it enough to see how widespread the issue was but doing a Google search will bring up some past forum conversations on it. My guess is it mostly happened to the owners that had forced induction of some kind or were a little harder on them than most. Not sure if it's me getting older (40) or just being more mature but I have never even attempted to peel out or do a burn out in mine though I have chirped second gear once or twice but otherwise I generally pamper the car and so far since I bought it (pre-owned) I've only added 4700 miles to the 39k it had when I took delivery over a year ago now and in fact I beleive this month makes it two years exactly I have owned it.

I will also saw that even though Ford did a hell of a job with the new 5.0 engine have yet to hear one that had a aftermarket exhaust that has impressed me. Around here most guys are doing muffler delete kits with raspy X pipes on them and the sound is less than perfect, that again could be my age showing and is just my personal opinion and mean to offend Noone. I have a set of 40 series with flowmasters and get an occasional complement on how it sounds and this winter I'm planning for long tubes and a off road H pipe to get the level of noise I prefer. As far as bolt on's go in the past I spent money on cold air kits and other mods that IMO were not worth the price for the very small power gains that where obtained. Instead of wasting money on small expensive bolt ons my plan is to go straight to forced induction, full exhaust and swap out the stock gears for something to match the power from the blower, a dyno tuned and go from there with heads and cams eventually. Who knows!

Sorry for babelling on and on but I haven't done much posting in a while!

 

[Svtpilot]

1) I have been driving since 1984. In that time I have owned 9 Mustangs: 2 classics-1966 coupe &1967 Fastback. 4 Foxes-1984 & 85 GTs and 89 & 90 5.0LXs
1 SN95-97 Svt Cobra, and 2 S197s a 2010GT and my current car a 2012 Boss 302. Not including the 2 classics , I have been left stranded exactly twice, both times in my 85GT due to a failed ignition module. Maybe I have been lucky, but based on my experience , in my opinion Mustangs are reliable.
2) Any car with high horsepower will easily lose traction, whether it crashes or not depends more on the driver then the car. The driver needs to understand how his or her car will react as well as their own limitations as a driver.
3) This depends on the tires, as well as the level of common sense the driver has.
4) The S197 Mustangs (05-14) handle remarkably well for a solid axle car. 2010 to 14 are slightly better and the 12&13 Boss 302s are the best handling of the S197s. If you think your blazer handles good, then you will defiantly be happy with the Mustang.
As far as what year, I would go with a 2013 or 14.

 

[rbohm]

Hi I'm new here,this is actually first post.so I'm sorta of a car noob and try to do as much research I can,but there are still some questions that i cant find answers,so i wanted to post some of my question that was in my head before buying a mustang 2000-2011 v6.
1.are mustang reliable

i have been driving since 1976, and while in that time i have only owned one mustang, i have owned four fairmonts and three falcons, the cars the mustang was based off of, and i can tell you that they have all been reliable in stock form, its when you start modifying them that reliability starts to suffer, for a variety of reasons, including poor workmanship, and aggressive driving

2.do mustang really loss traction fast because I've seen a whole bunch videos of people crashing there mustang.they loss control and slide into traffic.

any flat foot can be stupid and lose control in any car by being stupid. if you drive intelligently you should have no issues

3.where I live it's always raining so do you think a mustang would hug the street while it's raining

again as long as you drive intelligently you should have no issues. you need to recognize not only your limitations as a drive, but the cars as well, and most cars are traction limited when the roads are wet, so regardless of car, you need to ay attention to how much traction you have.

4.hows the handling in a live wheel axel,i do own a 1998 blazer RWD and it's OK on corners.

like any car, the handling is ultimately determined by the tires you put on the car. have a great handling car and put on lousy tires, and the cars handling sucks

5.what year should get it.

that depends on how much money you have, and what is available. it isnt so much the year but the condition of the car that you need to pay attention to.

 

[David Young]

I've been driving since 1969 because i'm old

 

[ABC]

Hi I'm new here,this is actually first post.so I'm sorta of a car noob and try to do as much research I can,but there are still some questions that i cant find answers,so i wanted to post some of my question that was in my head before buying a mustang 2000-2011 v6.
1.are mustang reliable

The one I have is! It's a 2014 V6. I've heard that Ford is Japanese owned. Don't quote me on it, but I read it somewhere. I know Japanese make good cars.

2.do mustang really loss traction fast because I've seen a whole bunch videos of people crashing there mustang.they loss control and slide into traffic.

I've seen those videos too. Mustangs may be harder to control at higher horsepower, don't know, but it's all the driver. You have to know your car and not try anything crazy until you practice it in a safe environment.. like away from other people/vehicles. LOL

3.where I live it's always raining so do you think a mustang would hug the street while it's raining

Mine does, but that's because mine wears a set of Goodyear Triple-Tred All Season tires. They're made for that

4.hows the handling in a live wheel axel,i do own a 1998 blazer RWD and it's OK on corners.

I find that my car corners and handles really well, better than any other car I've owned and I have the live wheel axel.

5.what year should get it.

It's up to you what styling and horsepower you want. The 2011-2014 has the higher horsepower ratings. Before that it was a bit lower, but if you get a nice GT 2010 or earlier, it may be enough power for you.

 

[spirockp]

The one I have is! It's a 2014 V6. I've heard that Ford is Japanese owned. Don't quote me on it, but I read it somewhere. I know Japanese make good cars.

Did you just say that Ford is a Japanese company?

Should I buy a Mustang?.

And did you just ask Should I buy a Mustang? in a Mustang forum?

 

[MustangIIMatt]

The one I have is! It's a 2014 V6. I've heard that Ford is Japanese owned. Don't quote me on it, but I read it somewhere. I know Japanese make good cars.

Umm.... No.

 

[Real time recon]

Dependable, Reliable, time proven, and battle hardened with a HUGH aftermarket parts inventory ..... Ford's 302 with T-5 trans .!

 

[blackgt460]

you have an 11 year grab according to your original post of 00-11 which encompasses the new edge through the most recent s197 early model. I'll be honest in saying I didn't read all posts but I noticed the v6 interest and I question why respectfully. I think a good topic for guidance is price range when speaking of that year range. For example you could grab a great 03-04 Mach 1 for prob the same range as an 11 v6 premium and most would rather the Mach 1 but I'm not you so I don't know.

You could grab a new edge GT (99-04) for 4-9K depending on condition and have a great daily driver and awesome sounding ride. An 06-11 can be had for 8-15. Currently I found an 11 GT 5.0 for 11995 which I considered listed my new edge for.

Personally if you are on a budget lets say 8-10K range I'd look for an 05-10 GT. Solid cars in performance an reliability and they are simply out there in abundance.

 

[Mikes2011GT]

I have a 2011 GT with some mods. I drive it in snow since it's my everyday car. No issues. Of course your going to spin a bit but I manage. Take it easy and learn the car before you mash on the gas because it has a lot of power and you can lose control easily. Find a big empty lot to play around in. Only issue I had so far is a/c leak. Good luck and enjoy

 

[mpeach1976]

As far as suspension goes what Ford puts on the mustang for suspension is crap. It's flimsy and will not handle well if you want to add big power, or just drive it fast... The best thing to do for suspension is lowering springs & swaybars.... I did that and it became a completely different car... One I felt far more secure driving. But to answer your question about if you should buy a Mustang. That answer depends on you. Do you just want a cool looking car to commute in from point A to point B, or do you want a car to wrench on and have fun driving?