David Young

Glad you like your new Mustang Eric.

hawkeye18

Roll the windows down on your coupe, then try closing the door. I think you'll find that it is a lot easier to do. The air seal is much tighter with the windows up.

Congrats on your ride. I like the color.

Double-EDad

Thanks! I went with a hardtop to soften the monetary blow of the stupidity of getting rid of a car less than 8700 miles after buying it. So the net jump to the new 2012 was about $3400, as opposed to about $8400 if I'd gone with another 'vert.

If you read the "coupe vs. convertible" part of my review near the top of this thread, you'll see that I just plain prefer the coupe for its better handling, firmer ride, stiffer structure, lighter weight, fully-reclining seats, and better-sounding stereo. These are all features I can enjoy daily, whereas the magic of top-down driving just wasn't feasible/comfortable a high enough percentage of the time.

I still think the Mustang/GT/GT500 convertible is the best convertible available at each repsective price point; I just feel that the coupe makes more sense for me until we move to Southern California.

Double-EDad

You are a wise man Shane, listening to your wife like that. A tune is in my future plans; tighter shifting is always better.

Thanks David! I am loving this thing!

Thanks Jason. I thought the windows pulling down that slight bit was why the 'vert's doors closed so easily, but now I know otherwise! I love a good ol' American have-to-slam-the-doors-to-close-'em car anyway!

Double-EDad

Realized I left 2 items off my comparison above:

'12 vs. '11 or Coupe vs. Convertible categories - The "new car smell" of the '12 is much more "chemical" in nature and less like new leather. Not as pleasant as was the '11's. Don't know if that's something newer for '12 or if it has to do with the hardtop's headliner glue vs. none for the 'vert. Maybe I should sniff more while driving, and find out...

6AT vs. 6MT category: I haven't mentioned this much, but in addition to the bum leg, my right shoulder is pretty much arthritic toast. No cartilage. Was already scheduled for surgery to scope the cartilage when I fractured the left foot. After the athroscopic surgery on 4/13/11 the shoulder is better but will never be 100%. SOOO, it's kind of painful to extend my right arm and hang it there to adjust radio stations, HVAC, etc. The overly-large Tee-handle of the 6AT's shifter is actually JUST RIGHT to rest my wrist on while making such adjustments, sparing the shoulder any undue loading cycles. And the actual shifting is much more painless. Yet another plus for the 6AT, albeit very specific to me.

jaybertx

Did you special order the vert? I think we got these cars pretty quickly after being built. I noticed the "chemical smell" a lot at first but now that I am three weeks in it's getting a more "natural" new car smell. Bonus!

Double-EDad

You may be right. I think it's subsiding now, @ 3+ weeks since build date. I got my '11 on June 9th, 2010, and it was built on April 13th, so it had more than a month and a half to outgas.

hawkeye18

@OP:

Physical impediments always get a free pass on ATs. Nobody will fault you for not getting a manual if you physically can't drive one. Don't feel bad. Like I've always said, the only people that need automatics are people with physical problems, and people who live at the drag strip. Everybody else is just being a *****!

SoFlo Mustang

Or have one (aka females)

Flame suit on

c0achmke

Touché !!!

Double-EDad

Uh-oh, heeere we go!

My wife's friend thought the juxtaposition of my awesome car with the handicap placard handing from the rear view mirror was funny. Thankfully it's just a temporary permit....

It's funny, but before I had this issue I thought there were WAY too many handicapped spaces everywhere, but now that I need one, I see the situation as exactly the opposite! Someone else always seems to be taking up all the handicapped spaces! LOL

Blue Horse

Consider yourself torched.

I thought my dad was going to get down in the floor laughing after I told him about one conversation with a salesman while looking for Mustangs to test drive.

me: "Why doesn't anyone around here order them with a manual? It is a sports car, for Pete's sake!"

Salesman: "Well, that would be a six speed."

me: "Yeah. So...?"

Salesman: "Ma'am, those are VERY difficult to drive. We would have a hard time selling one."

I burst out laughing and said, "You're kidding, right?"

He says, "No, Ma'am. They are extremely difficult to drive."

As which point I told him I had driven everything from a '29 Model A to an 18 wheeler and most things in between. Never found one I couldn't drive and I can float the gears in most after a little familiarity. "I think I can handle it."

His only response was, "But these are really difficult, Ma'am."

Never even went in to that dealership. Only reason I am buying AT is because the manual is a Chinese POS.

SoFlo Mustang

Lol my mom drives a weekend cruiser, 1985 Cj-7, a manual. So i was joking about females and manuals xD

But thats a funny story... here in Naples all th rich old hags buy autos. So i gotta order a manual

2012GT

There's one factor you Guys aren't considering. Don't you think that the stress level of those workers on the line about to be laid off was at an all time high? I would venture to say if your car was built before July 12th that your worker's mind probably wasn't on the torque spec for the bolt he was installing on your mustang. It was most likely how he was going to take his family on vacation that Summer and pay his mortgage. So whether your car was built on this date or that date is irrelevant .

Blue Horse

I took it as a joke. I am old enough it amazes me the people that can't drive a stick. All of my sons can and now both of my DILs can.

I apologize for the thread drift.

To the OP: Congrats on your new car. My opinion doesn't matter but I agree that you should get an auto rather than risk putting yourself in pain and unable to enjoy your toy!

Double-EDad

Blue Horse - Thank you for the congrats.

My mother drove a stick until about age 73. Then at my urging, she bought herself the CR-V (auto of course) that she owned when she died in Feb of last year at age 76. There was no car she could not wrangle b/c she'd been driving since she was 12 (her dad ran a salvage yard & she was a parts runner in the 1940's).

Good story - she taught me how to drive stick when I was 18 - we went to a Datsun dealership (No Nissan in 1980) and test drove a 310GX. It was a POS, but good enough for me to learn with. Once I got the hang of it, we went downtown to the British Leyland dealer and "test drove" a then-new Triumph TR-8 convertible, with a nicely burbling 3.5L V-8. After we were out of sight of the dealer she let me drive it. Man I was on Cloud 9! It was great! (Wish I could say we bought the TR-8, but we didn't)

eliyarbrough

On your handi-capped placard, I use one. Mine's not temporary, either! When other, sorry but old, people see a '11 Mustang GT park there, they get pissed!! Especially when they see a 34 yr old getting out. After I pull out my disabled since '02 card, they ease up. I then tell them young & disabled people can drive nice cars.
I had 1 lady almost swipe me with her f'ing cane!!

I went from a vert, totally diff from you though!! Mine was a '95 that's top leaked pretty bad. I don't miss mine @ all now!!!

Blue Horse

That is fantastic you have those memories with your mom. It is also funny you saying her dad ran a salvage yard. My step-father was a junk dealer. He started me driving as soon as he and Mom married and it was always JUNK! I remember driving him around all one summer when he hurt his back. The reason I drove is because the truck was a 1968 F150 short bed with three on the tree and did not have power steering or power breaks. You had to pump the breaks up to make them work.

That experience served me well. When hubby and I married I drove a '49 F100. Had to double clutch it. The teenage boys I knew were impressed I could set the choke and start it without flooding it. Darn thing would turn on a dime going right but to the left you better have the proverbial forty acres. I bet your mama would have handled it like a pro, too.