kevinb120

yup, take it to the darn dealer!

People do not realize that EVERY SINGLE NEW CAR HAS SIMILLAR PROBLEMS FROM EVERY SINGLE MANUFACTURER. All new cars are like this. I have never known anyone (That's bright enough to notice something) that didnt have to bring it back for a squeak, a noise, a loose piece, a minor paint defect, something. Including myself, with 14 new vehicles I've bought from quite a few manufacturers. It doesn't matter who made it.

You ask any newer car owner "how do you like your car" and EVERY time, its "its been great, I had to bring it back for blah blah blah when I first got it, but other then that, no problems!". I have asked thousands of people this question over time wether its a Tahoe, a Focus, a Prius, a 735i, an accord, a camry, or a grand prix. Its either that or some major problem and they hate it. I have had customers with just as many stories either way, domestic or import, every brand. German high end cars get the most horror stories though usually when thier car is at a dealer for X-many months. The most consistantly modern car I have seen owners HATE more then like by a vast margin?: the Jetta with the 1.8T. I think the nit-wits who come on here and bash bash bash have probably never owned a new car in thier lives to start with.


As for brake noise issues:

A LOT of new car and truck brakes squeak, there is nothing wrong with them. SVT brakes all do it. And VERY high quality aftermarket performance brakes usually make TONS of noise.

kevinb120

Tremec 3650s have slight whine in them inherrently. Most noticeable coasting off the gas in first and 2nd gears from about 25mph down to 10 or so, sometime a little bit at higher speeds in other gears. Its the nature of the beast, they have always done it. If it is coming from the REAR of the car, then I would have it checked.


There is also a slight clunk of take-up slack that is more noticeable in mustangs because the components are large(if you are in the 25k market, most of your prior owned cars tend to be little front drivers for refference). They do it too, but you can barely hear it on smaller cars with FWD because the drivetrain is all ahead of the firewall and not under your butt. Usually you only hear it if you slightly 'frog' around in first gear or very slow in second(aka when you crawl around and over a speed bump). clunka clunka clunka.

tom_vilsack

Id take car back into another dealer ,and go out with them on a test drive so you can explain the problems.Get the head mechanic to come with you.Dont just settle for these kinda problems,get proactive.Maybe even phone fords main office and explain your problems and how your dealership gave you the run around.

TJKII

I have an 01 v6 and I was looking at new 05's on my dealer lot. These problems must be the first model year blues of some sort. Out of the 3 the dealer had on the lost 2 had noticeable problems. One v6 had a GT rear facia and the other was missing the rocker panel stripes on the sport appearance package. I am rather surprised these problems made it past QA. I think I will wait til 06 and let them get the kinks out of them.

Kluski

Those issues don't sound like it was the result of the car being a first year car. Those problems could also happen in 06.

vwAirCooled

Is that so?

Then I'm sure you will be amused to discover that just about all police cars in the United States are "Foreign Imports"!

They are all made in the little village of Talbotville by igloo dwelling artisans from a country just north of Russia. With your tax roubles.

[All Crown Vics are built at St Thomas, aka Talbotville, in Ontario using parts sourced from all over North America and beyond; The world is no longer flat!] [/b][/quote]
Actually, that doesnt suprise me at all. Sorry.

cdemot02

I took it back to the same dealer, and we test drove in the car. Showed him the problem, and now they are working on it. I'll give an update when it is complete. Oh, the problem is when making turns after the car is warmed up it makes a loud noise from the rear end. They have basically had the car from Monday-Friday. If I didn't have other cars to drive I'd be pretty upset.

I should add that I understand you need to take the cars to the dealers and they can only fix it when you take them in. And that first year models have issues that need to be worked out. We are in the car business so I am pretty patient when it comes to these matters. I think it is good though to discuss it amongst ourselves so we can take the info to the dealers with our vehicles.

Finally I've had one chevy, two hondas, and two fords. The Chevy had a million issues (what a pos). Only one of my Hondas had an issue with the Navigation, and we just replaced it. My 04 F150 had a problem with the paint, and my 05 Mustang has had problems with the brakes, the rear end, and the radio. I do have to agree that generally the American made Japanese cars are made with a higher quality. That is just from experience. Every company will have recalls in every industry, and you can't hold that against them. If they don't do anything about it then sue the _____ out of them.

lodom

I'd have Ford at least change the rear lube and make sure it has the friction modifier added. Just a thought. This could show up in turning the car, if they didn't add the friction modifier at the factory.

cdemot02

Well hopefully all problems will be solved. They ordered me a whole new rear end today.

68stanggirl

My Shaker 500 skips C.D.'s & I can't seem to get it to play MP3 disc. It think I just don't have the right software to burn them. Also, my passenger air bag light keeps coming on. Usually after I have been driving it like I stole it!!!! I just haven't had time to take it to the dealer. You have to expect a few small problems even with a new car no matter how much you wish it would be perfect.

upstate

800 Miles and tucked away till Spring but no problems at all. Happy as can be.

mrv8outboard

some one made a comment about the trough out bearing making some noise cold . mine did it twice but it hasn't come back. i had forgotten about it until i read this post.

rickturbo

500 miles here and I love my GT. My tranny seems fine, much better than the Tremic in my '01 Bullitt. I have an intermittent squeek in the passenger side dash and very rarely have heard a slight brake squeek. I will address this if still present at my first oil change.

But hey, every car has issues (even my Hondas) but the car is so awesome it does not bother me. I would buy it again in a second!

TBird Ted

My car is GREAT! One of the best ones I've ever owned.

Two problems so far.

1. Passenger door 500 radio speaker rattles at certain sound frequencies. Dealer has ordered a new speaker.

2. Differential makes excessive noise on deceleration at low to medium speeds. Dealer has ordered a new differential.

Like the other guys say...most have something that needs attention, when new.

GM's have problems, imports do too.

But after all is said and done...this Satin Silver GT gets more attention than any other I've bought.

700+ miles and it's a keeper!

Ted

Shannon

I haven't encountered any problems yet. I have already put almost 1100 miles on my car, and I've only had it about three weeks! I guess you could say I just can't stay out from behind the wheel! And, if the black marks on the highway at the end of my road are any indication, my boyfriend isn't "baby-ing" it like he tells me he is. :nono: Can't blame him though, it is sooo fun to drive; you can't help yourself.

Robert

brainiac, that article is about how many cars are PRODUCED in Canada. The vast majority of USDM Fords are made in the USA. It has nothing to do with anything else. It still cracks me up that you do not think japaneese cars do not come out with problems, new model or simply new........ They have just as many little trips back to the dealer as any other car. [/b][/quote]
It still amazes ME that you cannot connect the dots there, bubba. The point is that Honda and Toyota DON'T have nearly as many BIG trips back to the dealer as domestic vehicles, on average.

But hey, if you choose to live in your own world and discount what JD Powers, Consumer Reports, the major magazines and an increasing number of consumers are saying, then well, I guess that's your business. The point of the article was that the domestic automakers are increasingly losing sales to the imports. That begs the question: why? And judging from some of the complaints people have been leveling against the new Mustang and the bad dealership experiences many of them have had (proportionally too high), I think the answer is pretty obvious.

Like the saying goes: Denial ain't just a river in Egypt.

lodom

Years ago, someone told me to look how long the service lines are at the import dealers in the mornings compared to the domestic brands to gauge quality. He was right. I can go to a Honda service department early in the morning, and get waited on right away. When I had my 99 GT, the lines at the Ford dealership would back out to the street, if you didn't get there early. From the conversations I overheard in the service asile, on my frequent trips to the dealership, it was warranty issues, not maintenance driving most of the business.

Domestic cars have improved, but they still overall aren't as good as the imports. I rarely hear of anybody badmouthing a Toyota or Honda, but I know several people who will never own another Ford product.

I believe most people in the US would buy a US made car over an import if was equal or better quality.

SixtySix

I'll only make a statement based on my own personal experience.

None of my asian imports that were bought new have EVER been in the shop for anything more than maintainence. That's 5 vehicles: An 87 Toyota Pickup, a 90 Toyota Tercel, A 98 Honda Civic, a 2000 Nissan Frontier, And I'll throw in my brand new Pilot which has so far been trouble free as well.

I can only say that for one of the 3 American cars I've owned since new and that was a 95 GMC Sonoma. My 94 S-10 had air conditioning failures and my 95 Monte Carlo was a big pile of dung that had started falling apart after 45,000 miles, traded that one in for a $5,000 loss for the 98 Civic, and guess what? When I sold the Civic not only did I wipe out the $5,000 hit I took on the Monte Carlo, but I paid off the remaining balance on the car and had enough left over for a down payment on the Pilot. Nice resale value!

I gave the American auto makers a chance in the mid 90's and well.... they failed. I'm giving them another shot with the Mustang, but I'm also better prepared....I'm keeping my current asian imports.

Does this mean asain imports have no problems? Not at all, of course they do, (remember the first Hyundai Excels!) but I'm willing to bet there are more stories like mine.

Robert

Well, I still have my '86 Toyota Celica GTS. The mileage is 220,000 and the car is still on the original clutch...STILL ON THE ORIGINAL CLUTCH. Plus the engine just purrs along whenever I take it out. Those things are BUILT. And the interior plastics even on that 20 year-old car are still better than the new Mustang.

Repairs? Yeah, it needed a new power antenna, a new alternator and a new radiator - but that was all in the last two years. Aside from regular maintenance, it's been problem-free otherwise. I wish I could say that about my other vehicle.

The point is: Ford can't match that level of reliability. Show me ANY 4-cylinder Ford from 1986 that's still on the road, much less running trouble-free!

stangerT

You're kidding right????