I haven't posted much since I joined because I find that I learn much, much more simply by reading. My question pertains to the maintenance and upkeep of a vehicle that will not be used as a daily driver. Never have I bought a car that sat more than it was driven, but a '13 Shelby GT500 is not something I want to drive every day. It is without question as close to a perfect car for me that I have ever run across. As a result, I want the car to stand up to sitting in a garage for the majority of the time. Any info would be much appreciated. I live in San Antonio, TX, so cold isn't a concern like it is up north, and clearly neither is rain (we've forgotten what it looks like here in Texas). Thanks in advance.

 

To each their own. Yes, if you don't drive it much than clearly maintenance will be less expensive. You can assume brakes , tires, gas,, etc, will be less expensive due to not having to do those things as much. I don't know your financial situation. If you have money to burn for a garage queen then go for it. The car will not appreciate in value. Drive it. Forget about the money, just take joy that you had the wherewithal to get what you wanted and drive it. Do not concern yourself with what others paid or whether or not it is perfectly detailed just drive it. If you don't use it alot then parts still wear out so you might as well drive it. A few door dings are realitively cheap to fix so you should drive it. Well in the end you should just drive it. Drive it fast. Drive it slow. Show off or don't care if your seen. Drive.

 

Why the hell not? Life is short, enjoy the s.o.a b. I put 9K on my GT in the first 9 weeks, 15K in the first 5 months, all for pleasure. I still run to the store twice a day in it whether I need anything or not...love this car. Had a lot of cool junk in my 52 years but nothing's given me as much pleasure as driving this car does.

I live w/in 2 miles from work and have a 4wd Ranger, but drive the Mustang most of the time. I rarely can drive straight home. More often than not I'll run out of town down the highway and open it up a handful of times before I turn around and head back.

If you really end up leaving it parked most of the time, simply follow your dealerships maint schedule and take it around the block once a week and open it up a couple times a month to blow the cobwebs off.

Do what I do though and you and your permanently chit eatin' grin plastered face will thank me...guaranteed...just drive smart.

 

My '05 is a garage queen...........just buy yourself a Cetek battery conditioner and driver whenever the mood takes you

 

My 09 Shelby is somewhat of a garage queen. Just make sure you use a battery tender and use some Stabil in the tank to make sure moisture doesn't build up in the fuel system.

I do plan on driving mine more this year though. I hate to see it sit.

 

what those last two guys said. Get a battery tender. Under 30 bucks from sears or autozonne. the sears has a little bigger amp rating.


Drive that puppy for sure

 

+1 for cetek battery charger

Mine is also a garage queen. 4000 miles in 2 years

 

I drive mine usually on the weekends when I go out of town. I even bought winter tires so I can drive it while it's cold outside. I drive it a little during the week. I have a daily driver for that. Like BH and Dave said, drive it life is too short. If it's going to sit in a garage most of the time whats the sense in having it. Drive it. Also you don't want your seals and gaskets drying up on you.

 

This is what concerns me most. Thanks to all of you who mentioned the battery tender. That is a must-have for me.

Also, have to tell you, most of you are changing my mind! I might just turn this into a daily driver after all. I'm not one to show off every time I can, but I have no qualms about letting people know just exactly what I'm sitting behind the wheel of. Thanks for the responses guys. Really appreciated.

 

hey Tiger, it's not about showing off...it's about pure, raw pleasure...enjoying a phenominal vehicle that you worked hard to purchase. Looking forward to hearing all about your order and finally your car. Congratulations, early.

Btw, if you're planning to special order and don't know, all dealerships are not equal when it comes to ordering...many sales folks either don't know about or are silent about their particular dealerships allotment status for cars and this aspect of placing an order.

Basically, depending on their size and how many vehicles they move, they're only allotted a certain number of a particular vehicle that they can special order per quarter...do yourself a favor and don't let them give you the typically standard line of "8-10 weeks from order to delivery", or whatever.

Push them for the specifics of where your order falls into their allotment. You may very well have to involve the sales mgr for this info. Insist on it. If they don't satisfy you, talk to someone else, including another dealership.

 

Btw, thanks for the nod, Greg.

 

Thanks, Dave. As we speak, I'm in the process of getting a faxed, signed purchase order from the dealership. The guy told me up front that he knew he was getting at least the one, and based on his dealership's sales of previous mustangs he expected to get at least two more allotted to them but that the one they knew they were getting was going to me. I've been in touch with Jeff (05FordGT) through the whole process and he's keeping me straight. It's much appreciated.

 

Pleasure, and sounds great. Best of luck.

 

As I read through these posts, it made me think of the reasons for the lack of seeing the Boss 302's and Shelby's on the road. It's your choice to buy a vehicle and then admire it in your garage, but I don't understand. I'm having an absolute mid life blast driving my '11 Mustang! I haven't had this much enjoyment for some time. This is what it's all about folks. If you love cars, then buy 'em and drive 'em!

I'm pretty sure that in 10 years time, they won't be worth as much as folks may think; the classic car value thing tanked in the 90's. The person that buys any low mileage vehicle in the next few years will most likely be very happy with the fact that you sold them a low mileage super car for them to have fun with.

It's your money, be happy with what you do with it; me, I'm the one in the race red '11 Mustang grinning ear to ear on the highway, using it as my daily driver!

 

I am happy driving my GT only on nice weather days. Reason being is I gotta have it CLEAN and cannot enjoy driving it in the rain or on wet roads knowing its getting dirty. When I was in my '20's and my life centered around my car I didn't mind cleaning it every weekend or more often. As a father who is almost 50 i am much happier washing my car once per month, especially on winter. Lest we forget I gotta keep the family truckster clean for my wife too.

Not all of us work in places that have car-friendly parking areas either.

So to all of you haters out there, we who less frequently drive our Mustangs don't all necessarily do it for investment purposes. Speaking for myself I am simply happier driving my car on nice days and not worrying about it on foul weather days. I am still logging about 6k to 8k miles per year, so it's not like I am letting it collect dust.

EDIT (a few hours later): Wow, I went off like a curmudgeon above! Couldn't edit with my iPhone app after reconsidering my tone. Oh well, just wanted to voice another perspective, didn't really want to go labeling people. Sorry about that!

 

Too late, you win the boobie prize...btw, always been curious about your screen name.

 

I agree 100%.

 

Mine sits a lot but I drive it a lot too. I'm lucky enough to be able to take the train to work. Since 8/21/11 I've put on 1600 miles. That would be about 3900 a year but mind you I'm in NY and don't drive it in crappy weather. We havent had any snow yet so I have been driving it on nice days since there's no salt down.

Come the spring and they summer I will be putting much more miles on it.

 

Awesome.

My two children's first names each begin with E, just like their curmudgeonly Old Man.

 

And here I thought you were an EE, as in electrical engineer.

I go back and forth on this. I live in Texas and probably will for the foreseeable future, so driving weather is pretty much year-round. Another aspect of this is that I truly love the direction Ford went in since '05 in terms of design, and I'm just a little bit worried that the redesign in a year or two is going to take a more...well, for lack of a better word, camaro-like direction. I can't stand the way that car looks. If they do, I'm not nearly as likely to want to spend Shelby-level money on another one. As such, I tend to want to baby it more than is strictly necessary. The warranty won't last any longer if I shelter it a lot, so that isn't really a consideration, though wear/tear will be much lower if it's a once-a-week thing, obviously. I just don't know. Though I have a feeling that once I sit in that thing for the first time and turn the key, I just may find myself unable to resist.