Dayve

I have to say, I would rate my Boss satisfaction at a solid 8.5.


Things I really like: the color, GHIG just was the perfect color for me, but like the Grabber Blue and would have been pretty happy with a cool Orange color. I like the size of the tires, although, I would like the rear tires on all four corners. I surprisingly liked the seats. I am not a cloth seat fan, but the Recaros really hold you in the seat on the turns, and are fairly comfortable on long drives. I like the lip spoiler, not a fan of huge spoilers unless it is the whale tail on the older Porsche 911's. I am a big fan of the exhaust sound, although the sound tube is about lame. I do not think the stereo is bad, serves its purpose for me.


Things I do not like: The rims. The front tire size. The transmission, I really hate it, and it will be the reason I finally sell the Boss. Wish the brakes were better, and painted to match the body color or compliment the body color. Wish they would have offered a selection of Recaros, leather, leather trim....did I mention the transmission....?


I do not think a car like this should have tire hop. I would have liked to see the single piece aluminum drive shaft standard, and if there are fixes for the shift lock out, they should be fixed at Ford just like a recall.


Dave

BOSS MAN 13

8.5 to 9 as my rating.
My nits, stock shifter sucks, fabric on Recaro's very delicate, after 11K miles and careful entry/exit the threads on the seat bolsters look frayed, I agree the stock rims are WAY HEAVY, I believe a lighter factory wheel would have been a cheap suspension upgrade. Yes, I agree the clunky two piece drive shaft is idiotic.

Other than that I love the car, MGW fixed the shifting issue, in fact I love the trans it shifts great, the seat support as mentioned is amazing, it's a comfortable quiet, car once I get in I hate getting out. I will keep this car as long as I can, it is the most amazing car I've ever owned, AND it has such un-tapped potential!

Brandon302

I would say I am at a 6.5-7 with my satisfaction. I understand the car was a bargain from Ford but I feel like they compromised way to much to appeal to enough people. I would have loved for the suspension to be sorted out a lot better from the factory and would have loved for it to have a nice even drop on it rather then the 4x4 look with a mild rake. I have said it many other forums but sometimes, if it weren't for the engine being a cut above the GT I would have probably preferred just getting a GT and track prepping that.

Krohn

It is by far the best car I've owned but I'd have preferred, for the price, it to have had a premium audio system with the bottom door speakers (even though this one does the job I need), HIDs, Painted Calipers (as Dayve said before), Leather Trimmed Recaros & Rear Seats, Alcantara boots, and a flat-bottom steering wheel. I see where they saved a few pennies performance wise and I'm okay with it but I'd have assumed more, price worthy, features. It's not a Boss 302-S, it's a (for me) daily driven Boss 302.

For me, I'd rate it a 9+ because having those things wouldn't make the smile on my face, that I get every time I drive the car, any bigger.
It's just such a fun car!
Mine has open sides and an MGW.

Mustang Freak

Agree and I'll add one more caveat no pony projector lamps!!!

Brandon302

You are honestly jealous of Ford's version of the bat signal?

Mustang Freak

I just like it so sue me? :-)

Boss 0960

As much as I love the Boss for what it is and what it represents, my overall satisfaction index is only about a 6. I love the iconic color and stripe package on my Boss. I love the engine and the handling. I am happy with the brakes, tires, etc. for my use.

What really brings down my satisfaction with the car is the transmission and the whole dealer experience trying to get it fixed. I'm talking about 3 transmission rebuilds and a replacement requiring 9 weeks actually in the service departments as well as months driving a car that was nearly undrivable. Even with the new transmission, I have the Blowfish bracket, MGW and Whiteline bushing and the transmission still doesn't feel exactly right until it's been driven for at least a half an hour. The Blowfish bracket has eliminated the feeling that the transmission is subject to imminent failure with every shift and performs very well when warmed up. Prior to the Blowfish bracket, the transmission would crunch into gear even when fully warmed up. It's been a time-sucking, mentally fatiguing experience just trying to make this transmission function well enough to take the car to work in the morning. It could never be a DD.

The dealership experience is another story entirely. On it's own, even after changing dealerships with a new dealer trying their best, my dealer experience only scores a 3 or 4 at best (and that's being generous). The paint finish and tail lights will never recover from being completely scratched all over by the dealership washing the Boss with mud...literally mud, the residue of which formed a thick coating on the inner door sill where they let it air dry. They never did fix the transmission until I purchased the Blowfish bracket at my own expense and I am left with completely scratched up car for the benefit of letting them try.

And SYNC. I chose the 2013 over the 2012 for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that I mistakenly bought into Ford's advertising hype about SYNC. I had not owned a SYNC system before the Boss so I did not expect how bad SYNC is. What a garbage system. IMHO, the only fix for it is to replace it entirely. I don't listen to the radio in the Boss much but when I do, the sound quality is terrible, user settings are annoying and frustrating and it often doesn't work at all if it doesn't boot up properly.

Knowing what I know now, I probably would have been happier and richer with an automatic GT convertible. With the incentives, I could have purchased one much cheaper than the Boss with a higher MSRP and no incentives. I also would not be out of pocket buying aftermarket parts for the specific purpose of fixing the transmission. Also, I would have saved myself months (years actually) of aggravation and waiting to fix the transmission. Basically, almost the first two years of ownership of the Boss have been lost to any normal or spirited driving due to fear of the transmission self-destructing. Now that it's finally passable as a driving vehicle, it's put away for the winter again. It's definitely been an on-again, off-again love-hate relationship.

bigbossman

Sounds like you got a bad apple, bud. I'm rollin along to the job every day the weather's not bad, will be hitting 50K soon, no transmission issues, just regular warranty work: compressor, water pump, brake clips, cheap battery. Hell, I love this car.

Brandon302

Any hard driving on yours? That seems a long time to have no clutch/trans issues.

bigbossman

No track time but yeah, just think I learned to live with the shifter and work around its faults, also when enjoying spirited-driving I switch closer to 7K when rowing/especially power-shifting. Seat time helped out immensely for me, just had to change my style up a bit. I also treat the car extremely well and don't beat on her all day long just because I can.

Boss 0960

My transmission started acting poorly with a couple thousand miles on the car. I thought it might get better with some break in miles but it just kept getting worse. Even with a replacement transmission and the Blowfish bracket, I'm only at about 90% fixed since it is still pretty notchy for the first 20-30 minutes when cold. Once it's fully warmed up (45 minutes to an hour), it shifts beautifully.

BOSS MAN 13

I'm lucky I guess with my tranny. I saw out of the box the shifter sucked and I installed my MGW at 150 miles. My belief is unless you shifted WAY CAREFUL you could easily damage your trans with the stock shifter. I felt situations with the stocker where I had two shift forks contacting, for instance, on the one to two shift I believe the fork was contacting the reverse fork despite the lockout. This was also WAY easy to do on the 2-3 shift. If you keep shifting like this things will loosen and break.

ConeBoss

i'd rate my Boss an 7.5


The engine is an all star. The look and sound of this car make me love just starting and reving it. The chassis for how dated it is really well sorted and while some people are griping about transmission issues I have quite the opposite experience. In fact how tough this car is mechanically is one of my most liked areas.


This car gets 90% of its miles on the track and has yet to have any significant failure...other than a ball joint, which was my fault really, there have been none. Yes the shifting is a little crunchy but it doesn't grind and always engages.


The things I don't like. Cheap fit and finish...for a 45k car ford should have done better. Those stock wheels are not too my taste and weigh a ton. Stock suspension is far too soft. For being the "Harcore" track car it is touted as it should have the suspension to back it up.

Boss949

10 for me. Only issue was heavy load shifting. MGW cured the 2-3. CHE K Member with v8 torque limiters (also whiteline bushing) completely changed the 1-2 and 3-4. No issues. Also the MGW Grabber **** was a huge help.

lp heaven

My BOSS goes to 11

DFV

I'd rate mine a 9.5 on a 10 scale. Where else in 2011 could you find that level of performance for approximately $41k? Nowhere except another Ford dealer. Sure the interior plastic is hard and nasty, but this 'stang goes like a scalded sum***** when asked to.

The exhaust alone (once the restrictor plates are removed) is worth the price of admission. And Trackey to boot? Maybe it should rate a 9.8.....

Brandon302

If in a perfect world you could find one for MSRP or a little lower the 1M was close to the Boss in price.

cheezhed

Now that is funny.

cheezhed

My only gripe is the buying experience not the car, i.e., no discounting, Ford cash, X plan, etc.