Given Ford's track record with launching new models in the last few years do you think it would be wise to wait 6, 8 maybe 12 month's to buy a new Mustang? Look at the most recent product launches. Countour - enough said. Focus in 2000 - several recalls. New Explorer - couple recalls. Thunderbird - Delayed release. Escape. Only trouble free release I know of is the new F150 and I'm not even positive that went smoothly. Granted most if not all problems are solved. It just seems that the smart thing to do is let the first year cars come out and wait for the 2nd year car production to start. That way the initial bugs and issues that inevitably pop up with new chassis are solved.
Hmmm, with those two examples, seems like you may have to buy one quick, before they go out of production. lol Seriously, topic has been covered before. Quality is better at launch, but yes, there is still a risk with getting the first of anything. Trade off the "first kid on the block" joy against the "hmm, were are those mid-year fixes". Personal risk tollerance and choice.
The Contour was a major downfall in product planning. They were nowhere near ready to start producing those cars at JOB 1 time. It really sucked. The really sad part about it was that I really neaded a car in that size class at the time and liked the SVT version. The Focus had some problems due to the move from European to the U.S. All of the little changes required for the U.S market created some issues, but they were sorted out fairly quickly. From all accounts, the Focus has turned out to be a pretty good car. Thunderbird... no excuses for any issues with that car. It is based on a good existing design, the Lincoln LS/Jaguar S and is expensive enough to warrant superior attention to detail. IMHO, It should have had no quality issues, less chassis flex, and waaaaaaaaaaaaay more power.
The countour came from Europe too. It was simply a POS electrically. My father's dealership did warrenty recall work for customers with 2, 3 and even 4 recalls being performed at the same time. They are junk. Totally agree about the T-Bird. And yeah the Focus is, by all accounts, a great little car now. Hopefully the new '05 Mustang release is resonably trouble free.
Yes you should all wait. See the thing is I want to buy one before next year. And since all dealers apparently have small allocations. This means that I may have to wait. So the more people who don't buy one immediately. The better the chances of the one I want being available. I'll take the risk for everyone who fears buying a new car.
You are also forgetting the Windstar. One of the most unreliable new vehicles EVER launched..........recalls galore on that one.
Wayyyy more power and the option of a manual transmission... for those of us who can drive. I was amazed at how wimpy it was when I drove one. Turned me off immediately, even though the styling is great.
I'm with you on that! I have preordered Stangs twice in my life, a 94 and a 99, now the third time with the 2005. Knock on some synthetic material claiming to be woods of the forest, I have had no problems... zippo. Ironically though, I power leased a 2004 Mystichrome Cobra Vert about 6-7 weeks ago. I mentioned to some people on here that I was having electrical problems. Here's an update: I no longer have the car. Where is it you ask? It's being dismantled as I understand it. Replaced the computer 4 times and they kept blowing. Car had electrical problems galour. The last time the dealer had it, I stopped in to see what was happening and they had the entire dashboard and front interior out, rewiring and what not. I said, "Ummm... I don't want that car back now. It'll never be the same." Looked like a spaghetti mess. They let me out of the lease and I got every penny back; even tax & title fees. The dealer left the car like that and it was shipped back to Ford. I have no idea what they will do with it. I was pretty bummed but one good thing I got out of it: If you power lease a 2004 SVT product, you get first dibs, priority position, for the next SVT of your choice. I got to keep the certificate they gave me entitling me to that priviledge. Can we say 2007 Cobra?
me personally i would wait 3 yrs from now to get a new stang that way the aftermarket stuff is already ready for me and ford has also done all their new options by then...and hey the cobras might be out by then too
Well since I decided to move, I won't be getting an 05 for a while, so I guess I won't have to worry about any first-year problems, but I also won't have a brand spankin new stang, oh well, not much I can do about it!
Electrical issues really should not happen considering every part of a modern harness is dummy proofed with non-interchangeable plugs and one way connections. That sucks. Yeah. I have to agree a manual tranny and more engine was really needed in the T-bird.
Out of the 6 or 7 weeks I had the car, I drove it 4 times. 2 of the four it died while I was away from home. Tow Truck & taxi time. They just couldn;t figure it out. All my gauges would pin to the max and then no more. CPU dead. They couldn;t figure out why the cpu kept going. They even tried diengaging the supercharger or components of it. Not sure. But, oh well. I'm sure this happens every so often, it just gets caught at the factory instead of my driveway. For the record, I still think the SVT is an excellent product. Bottom line: out of god-only-knows how many thousands of stangs, this is bound to happen and perfectly acceptable. Esepcially the way the treated me through it all and made good. Kudos to Ford service. They would have replaced the car but – alas! – there were no more Mystichrome verts left.
At least not in your state. I think there are one or two still haging around here in washington state. Dealers are asking about $44k msrp for them plus another $5k over msrp. I don't think I have seen a vert cheaper than $48k
Really? Very interesting... had I know that I would have made them get me one of them... I mean, after all, they were obligated to replace the car under lemon law at that point.
