2010 Mustang Vs. 2011 Mustang

Tailfish

New Member
Oct 27, 2012
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Hi. I'm new to the forum and new to purchasing a mustang. About a year ago I had the opportunity to choose a 2011 Mustang Convertible for my vacation rental--and I fell in love with this car. I loved the pick up (my first car was a Trans Am and it reminded me of that). It handled incredibly well.

I now have an opportunity to buy a 2010 Mustang Convertible. It's the color I want and the price is right ($16K) but the mileage is high (37,000 miles).

My questions:
1) Is this car just as good as the 2011? I am a girl and simply like to drive fast. I have no idea about torque or engine ratings or any of that. I just want to know if there is anything fundamental to the 2010 version that I will miss when I press my foot to the pedal or hug turns.
2) What can I expect to have to do maintenance-wise on a car with this type of mileage? In other words, what can I expect to break down first and what might I need to pay attention to?

Thanks so much!
 
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37k is nothing. 30k mile service should have been done already. 2010 has the 4.6 engine while the 2011 has the 5.0. The difference is roughly 100 hp, so the 2010 won't have as much pedal to the medal happiness as the 2011 unless you modify it, but 2010 is still a great car IMHO.
 
37k is nothing. 30k mile service should have been done already. 2010 has the 4.6 engine while the 2011 has the 5.0. The difference is roughly 100 hp, so the 2010 won't have as much pedal to the medal happiness as the 2011 unless you modify it, but 2010 is still a great car IMHO.

Thanks for this. Exactly what I was needing to know. Is it also fairly easy to have a shop make modifications such as adding bluetooth (this one is bluetooth enabled) and putting in the synch technology?
 
"I am a girl and simply like to drive fast." Did anyone not smile after reading that? Welcome to the forum.

Anyway, in my short stay here, I've figured out that unless otherwise specified, you're talking about the GT. Is that correct? The engine, as mentioned, is a big difference on the GT. What you also need to consider is how much stuff you want done. You said you wanted to modify it with things like Ford Sync. You might want to do some research to the cost (parts AND LABOR) of the things you want to have done that can otherwise come from the factory. Make sure you don't wind up buying used, then putting so much into it that you could have paid a couple grand more for a brand new one and had the peace of mind.
 
Either way, whether it is the GT or V6, you will be getting an extra hundred horsepower by going with a 2011 car. Unless the deal is much better on the 2010 car, the 2011 is the way to go.
 
Given you are not a "car person" type, and the prices you are looking at, I am going to assume you are looking at V6 cars.

The 2010 and 2011 V6 engines are night and day differences. 2010 was the last year for a very course and ancient engine, whereas the 2011 is much more refined and a much more modern design. The 2011 has 95 more horsepower, and perhaps importantly, the 2011 V6 is significantly more fuel efficient. Handling-wise, they should be about the same. The 2011 introduced electric power steering, so there may be a small difference in steering "feel" between the 2010 and 2011, with the 2010 having the slight advantage there.

As for Sync, bluetooth, and those add-ons, I would look to buy a premium trimmed car that had all of that to begin with from the factory. Adding things like that aftermarket can be a hassle and not necessarily that cheap.

As for reliability, I think both are quite solid. 37K on a car nowadays is not much. My brother has a 2006 V6 (old V6, same as 2010) Mustang with 106K on it, and all he has ever had to do is basic scheduled maintanence and tires. No reason to believe the newer ones are any different. Don't abuse it, and follow the recommended maintanence schedule in the owner's manual, and almost any new car today will last a long time.