I've never owned a
3/8/11, 05:47 PM
#1
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I've never owned a
...piece of junk Ford before. Until now that is.
I don't really have anything to say and I'm not really looking for responses of any one nature. Just writing down my experiences with this automobile to get it off my chest.
To date, this is my 5th mustang and my 7th Ford over all. It's my 5th brand new Ford and 4th brand new mustang.
In all that time I've never had problems with any of my vehicles. Everything simply worked. They may not have been the most refined automobiles in the world, but they worked all day every day and weren't an inconvenience to own.
I'll preface my thoughts here with a mention that I realize that my situation may pale in comparison to what others have gone through.
I purchased my 2011 401A option GT on December 9th, 2010. It is a November 2010 build making it a Job 2 car. The car was purchased in the evening and so by and large it was simply taken home and parked.
The next day on my first real drive of the car I was greeted with a check engine light. I had also noticed the car was making a very peculiar knocking noise at idle as the car warmed up. The knock could be felt through the shifter and pedals.
I took the car in the next day and was told that the CEL was for low catalytic performance. They ordered a new catalytic converter and we rescheduled an appointment to have that replaced as well as have the noise looked at more closely. The tech's simply verified the noise on the first go-round. About a week later the car went in again to have the catalytic converter replaced and have the knocking checked out. Ford came back with a "normal engine operation" for the knock. I was however advised by the techs to bring it in if it got worse.
Several weeks ago the car again went in to the shop for the above issue. The noise had gotten louder and more consistent. Upon my own inspections of the noise, it can be heard and felt emanating primarily from the drivers side head. however the noise can be heard and felt in the passenger bank as well.
The car was in the shop for two days this time and Ford once again gave a "characteristic of engine" diagnoses. The tech working on the car found the noise to be "excessive." I picked the car up with the only resolution to this claim being that "I have plenty of warranty."
As the days have gone by I had started to notice an exhaust leak in the vehicle and starting this weekend a rather apparent rattle that was induced by engine rpms. I once again self diagnosed this as being an exhaust clamp that had worked itself loose and was rattling. This did end up being the case.
Now, that's not really the car's fault, but more than likely a tech that simply didn't reinstall the clamps correctly when the catalytic converter was replaced. That was yesterday that the vehicle was in shop to have that fixed.
Now today my USB adapter for the SYNC system has gone completely dead. While driving home for lunch and listening through the USB audio, the music cut out and I received a message that the USB had been removed. I first checked operation of my iPod and reset it to make sure it wasn't acting up. It wasn't.
Before heading back to work I tested three USB devices using two separate cables, without result from any of them. SYNC simply states "USB Empty"
So, once again I lose another day with the car (well likely 1 1/2 considering they'll probably have it for about an hour or so to diagnose the SYNC issue and order parts). It'll then have to go in for repair.
Each time I either miss a little bit of work which I have to make up, or I end up having to get a ride to work then bum a ride from a friend/co-worker for lunch and a return trip home.
I realize most of these things are small and relatively inconsequential, but for a car with 2700 miles on the odometer to be having component failures is a little ridiculous.
The vehicle is not longer a joy to drive and is causing me a fair amount of inconvenience at this point.
I notified my dealer about my displeasure with the automobile as well as calling Ford Customer Service.
Fortunately the lady at Ford I spoke with was understanding and helpful. She said she is going to escalate the issues and I should be receiving a call within a couple days.
Unfortunately this is a pretty bad spot for anybody to be in. The car isn't plagued enough to even begin looking at a lemon law claim, so that's out of the question. I could trade the vehicle, but because of how new it is, I would take a significant bath and carry over a sizable amount of negative equity onto a new vehicle. All the sudden my 40,000 Mustang becomes a 50-60,000 whatever.
So I'm stuck with a car that is being plagued by repeated trips to the dealer for service. I can hope that this USB issue will be the last and I can enjoy the car. I'm not sure I believe that will happen though
Thanks for listening. I just needed to vent a little.
I don't really have anything to say and I'm not really looking for responses of any one nature. Just writing down my experiences with this automobile to get it off my chest.
To date, this is my 5th mustang and my 7th Ford over all. It's my 5th brand new Ford and 4th brand new mustang.
In all that time I've never had problems with any of my vehicles. Everything simply worked. They may not have been the most refined automobiles in the world, but they worked all day every day and weren't an inconvenience to own.
I'll preface my thoughts here with a mention that I realize that my situation may pale in comparison to what others have gone through.
I purchased my 2011 401A option GT on December 9th, 2010. It is a November 2010 build making it a Job 2 car. The car was purchased in the evening and so by and large it was simply taken home and parked.
The next day on my first real drive of the car I was greeted with a check engine light. I had also noticed the car was making a very peculiar knocking noise at idle as the car warmed up. The knock could be felt through the shifter and pedals.
I took the car in the next day and was told that the CEL was for low catalytic performance. They ordered a new catalytic converter and we rescheduled an appointment to have that replaced as well as have the noise looked at more closely. The tech's simply verified the noise on the first go-round. About a week later the car went in again to have the catalytic converter replaced and have the knocking checked out. Ford came back with a "normal engine operation" for the knock. I was however advised by the techs to bring it in if it got worse.
Several weeks ago the car again went in to the shop for the above issue. The noise had gotten louder and more consistent. Upon my own inspections of the noise, it can be heard and felt emanating primarily from the drivers side head. however the noise can be heard and felt in the passenger bank as well.
The car was in the shop for two days this time and Ford once again gave a "characteristic of engine" diagnoses. The tech working on the car found the noise to be "excessive." I picked the car up with the only resolution to this claim being that "I have plenty of warranty."
As the days have gone by I had started to notice an exhaust leak in the vehicle and starting this weekend a rather apparent rattle that was induced by engine rpms. I once again self diagnosed this as being an exhaust clamp that had worked itself loose and was rattling. This did end up being the case.
Now, that's not really the car's fault, but more than likely a tech that simply didn't reinstall the clamps correctly when the catalytic converter was replaced. That was yesterday that the vehicle was in shop to have that fixed.
Now today my USB adapter for the SYNC system has gone completely dead. While driving home for lunch and listening through the USB audio, the music cut out and I received a message that the USB had been removed. I first checked operation of my iPod and reset it to make sure it wasn't acting up. It wasn't.
Before heading back to work I tested three USB devices using two separate cables, without result from any of them. SYNC simply states "USB Empty"
So, once again I lose another day with the car (well likely 1 1/2 considering they'll probably have it for about an hour or so to diagnose the SYNC issue and order parts). It'll then have to go in for repair.
Each time I either miss a little bit of work which I have to make up, or I end up having to get a ride to work then bum a ride from a friend/co-worker for lunch and a return trip home.
I realize most of these things are small and relatively inconsequential, but for a car with 2700 miles on the odometer to be having component failures is a little ridiculous.
The vehicle is not longer a joy to drive and is causing me a fair amount of inconvenience at this point.
I notified my dealer about my displeasure with the automobile as well as calling Ford Customer Service.
Fortunately the lady at Ford I spoke with was understanding and helpful. She said she is going to escalate the issues and I should be receiving a call within a couple days.
Unfortunately this is a pretty bad spot for anybody to be in. The car isn't plagued enough to even begin looking at a lemon law claim, so that's out of the question. I could trade the vehicle, but because of how new it is, I would take a significant bath and carry over a sizable amount of negative equity onto a new vehicle. All the sudden my 40,000 Mustang becomes a 50-60,000 whatever.
So I'm stuck with a car that is being plagued by repeated trips to the dealer for service. I can hope that this USB issue will be the last and I can enjoy the car. I'm not sure I believe that will happen though
Thanks for listening. I just needed to vent a little.
3/8/11, 07:17 PM
#6
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...piece of junk Ford before. Until now that is.
I don't really have anything to say and I'm not really looking for responses of any one nature. Just writing down my experiences with this automobile to get it off my chest.
To date, this is my 5th mustang and my 7th Ford over all. It's my 5th brand new Ford and 4th brand new mustang.
In all that time I've never had problems with any of my vehicles. Everything simply worked. They may not have been the most refined automobiles in the world, but they worked all day every day and weren't an inconvenience to own.
I'll preface my thoughts here with a mention that I realize that my situation may pale in comparison to what others have gone through.
I purchased my 2011 401A option GT on December 9th, 2010. It is a November 2010 build making it a Job 2 car. The car was purchased in the evening and so by and large it was simply taken home and parked.
The next day on my first real drive of the car I was greeted with a check engine light. I had also noticed the car was making a very peculiar knocking noise at idle as the car warmed up. The knock could be felt through the shifter and pedals.
I took the car in the next day and was told that the CEL was for low catalytic performance. They ordered a new catalytic converter and we rescheduled an appointment to have that replaced as well as have the noise looked at more closely. The tech's simply verified the noise on the first go-round. About a week later the car went in again to have the catalytic converter replaced and have the knocking checked out. Ford came back with a "normal engine operation" for the knock. I was however advised by the techs to bring it in if it got worse.
Several weeks ago the car again went in to the shop for the above issue. The noise had gotten louder and more consistent. Upon my own inspections of the noise, it can be heard and felt emanating primarily from the drivers side head. however the noise can be heard and felt in the passenger bank as well.
The car was in the shop for two days this time and Ford once again gave a "characteristic of engine" diagnoses. The tech working on the car found the noise to be "excessive." I picked the car up with the only resolution to this claim being that "I have plenty of warranty."
As the days have gone by I had started to notice an exhaust leak in the vehicle and starting this weekend a rather apparent rattle that was induced by engine rpms. I once again self diagnosed this as being an exhaust clamp that had worked itself loose and was rattling. This did end up being the case.
Now, that's not really the car's fault, but more than likely a tech that simply didn't reinstall the clamps correctly when the catalytic converter was replaced. That was yesterday that the vehicle was in shop to have that fixed.
Now today my USB adapter for the SYNC system has gone completely dead. While driving home for lunch and listening through the USB audio, the music cut out and I received a message that the USB had been removed. I first checked operation of my iPod and reset it to make sure it wasn't acting up. It wasn't.
Before heading back to work I tested three USB devices using two separate cables, without result from any of them. SYNC simply states "USB Empty"
So, once again I lose another day with the car (well likely 1 1/2 considering they'll probably have it for about an hour or so to diagnose the SYNC issue and order parts). It'll then have to go in for repair.
Each time I either miss a little bit of work which I have to make up, or I end up having to get a ride to work then bum a ride from a friend/co-worker for lunch and a return trip home.
I realize most of these things are small and relatively inconsequential, but for a car with 2700 miles on the odometer to be having component failures is a little ridiculous.
The vehicle is not longer a joy to drive and is causing me a fair amount of inconvenience at this point.
I notified my dealer about my displeasure with the automobile as well as calling Ford Customer Service.
Fortunately the lady at Ford I spoke with was understanding and helpful. She said she is going to escalate the issues and I should be receiving a call within a couple days.
Unfortunately this is a pretty bad spot for anybody to be in. The car isn't plagued enough to even begin looking at a lemon law claim, so that's out of the question. I could trade the vehicle, but because of how new it is, I would take a significant bath and carry over a sizable amount of negative equity onto a new vehicle. All the sudden my 40,000 Mustang becomes a 50-60,000 whatever.
So I'm stuck with a car that is being plagued by repeated trips to the dealer for service. I can hope that this USB issue will be the last and I can enjoy the car. I'm not sure I believe that will happen though
Thanks for listening. I just needed to vent a little.
I don't really have anything to say and I'm not really looking for responses of any one nature. Just writing down my experiences with this automobile to get it off my chest.
To date, this is my 5th mustang and my 7th Ford over all. It's my 5th brand new Ford and 4th brand new mustang.
In all that time I've never had problems with any of my vehicles. Everything simply worked. They may not have been the most refined automobiles in the world, but they worked all day every day and weren't an inconvenience to own.
I'll preface my thoughts here with a mention that I realize that my situation may pale in comparison to what others have gone through.
I purchased my 2011 401A option GT on December 9th, 2010. It is a November 2010 build making it a Job 2 car. The car was purchased in the evening and so by and large it was simply taken home and parked.
The next day on my first real drive of the car I was greeted with a check engine light. I had also noticed the car was making a very peculiar knocking noise at idle as the car warmed up. The knock could be felt through the shifter and pedals.
I took the car in the next day and was told that the CEL was for low catalytic performance. They ordered a new catalytic converter and we rescheduled an appointment to have that replaced as well as have the noise looked at more closely. The tech's simply verified the noise on the first go-round. About a week later the car went in again to have the catalytic converter replaced and have the knocking checked out. Ford came back with a "normal engine operation" for the knock. I was however advised by the techs to bring it in if it got worse.
Several weeks ago the car again went in to the shop for the above issue. The noise had gotten louder and more consistent. Upon my own inspections of the noise, it can be heard and felt emanating primarily from the drivers side head. however the noise can be heard and felt in the passenger bank as well.
The car was in the shop for two days this time and Ford once again gave a "characteristic of engine" diagnoses. The tech working on the car found the noise to be "excessive." I picked the car up with the only resolution to this claim being that "I have plenty of warranty."
As the days have gone by I had started to notice an exhaust leak in the vehicle and starting this weekend a rather apparent rattle that was induced by engine rpms. I once again self diagnosed this as being an exhaust clamp that had worked itself loose and was rattling. This did end up being the case.
Now, that's not really the car's fault, but more than likely a tech that simply didn't reinstall the clamps correctly when the catalytic converter was replaced. That was yesterday that the vehicle was in shop to have that fixed.
Now today my USB adapter for the SYNC system has gone completely dead. While driving home for lunch and listening through the USB audio, the music cut out and I received a message that the USB had been removed. I first checked operation of my iPod and reset it to make sure it wasn't acting up. It wasn't.
Before heading back to work I tested three USB devices using two separate cables, without result from any of them. SYNC simply states "USB Empty"
So, once again I lose another day with the car (well likely 1 1/2 considering they'll probably have it for about an hour or so to diagnose the SYNC issue and order parts). It'll then have to go in for repair.
Each time I either miss a little bit of work which I have to make up, or I end up having to get a ride to work then bum a ride from a friend/co-worker for lunch and a return trip home.
I realize most of these things are small and relatively inconsequential, but for a car with 2700 miles on the odometer to be having component failures is a little ridiculous.
The vehicle is not longer a joy to drive and is causing me a fair amount of inconvenience at this point.
I notified my dealer about my displeasure with the automobile as well as calling Ford Customer Service.
Fortunately the lady at Ford I spoke with was understanding and helpful. She said she is going to escalate the issues and I should be receiving a call within a couple days.
Unfortunately this is a pretty bad spot for anybody to be in. The car isn't plagued enough to even begin looking at a lemon law claim, so that's out of the question. I could trade the vehicle, but because of how new it is, I would take a significant bath and carry over a sizable amount of negative equity onto a new vehicle. All the sudden my 40,000 Mustang becomes a 50-60,000 whatever.
So I'm stuck with a car that is being plagued by repeated trips to the dealer for service. I can hope that this USB issue will be the last and I can enjoy the car. I'm not sure I believe that will happen though
Thanks for listening. I just needed to vent a little.
3/8/11, 08:07 PM
#8
Cobra Member
I think a lot of us know exactly how you feel. Been there and done that..with a Pontiac, and an Audi 5000S (truly the single biggest POS I ever owned).
I am about to take a 1300 mile round trip this weekend to Minneapolis for the car show. I am a little hesitant, after reading posts like yours, but with almost 7000 miles on her, I feel pretty confident I will not have any issues.
Good luck and try to be positive, at least the dealer is working with you.
I am about to take a 1300 mile round trip this weekend to Minneapolis for the car show. I am a little hesitant, after reading posts like yours, but with almost 7000 miles on her, I feel pretty confident I will not have any issues.
Good luck and try to be positive, at least the dealer is working with you.
3/8/11, 08:08 PM
#9
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Thanks guys! I'm hopeful that after the USB repair that the car will be solid. I'm hoping that I might actually get an answer on that engine knock as well.
I really like this car. She's just hard to enjoy right now with these frequent visits to the dealer.
I really like this car. She's just hard to enjoy right now with these frequent visits to the dealer.
3/8/11, 09:01 PM
#11
All of these reports by people about various engine knocks really has me worried about the long term durability of the 5.0 and I don't even own one. I hope they haven't rushed this thing out without proper vetting. I fear that today's engineers are relying too much on theories and computers and not enough on hands on experience and real world testing. I have reservations about strapping an engine or a vehicle to a machine that "simulates" 100,000 miles of driving. Maybe I'm just old school, but in my personal experience there are many things that just can't be replicated accurately just because a computer says it is.
3/8/11, 10:55 PM
#12
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Jason, sorry to hear of your troubles. It shouldn't happen but things like this show up in all car manufacturers. To focus on a positive has fast is that bad boy when you bury your foot in the throttle? 
3/9/11, 08:34 AM
#13
Shelby GT350 Member
That really sucks about the Mustang. On a lighter note, you obviously haven't owned an 89 Escort GT. That my friends is one Ford that sucked the life out of my parents and swore they'd never buy a Ford again. We were GM people ever since.
Anyway, I hope all of these problems get worked out.
On another note about the engine. Didn't this 5.0L have about 3 years of test bench time? Just seems weird about the problems. Because a lot of people are noting them. Still probably a small percentage but it isn't unnoticed.
Anyway, I hope all of these problems get worked out.
On another note about the engine. Didn't this 5.0L have about 3 years of test bench time? Just seems weird about the problems. Because a lot of people are noting them. Still probably a small percentage but it isn't unnoticed.
3/9/11, 08:55 AM
#14
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3/9/11, 09:14 AM
#15
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That's sucks. I hope you get it all worked out. I had bought a 2010 jeep wrangler and had everything happen from the axel break to the trans slipping long story short I traded it in and bought a 2011 mustang. I had paid 27,ooo cash for the wrangler and had a loan still from a trade in so when I traded the jeep for the mustang I really lost my *** so by the time I'm done my mustang will have cost me like 60,000. Hope they fix these problems
3/9/11, 10:36 AM
#16
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Wow, that sounds like a bad sequence of events. I hope it ends soon for you.
One aspect of your story really resonated with me, and is why I prefer a reliable car to one with a "great warrany": Every little issue resulted in the tremendous inconvenience of leaving the car at the dealership, and most of the time there were 2x dealer visits per problem.
I've only taken my car to the dealer twice (since June 2010) to resolve one or more warranty issues, but in both cases the needed parts weren't available so I had to go back to the dealer on a different day once they had the part. So for every warranty claim I've had at least 2 trips to the dealer where I had to leave my car with them. Always LONG days.
What else can the dealer do to meet me halfway? I don't really know.
So far so good for me, but if I'd had your (O.P.'s) litany of problems I think I'd have thrown in the towel by now.
One aspect of your story really resonated with me, and is why I prefer a reliable car to one with a "great warrany": Every little issue resulted in the tremendous inconvenience of leaving the car at the dealership, and most of the time there were 2x dealer visits per problem.
I've only taken my car to the dealer twice (since June 2010) to resolve one or more warranty issues, but in both cases the needed parts weren't available so I had to go back to the dealer on a different day once they had the part. So for every warranty claim I've had at least 2 trips to the dealer where I had to leave my car with them. Always LONG days.
What else can the dealer do to meet me halfway? I don't really know.
So far so good for me, but if I'd had your (O.P.'s) litany of problems I think I'd have thrown in the towel by now.
Last edited by Double-EDad; 3/9/11 at 10:53 AM.
3/9/11, 10:49 AM
#17
Cobra Member
Wow, really unpleasant experience. It does sound like Ford is trying to make things right, but that is of little comfort with all of the little petty inconveniences. Keep us posted and best of luck. Hopefully all will be resolved and the next 50k miles will be high performance good times. GOOD LUCK!
3/9/11, 01:04 PM
#18
Cobra R Member
.. i'll have to read that when i'm done!
3/9/11, 01:27 PM
#19
Legacy TMS Member
All of these reports by people about various engine knocks really has me worried about the long term durability of the 5.0 and I don't even own one. I hope they haven't rushed this thing out without proper vetting. I fear that today's engineers are relying too much on theories and computers and not enough on hands on experience and real world testing. I have reservations about strapping an engine or a vehicle to a machine that "simulates" 100,000 miles of driving. Maybe I'm just old school, but in my personal experience there are many things that just can't be replicated accurately just because a computer says it is.
How would one actually test in a more "real world" fashion?
To the original poster, I hope your issues get resolved quickly.
PS - Testing the V6 EcoBoost is here, while "real world" testing of Boss 302 5.0L is here.
3/9/11, 02:07 PM
#20
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I cannot blame you one bit.. I'd be furious as well. Are they atleast giving you a loaner?
Hope you get everything straightened out so you can start enjoying your new ride.
Hope you get everything straightened out so you can start enjoying your new ride.