Should I buy a new Mustang?

[dread pirate jimbo]

I've been getting around for about 9 years now in a 1999 Toyota Tercel. It has been an excellent little car, getting terrific mileage and running as well now as it did when I first bought it. However, it's now logged over 211,500 km (roughly 131,400 miles) and, frankly, I've had enough of driving something with less than 100 horsepower under the hood. After extensive research of the entry-level sportscar market, it has come to my attention that there aren't a lot of options available anymore. I remember a time when I could be looking at the Toyota Celica and MR2, a Pontiac Fiero, the Honda CRX, and a couple other quick little fun cars as well, but apparently the market has almost ceased to exist. Annoying.

The good news is that the entry-level Ford Mustang in its current form is badass (300 hp in the V6) AND has surprisingly good mileage (better than 30 mpg on the highway), making it relatively economical during this time of crazy high fuel prices, all for a price tag under $25 K. Also, I've been quite a bit of a Mustang fan prety much since I discovered cars as a kid. The reviews and ratings on the car have been nothing short of superlative for several years, so it feels like the right time to try a domestic car again.

Here's the catch: Word is that there is a problem with the manual trasmission that can make it difficult or impossible to shift to 2nd or 3rd gears which Ford has been aware of for at least a year and has done little that I can find to address or even acknowledge the problem. I'm still doing some homework to see if this is a common problem or just much ado about nothing.

Anyway, the question I'm struggling with is do I go out and spend a bunch of dough on a car with a known tranny flaw in the hopes that I don't encounter it or do I just go to Hyundai and buy me a Genesis Coupe with a third less horsepower, a smaller, less comfortable cockpit, and no major tranny flaws that I'm aware of for about the same price? Advice please!

[Sarahfeena]

Until I saw the stuff about the bad transmission I was like, hell yes. Not sure now, but don't let anything else stop you. I just finally talked my husband into buying his dream car...if you can do it, do it...especially if you're like him and have always been practical and held onto cars forever (which it sounds like you are). Life's too short.

[Oliveloaf]

If your only concern is the shifter, I would buy the sucker. I love the new Mustang. I've driven maybe half a dozen of the suckers and really enjoy them. The new base V6 is a honey, a little snarky sounding, but strong.

The shifter problem you've described is fairly rare as far as I can tell, and mostly limited to the V8-powered GT.

Also, it seems to be just a cold-start problem, and it goes away as the affected cars warm up.

Regardless, Ford will develop a fix, and you'll have three years of warranty time to get the trans fixed.

Buy the sucker.

[dread pirate jimbo]

Doing a mess of reading on a Mustang forum, the problem seems to be with the MT82 transmission on both the V6 and GT models and the problems really begin after about 1000 miles on the car. The balkiness in the cold is a concern for me since it is frequently cold up here in Canadia. However, yeah, if its a rare issue, I'm still leaning towards taking a shot at it. Good to hear that they're a nice drive.

I got to rent an '08 GT for a day and took a 3-hour drive to another city for work -- very fun on the highway! I also did a test drive of a V6 model in the winter of 2010 and it behaved very well on the snow, which I was impressed by. I've heard nothing but good about the newer engines, so I'm keen to see what's what. It's really just this transmission issue that concerns me

[Oliveloaf]

Doing a mess of reading on a Mustang forum...

Mustang fans, like Jeep and VW fans, are crazy.

You'll find posters there that know more about the cars than most of the engineers on the original design team. I love the web.

[Orual]

Vroom. Car go vroooom.

(Seriously, dude. It's not my dream car, but if it's yours and you can afford it without selling your house and inheriting 10,000 shares of Exxon - get it.)

[What Exit?]

A few questions;
What is your commute like? Miles, type of road
Are you the main weekend driver?

It appears you average < 15k miles per year so looking at a Hybrid is not a high priorty as gas keeps climbing but possibly a concern. The Fusion & Prius are great options.

Overall I would say go for it. I seriously thought about the Mustang myself.

[dread pirate jimbo]

A few questions;
What is your commute like? Miles, type of road
Are you the main weekend driver?

It appears you average < 15k miles per year so looking at a Hybrid is not a high priorty as gas keeps climbing but possibly a concern. The Fusion & Prius are great options.

Overall I would say go for it. I seriously thought about the Mustang myself.

To answer your questions:

What is your commute like? Miles, type of road -- At this exact moment, I'm doing about a 50 km (27 mile) round trip for work, but that is about to get cut by more than half in a couple weeks. I also use the car for getting to and from coaching baseball and whatever other activites I'm participating in at the time. It's all on city roads, so no issues there. All in all, I will typically put in around 1000-1500 km per month, so you're correct about the per year mileage I'm doing.

Are you the main weekend driver? -- I am the main weekend driver, but we generally take my wife's Corolla if the two of us are going anywhere, as it is also very good on fuel and also quite a bit more roomy than the Tercel. That might change with the new car, though, particularly for weekend trips to the mountains where travelling at 90 mph might be more fun.

I got a couple Fusions as rentals for work a couple years ago and I thought it was a nice ride. It just isn't quite doing it for me. Neither is the Prius. If Toyota ever gets off its hands and decides to build the hybrid FT-HS, I'll be taking a close look at that though...

[What Exit?]

So go for it. Have fun, I bought the Prius as I do around 20K per year and got it for around $22,000. The Mustang will be fun and your miles just aren't as bad. The price is pretty reasonable.

[dread pirate jimbo]

Vroom. Car go vroooom.

(Seriously, dude. It's not my dream car, but if it's yours and you can afford it without selling your house and inheriting 10,000 shares of Exxon - get it.)

This would actually be number 2 on my dream car list behind the Ferrari 328 GTSi, which is, without a doubt, the most beautifullest car ever created, but that's about $50 grand out of my price range. But the 'Stang is awfully sweet.

So go for it. Have fun, I bought the Prius as I do around 20K per year and got it for around $22,000. The Mustang will be fun and your miles just aren't as bad. The price is pretty reasonable.

The Mustang will be fun if it doesn't spend weeks at a time in shop getting new, but equally crappy, transmissions put in it. I'm still leaning that way though...

Thanks again for everyone's input!

[dread pirate jimbo]

Update: I bought my new, dark blue baby on Monday. It is sweeeeeeeet!

[CatInASuit]

Are there pics of said car, just for the sake of showing off to the rest of us?

[rotheche]

I was reading this and not realising it was back a bit. But I was going to say 'go for it'. Last November, I bought my dream car - an MX-5 - and I adore it. There's a lot to be said for owning a car you love to drive if you spend a lot of time in it. I do 60k to and from work per day, about half highway and half in town, and it's a delight.

[What Exit?]

Update: I bought my new, dark blue baby on Monday. It is sweeeeeeeet!

Congrats. Keep us posted on it and hey, post some more while you're at it.

[Orual]

Update: I bought my new, dark blue baby on Monday. It is sweeeeeeeet!

VRROOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

[Glazer]

Pics.

[dread pirate jimbo]

I'm up over 2600 km on the car now (1600+ miles) with no issues, aside from it being AWESOME. No troubles with the tranny, rides nice and smooth, hugs the corners, and goes like stink. My most pleasant surprise so far is how small the turning radius is -- the 'Stang turns tighter than my little old Tercel, which is impressive for a car that much bigger. Aside from a couple little nitpicks, this has been nothing but an excellent purchase, one month in.

[CatInASuit]

Sweet, nice car and good to hear its working out.

[Orual]

Oh, your car is pretty.

[What Exit?]

It looks great.

How's everything else going?

[Sarahfeena]

Love the color...those mustangs are sweet looking cars.

[dread pirate jimbo]

The colour, Kona Blue, is basically a metallic navy blue, which looks really, really sharp in the sunlight. Still, I was very tempted to go for Grabber Blue instead, which is a really eye-catching colour about halfway between royal and baby blue. Anyway, it has been super fun so far -- at some point, I think it will actually sink in that this is my car and not just a summer toy.

What Jim, things beyond that have been extremely hectic, but decent. The ball season is now over, so I at least have my evenings back for the rest of the summer, so things are finally easing up a bit. Yay!

[Sarahfeena]

I like the darker blue, it' s more striking...good choice!

[Oliveloaf]

Grabber Blue rocks, but you would have grown tired of it.

[RabbitMage]

That's about the same color as my old Scion, and close to the color of my brother's Fit.

...we like blue cars.

[dread pirate jimbo]

Grabber Blue rocks, but you would have grown tired of it.

I dunno... I'm pretty easily distracted by bright, shiny objects!

That's about the same color as my old Scion, and close to the color of my brother's Fit.

...we like blue cars.

My old Tercel was navy blue as well. The new car's blue is very close, but with the metallic finish has a little extra zing. Mmmmmmmm... shiny.

[RabbitMage]

Every car I've owned has been blue.

The truck I had is not a car, and does not count against me.

[dread pirate jimbo]

This is actually only the second blue car I've owned, althoug blue is my favourite colour. My first car was a grey 1985 Dodge Charger. Piece of crap, but got me around town for a couple years. When the front axle snapped, a traded it in for a red 1995 Plymouth Neon EX. Very fun to drive, cornered great, and then, just before the lease expired, every single seal in the engine failed, one after the next. Goddamn Chrysler and their shit products that they knew were defective and didn't bother telling anyone... But I digress. Anyway, my next car after that was the Tercel, followed by my Mustang, both dark blue.