Th OP had a pinion seal go at 40k mi. Those things go 200k+ without a problem. Maybe you're right but I'm finding this very similar to GM stuff.

 

Al, did you agree with my comment in the previous page? of what I thought you were trying to say?

 

Yes I did. It's was pretty close to what I'm saying. It really might not be this way anymore but it was definitely like this a few years back.

 

Wow! That's not like any of the Ford's I have owned. I bought my 2000 GT new and it just turned over 45K and all I have replace is wear items! 16 years old! My friends can't get over how cold the A/C blows. Every time I decide I am getting a new one I just take a ride in my OLD Car and decide I'll just keep her!

 

Agree 100%. Worked at multiple Honda plants while interning in college. Have freinds that worke for Ford and Crysler They definitely do not do this. Nor do I believe any other manufacturer would. To claim thats a regular practice is completely ridiculous.

To OP, sorry to hear you've had so many issues. When I see this stuff it makes me nervous as I just turned 35K.

As far as reliability for vehicles. Hondas and Toyotas are pretty bulitproof for daily commuters. If you want a truck, you probably dont want to heat it but Fords are great. Jeep Wranglers are always solid. Toyota makes great trucks as well.

 

I had a 2008 Wrangler and it was solid except for one glaring problem and that was serious oil consumption. It would burn 3 quarts of oil every 5K miles. This was a common problem for that 3.8 motor. Turns out it was due to the workers at the engine assembly plant not staggering the piston rings. I seriously considered the new Tacoma but have you paid a visit to the TacomaWorld forum lately? That new truck is having a laundry list of issues. Transmissions that are low on fluid from the factory. Body and suspension squeaks and rattles on brand new trucks. Radios that are just cutting off on their own at random times. A few owners even reported brake failure. They would hit the brake pedal and nothing would happen. Let up and hit it again and the brakes would engage. The new 3.5 motor has had cam position sensors failing. The third gen part of the forum has pretty much turned into a list of owner issues. To top it all off, Toyota delaerships are charging insane prices because "Toyota Tacoma" lol. I've seen reports of price tags over 50 grand for the new TRD Pro trucks. I've owned a Tacoma in the past and it was fairly reliable but I would not touch this new one for awhile. Not that it matters because I ended up buying a GMC truck. Took a beating on the trade in too but I just wasn't going to keep a car that had me constantly thinking "when's the next thing going to break." Sooner or later something would have failed that wasn't covered under warranty. The water pump failure on the 3.7 is a common problem, Ford even has a TSB on it. I actually found a thread on a Mustang forum posted by a 2016 Mustang owner who opted for the 3.7 car and had his pump go out at 3000 miles. Ridiculous. Hopefully I have better luck with the GMC. I opted for one that is pretty much a work truck with a couple of extra options just to keep the potential for problems low with the thought process being "less options means less stuff to go wrong." Wish me luck. I need something that will last me 10 to 12 years.

http://ford.oemdtc.com/588/coolant-p...4-ford-mustang

 

This whole theory is laughable. Why on earth would Ford want the volume model of Mustang (the V6 prior to 2015) that makes up 2/3+ of their sales, to be built with cheaper parts that lead to more failures, warranty claims and problems?

Beyond that, do you really think the system works something like the below?
- Sterling Axle plant in Sterling Heights, MI is building all the rear axles for Mustangs.
- Once assembled, somebody is testing those axles and giving them a rating.
- That rating is fed into Ford's system and then those axles make it to the Flat Rock plant where Mustangs are assembled.
- At Flat Rock, those axles are lined up in an order that's coinciding with the order of cars coming down the line.
- Ooh it's a GT Premium - it gets the best axle.
- Hmmm, here's a V6 base model - they get the crappiest rear axle.
- Now we've got a V6 Premium and a GT base, which one should get a better axle? So hard to decide!

If the overall reliability of the base models is lower (and I seriously doubt it is), the most likely cause is probably that base models tend to be daily drivers, not garage queens like so many of GT's owned on here, and accumulate more mileage and wear & tear.

If this ever did happen, it sounds like something out of the late 70's/early 80's and something no car company would be careless enough to do today. The OP got a bad one, no doubt, but that happens to every manufacturer on the planet.

Yep.

 

Not so true anymore these days.

 

Funny you should mention that . . .

I have a 2006 Camry base model that has been practically trouble free in over 200,000 miles. It's a very basic car but it seems it will stay reliable forever.

My wife has a 2014 Honda Civic. We bought it expecting it to be trouble free also . . . . not so much. It has had several electrical problems and now the air conditioning compressor sounds like it is going to explode. Also has some fit and finish issues -- nothing major, but noticeable if you are picky. Definitely not in line with expectations for Honda.

My 2010 GT has over 90K miles and has been near perfect . . . I think it's just the luck of the draw.

 

I can relate... we bought the wifey a 2013 Prius V, first time owning a Toyota vehicle, expecting all this wowness around reliability, etc. True to form, reliability is good, no issues - but man oh man. The build quality is awful. Ford makes a better vehicle in that sense, and that's not saying much. I've had rattles in the Toyota since 6 months in. Took it in several times to fix it. No avail. Just cheaply made. They put everything in the powerplant, but then forget about the build quality/interior. Terrible.

 

These days it's about finding the specific product line that is well built. I know a lot of folks weren't happy with a lot of Ford cars moving to Mexico for assembly, but they are generally built better there. Same with the European assembled cars. Sometimes it's worthwhile finding where a car is assembled and checking history of the plant in terms of quality. Some plants are known to put out good product and others are not.

 

Not to play devils advocate on behalf of Al but I have noticed that my rear axle was left unpainted and subsequently developed a coating of surface rust while all of the GT's and special edition V6 Mustangs I have seen had painted axles. I'm sure it was left unpainted so that Ford could save production costs. Frankly I wasn't thrilled about the concept of paying 26 grand for a car that had a rusty axle two months later. All of these car companies now are just run by bean counting penny pinchers who find ways to cut costs wherever they can. As a result we end up with things like cheap pinion seals and cheap plastic impellers in our water pumps. Also I could agree with you regarding the car getting miles put on it because it was my daily driver but any car that has three major failures with less than 50K on it is just not acceptable to me regardless of weather it's a daily driver or a garage queen. If it was something like a bad power window switch or a brake rotor that has to be replaced that's one thing. But when I had to have the entire AC system replaced at 37K I started to get concerned and there is a thread on this forum that has numerous owners who have had their AC system die somewhere between 30 and 60K. It's very disappointing because I really enjoyed the car and it is great looking car but I am just not going to deal with yet another issue every couple of months.

https://themustangsource.com/forums/...nt-out-522446/

 

You should take a look at how many owners of the new Tacoma are having serious issues with that truck. I wouldn't touch that thing, and of course Toyota is charging insane prices for it.

 

I was going to suggest the painted axles you saw were track pack GTs. But that doesn't explain the V6s - I thought only the Torsen axles were painted.

 

A good friend of mine has a grabber blue Mustang Club of America edition with the V6 and her rear axle is painted. I made sure to check.

 

I have a Mustang Club of America Performance Package V6 and I know for a fact my rear axle is not painted. It is only missing 3 available options, Recaro's, back up camera and glass roof.

 

It makes me wonder now how they decide which cars get painted axles and which ones do not because my friends MCoA car definitely has a painted axle. I made it a point to check it when I discovered that mine was not. Her car also does not have backup camera or glass roof. It has leather seats. I was really disappointed the first time I took my car to Firestone to have the tires rotated at 5K miles and discovered rust on my axle. Just very disappointed in the corner cutting that Ford does with these cars given that buyers can get much better quality for the same or less money. I've learned my lesson and sadly I will not be back. Great looking car and I really liked it but just not going to go through this anymore.

 

So three problems were fixed under warranty and more than likely will not be an issue. Is there any reason to suspect that the car is suddenly going to fail? If not, keep it until you no longer have negative equity.

 

My mom's 2010 Civic has had a litany of fit and finish issues, interior pieces breaking, door weatherstripping peeling away, and check engine light issues. I have a friend with a 2010+ Corolla and he had plenty of issues including the water pump and transmission taking a dump before 100k miles. In the 80's 90's and early 00's Toyota's and Honda's were the best in reliability. Now it seems they have started cutting corners...all for more profit I bet!

 

To the OP - it really depends on the car. I bought a 2005 Mustang V6 when they first came out and it was total lemon. I had so many problems with it Ford bought it back. I drove Toyota for awhile and had hit or miss experience. I have had 2 2010 Mustang GTs and they have worked with no issues at all. I guess it may be true it depends on weather a company has a good day at the factory when they built your car. No matter what brand.