Looking to get a Mustang

RiceJr

Member
Dec 29, 2018
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NJ
Hello everyone,
I’ve been recently looking into getting a mustang. I’ve been considering a 2015+ GT with a manual transmission (personal preference over automatics) for daily use. I’ve been wondering a couple things and decided to come onto here for some questions that I have before I drop like 30 grand on a new car.
-I’ve been wondering, what are the common issues with mustangs? i.e power train giving up at 100k miles, paint chipping, weird rattles or noises, etc.
-is there a certain year that’s outstandingly better than all the others?
-any other general or specific information I should know before purchasing.
Thanks for reading and thanks for answering (if you answer). If there’s anything else you can thing of that I should know, please don’t hesitate to tell me as I’d love to learn all there is about mustang ownership.
Have a good one
RiceJr
 
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Paint is thin. Chips easy.

Dash rattle is common.

Burns oil. Get a catch can if outside CA.

2018+ has better power and options.

Manual transmission is good. Some people swear by replacing fluid to Royal Purple I’ve seen. Shift forks in 2018+ could break easily. My 2017 has held up without reinforcement.

IRS wheel hop is bad. Plenty of options to reinforce and resolve though.

These coyotes respond well to forced induction. But don’t overlook the Ford Racing Performance Packs.

The clutch is hydraulic. You might be interested in a lighter spring from Steeda to allow for a more engaging and responsive feel.

That’s all I got. Cheers!
 
@ximportdriver
Hey, thanks for answering!
What's Dash rattle?
What's IRS wheel hop?
By coyotes do u mean the cars?
Would you overall recommend a mustang? I don't really know if it's worth it if im gonna have to fix stuff every 200 miles.
I read up on some things and the consensus online is that they're mostly not very reliable.
Idk tbh I don't mind making some repairs but I don't want to have to take the engine out and replace the camshaft you know?
Thanks again.
 
@ximportdriver
Hey, thanks for answering!
What's Dash rattle?
What's IRS wheel hop?
By coyotes do u mean the cars?
Would you overall recommend a mustang? I don't really know if it's worth it if im gonna have to fix stuff every 200 miles.
I read up on some things and the consensus online is that they're mostly not very reliable.
Idk tbh I don't mind making some repairs but I don't want to have to take the engine out and replace the camshaft you know?
Thanks again.

Dash rattle. The dash makes ticking, popping sounds sometimes. I think it is the faceplates by the center air ducts.

IRS wheel hop. The rear end wheels can hop under heavy throttle. Very dangerous for the half shaft. Reduces traction too.

Coyote. The code name for the 5.0L V8 Engine since 2011.

I’ve had 4 Mustangs, all V8s. All reliable. All awesome.

FWIW my brand new 09 Corolla back in 2008 required replacement cams within the first year. I have had more issues with every other car, be it Toyota, Honda, Acura, or Dodge, than my Mustangs.
 
Thanks a lot for the info. Im not gonna be accelerating too hard in it so I don't think I'll break anything thanks again for all the info. Have a good one. Ill keep in touch in case I have any questions.
 
The early 18's had issues with shift forks breaking due to aluminum construction. Also the 18+ gen 3 coyote engine have a poly oil pan vs the 15-17 have a stamped sheet metal pan. There are several complaints out there about a tick sound coming from the engine on the 18+ but ford hasn't been able to pin down what it is or where it's coming from exactly. My opinion, it may be piston slap combined with the new plasma wire arc transfer block that is reflected back up thru the engine because of the poly oil pan.
 
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If you really want a manual transmission, seriously consider a shifter support bracket. Ever since 2005 all mustangs with a manual trans have a remote mounted shifter, where they are mounted to the underside of the trans tunnel and there is linkage that connects it to the trans. Under load when the engine and trans rotates the linkage can twist and bind causing shift problems and may even over stress the internal shift forks and cause breakage. It was never an issue until 2011 when ford paired the MT-82 with the coyote engine and the issue became a problem. I suspect it's a combination of increased hp and the weak MT-82 trans as the GT-500's don't have this problem as they have a different trans. Adding a shifter support bracket, you move the mount from the trans tunnel to the trans itself, so when the engine and trans rotates under load the shifter now moves with them eliminating the bind issue entirely. Blowfish racing sells one that works with the factory shifter https://www.blowfishracing.com/drivetrain/104-2015-mustang-v6gtecoboost-shifter-support-bracket.html And barton shifters makes one that works with their shifter

One other thing, the 15-17 MT-82's use 5th gear as direct drive or a 1:1 ratio with 6th as a single over drive. The 18+ ones moved direct to 4th gear and now 5th and 6th are overdrive.
 
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If your buying new, then you should be OK, but if your buying used, I would stay away from an early build 18, late 18's are ok but will cost you almost as much as new. The 15-17's are good solid cars, but there a few differences between years, only the 16 got the turn signal lights mounted in the hood vents, 15 and 17 do not. Also, try to find a performance pack car, the highlights are a better, thicker radiator, 3.73 gears on MT cars and 3.55's with an auto, a torsen geared posi unit that has no clutches to wear out, better suspension, two additional gauges above the radio, staggered wheels and tires (255-40-19's front on 19 x 9's front with 275-40-19's on 19 x 9.5's rear) and 15" six piston brembo brakes.

One other thing, if you want a performance pack car, in 15 they were coupe only and MT only, in 16 ford allowed the A6 (6R80 automatic) on the coupe, but the convertibles were still restricted to the MT with the PP. In 18 you could now get the PP on the coupe or vert with the MT or the auto.

An easy way to spot a PP car, look for the huge front rotors with black calipers and red brembo lettering, and on the center stack above the radio, regular mustangs have 3 A/C vents, where as the PP cars have two vents and two gauges. They look like this

https://turn5.scene7.com/is/image/Turn5/397733_alt2?$mproductlarge$&wid=810&hei=608

Also the 15's had the older sync 2 or My Ford Touch system, in 16 ford switched over to the newer, better more intuitive sync 3 system. and all GT convertibles are premium cars from the factory.

Eventually I will get the actual numbers but suspect mine is kind of a unicorn, it's a 17 GT convertible with the performance pack and a MT in grabber blue, a one year only color. I have yet to find another one anywhere out there that's like mine, it either doesn't have the PP or it's not a convertible. No other one in grabber blue has both, and I'm a member here and over at mustang6G As it turns out PP convertibles are kinda rare, throw in the MT and the one year only color and I'm willing to bet there are less than 100 just like mine.
 
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I bought my '17 new last year and have no complaints with it, and I'm up over 20,000 miles already. We've taken several 1000+ mi trips with it with no issue, and I plan on getting it back out at the end of March and taking it on our yearly spring break trip.

Some thoughts I have in my experiences with mine...

They wear out tires..... Fast.........
My stock pzeros lasted 10k miles on the back. (Fronts still like new) I didn't do any burnouts or donuts with them. Just "aggressive acceleration"

Being a PP car, I can't rotate my tires front to back. My 2nd set of tires were a very similar compound to the pzeros, and lasted about the same. I will need new tires again before my trip in march (I think I'm going to go with high performance all season tires this time.)

When I get back from my trip in March, I'm going to take mine to the dealer to see if my seat is covered under warranty. On the drivers side it's developing a "butt imprint". On the facebook groups, i've seen others have gotten this fixed under warranty. (The leather seperating from the foam) It seems to have affected the '15s the most from what I read about it.

Rock chips happen :cry:. I try to enjoy my car and try not to worry about it too much...
 
Bought an ‘18 GT Premium with 10 speed auto , the tranny took a bit gettin used to , but all’s well and paired with the gen 3 Coyote , it’s all the sports car I need . So far , no issues ...funny that GM helped design the 10R80 tranny and will be putting it in the Camaro.
 
My 2 cents, the manual is more fun, but the auto is faster. Paddle shifting just ain't quite as good as the stick shift! I want two mustangs, one with each; an auto for days I'm lazy or want what's faster, and a manual for days I want to have more fun.

I concur with thin paint; tons of chips on mine too. My tires lasted 45k miles though (235 all seasons), and only because i should have adjusted the camber sooner. Could have gone longer. Insides wore out to the point of splitting to expose inside of tire.

Some rattles in the dash here and there from road vibrations and music. Rattle in my exhaust comes and goes depending on the weather.

Got over 50k miles now, still drives exactly as it did when it was new. In my opinion, Mustangs are built pretty well. I wouldn't expect you to have to repair anything major on it until over 200k miles if taken care of. Time will tell how the little stuff holds up. Longest I've owned a previous Mustang was 7 years and 110k miles; never had to repair anything on it outside of warranty period.

Darin
 
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Thanks Darin

Now wouldn't we all like to have two mustangs lol.

Have you gotten the anti-wheel hop kit? Is there much of a difference from what you can tell? I'm probably going to get the anti-wheel hop just to be on the safe side. Also there might be a fix to that dashboard rattle but I wouldn't know it and it'd probably take some time, effort, and bravery to rip the dash off. Hopefully your stang holds on until you decide to get ride of it and best of luck!

Andrew
 
No wheel hop issues for me. I don't lose traction with hard acceleration. Probably a combination of the automatic and good tires.

The dash rattles can be temporarily fixed by pushing or hitting the affected area, haha.