GM guy here, thinking of a '05, I don't know though, knowing of ford quality....

Alright, a little about myself, I live in Michigan, mostly a GM fan. I'm restoring a 1984 Pontiac Fiero SE, 2.8 v6 (converted from a 4 banger, also for those who don't know, the fiero was the only mass produced mid-engined sports car by a domestic manufacturer) I also own a 1993 Pontiac Grand Prix SE, my dad owns a 1998 Chevy prizm (Toyota), and a 98 Chevy Metro (Suzuki). Your probably wondering why I'm here. Well first off, I really like the '05 Mustang, the 99-04's are ok, but I don't really like them. My dad use to own several ford's but gave up on them so to speak, litterally started to fall apart, all of them. 1988 Ford Ranger 2.9 (Blew the engine, after putting Restore into it), 1991 Ford Ranger 4 x 4, day after he bought it, $1500 worth of work, 1992 Mercury Topaz (started falling apart, a/c compressor, power steering rack, etc. etc.) Then I got a 1986 Ford ranger 4 x 4 with 110,000 miles for free, but it was rotted out, and a lot of cancer, sold it for $300 after putting brake lines into it. I've also owned 2 other Fiero's, one was a 1985 GT, a lot of problems, kept eating belts, another was a parts car, and was stripped, and the frame was sent to the yard. Now we've had a lot of cars. But every Ford we've owned in the past was horrible, just horrible. I don't know if it's just my father convincing me or what, or if GM and Ford's share the same quality of being crap. I want to get a 2005 Mustang, but I've seen people posting on other forums how their ford cars have litterally fallen apart. If I get a mustang, I don't want it falling apart, I want it to survive, you know. I know of friends with 5 year old ford's, falling apart now, but I also have a diehard ford friend, that never has any problems with any of his ford cars, other than a few parts here and there. The I think of ford's automatic transmissions and shudder. I want to believe in Ford, and I want a 2005, but don't want crap. I really would like to know if everyone here, ever has any problems with their ford's in general. The mustang is a beautiful car. I'll also be turning 18 when the new ones start coming off the assembly line, any chance of me being able to afford a GT? I have a sucky job right now, but only because of child labor laws in Michigan. I could probably get a job working $10 an hour *maybe* when I'm 18, I'd have to work 40 hours a week though, unsure if I could finance though, my father has great credit, I have none, and he won't co-sign. This is a wonderful forum. Anyone wanting to check out the pontiac fiero forums click on this link www.fiero.nl/forum

Thanks, for my rant/introduction

they brainwash em well, dont they?

LOL...let me just say it like this. I owned other vehicles and was always told "fords are crap", "ford has the worst quality vehicles on the market". Now I own a ford and have to say its the best quality vehicle for the price i've ever owned.

kirkyg

as for affording it...doubful, unless your dad wants to help you with payments too. $20k financed is almost $400 a month - a fact which is starting to bring me to the realization that unless I get a nice raise this year, I won't be able to afford an 05 either.

as for quality, I complain about my car falling apart but its not. 17 years old, not rusted, not falling apart. just parts here and there. my dad has an 83 F100 (yes, 100, not 150) that he's driven well over 180k miles and he's only fixed a few things..new radiator, rebuilt carb, and new power steering pump....that's IT. of course my parents Aerostar blew chunks, but it was an aerostar ffs.

do it... if you can

I have never had a problem with any of my Ford vehicles. I used to have a Ranger and I loved it. It was the most reliable thing I have had until I got my Saturn. My Mustang has also never left me high and dry. I have had to replace a few things on it but I attribute that to being 13 years old and having nearly 100k miles on it. I think it is all in how the car is cared for. I have had 2 Cavaliers, a Beretta, and a Celebrity and none of them ever game me much trouble either. My cousin on the other hand owned an almost identical Beretta and it broke down all the time. 1 egine 1 transmission and about a million other things later he finally went foreign. But even that car is giving him problems. I think he just doesn't take good care of his vehicles. He had a Civic at one point and that thing was deemed a POS. Civics have one of the best reliability track records ever. Maybe its just bad luck but I doubt it. Point is, if you take care of your car and don't beat the **** out of it every chance you get, it should last a long time.

also a friend of mine is really into Fieros too. I never understood the attraction until we took a spin in it. He is all about the twisties and that car had me begging for a 5 point restraint. They are definately fun little cars.

Wait, are you sure it's an '83, or was this a typo? I seem to remember they did away with the F-100 in model year 1975 or so, and that was to keep it above a certain GVW so it didn't require emission stuff, my dad leased a '75 and that was the first F-150 I remember.

I guess it could be hit or miss on the cars, some good, some bad. My grand prix since I got it this september has had some small problems (101k miles now), had to upgrade the rear brakes to the newer style 94's-newer because gm screwed up and made the rear calipers too small on the older w-bodies, and they would fry after 20,000 miles. Door handle broke, it has a front end shake now, but I think its uneven tires that need to be rotated. Other than that, its been pretty good. Like Isaid, I just want to believe that ford can be good. A 25,000 05 would be around $420 a month (if its 25 g's). Of course insurance for me, $200 a month probably.

I live in a family that has tons of Fords and I know of only one that had problems. For example my mom has a 93 Crown Vic still running strong after 170k(I think it's high as hell though) and an 02 Grand Marquis that runs like a dream. My dad has a 99 F-150 crew cab. Good interior strong engine and nice styling I ask him every time I see him when he's gonna let me have it. Now my run ins with other American car companies....not so good. For example my first car a Dodge 600 was such a giant POS the door would fly open when you took a sharp curve and the car was only like 8 years old at the time. And my dad's old Trailblazer....MAN that thing was a POS.

Well here's my history with Fords:
Current cars:
1990 5.0 5spd with 420,000 miles (No joke, and it doesn't burn more than a quart of oil between oil changes) on all original running gear (Bought new) runs great
1990 5.0 AOD with 230,000 bought used last year, runs great- trany needs a little attention though.
1994 Bronco 195,000 miles bought used 3 years ago runs great, only problem evere has been with rear electric window switch.
Cars I had:
'79 Mustang (first car) 200 straight six- gutless but reliable and good on gas, wish I had never sold it!, 1984 T-Bird 3.8 V6 Smooth ride, great handling (lots of suspension upgrades), too bad the oil pan didn't have a baffle because with cornering that good the engine took a lot of abuse loosing oil pressure - ended up replacing cam and lifter and selling it needing a rebuild with 175,000 miles on it.

Not to bash GM, but my parents have had several GM's, most were POS cars. '79 Camaro- trans failed at 55,000, '82 Camaro Trans went out 3 times in 60,000 miles- finaly sold it when the rear axle started howling and the exaust manifolds were cracked also, '84 Cavalier 'nuf said, 1998 Buick with all of 16,000 mile to this day and and has been into the shop 3 times for service to several electrical problems.. They did own a couple of good ones, a 1964 SS Chevelle (Never saw it myself, but was told it was a great car) and a 1970 Nova SS. In all honesty I love older GM cars, but you couldn't give me a new one.

My Friends 88 Firebird Just threw the crank at 130,00 miles. Had to drag it back to his house with our F-250 Diesel (Oh yes it was fun) while the wheels were locked due to the trans also being destroyed, at least it did a mile and 1/2 burnout and left blackmarks as I draged it .

Ford vehicles are the balls. I own TWO (2) Mustangs and I LOVE them. If you are afraid of your Ford breaking down, I suggest that you buy an extended 7 Year/100,000 Mile Warranty. That's what I did. Why is it that I am the ONLY one in here that thinks about these things? Dah?

I just bought the Ford Premium Care 7 Year/100,000 Mile Extended Warranty for my 2001 Mustang GT. The extended warranty is the answer to your dilemma. If anything breaks, Ford will fix it and you will not have to worry about anything. Buy the extended warranty. You might or might not need it. It will alleviate all the anxiety and negative thoughts that you currently have about the Ford Mustang.

I have had my 1995 Mustang V6 since it had 40km on it. I now have almost 170,000km on the car and I have changed the oil, fan belts a couple times, fuel filter, couple hoses, brake pads, rotors and a timing cover gasket. I have spent so little money on the car it is insane. I paid 17,000 CDN for it brand new. I have gotten my money out of the car and more. It also runs almost as good as the day I bought it.

It's nice to hear that Legatt. I also want to get the most out of my two (2) Mustangs that I currently own. That's why I've bought the extended waranty on one of them. I am also thinking about buying it for my other 2nd Mustang vehicle by late fall of 2004 before my 3 year/36,000 mile factory warranty runs out.

This way, I can try to hold on to both of my Mustangs for a longer period of time and still put lots of miles on them without having to worry about big repair bills.

There was a fruitcake that I once had as a tenant in one of my properties who owned a 1992 Mustang LX 4 cylinder 5 speed hatchback. He bought the car with only 30,000 miles on it and he put another 335,000 miles on this car. His Mustang had a total of 365,000 miles on it with the ORIGINAL engine and ORIGINAL transmission STILL in it when he traded it in for another car. He ALWAYS maintained this car and always changed the oil in it every 3,000 miles. He NEVER had to rebuild the engine or the transmission. The only thing which he had a problem with at 365,000 miles was that the car was burning some oil every 1,000 miles or so. The body of the car was still in good shape with some small rust/rot spots on the lower door panels and on the lower rear and lower front quarter panels. The car was driven in New England its entire life and the goober who owned it also travelled and drove it up and down the whole east coast putting all those miles on it. So, I would definitely say that a Ford Mustang WILL LAST to around 400,000 miles if you take care of it and change the oil in it every 3,000 miles.

I have to add...

FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE and DROVE THE CAR...

1983 Ford Thunderbird V6, 3.8ltr engine.

400,000miles. It was bought used 1yr later in '84.

It only went thru one transmission, and rebuilt carb and routine maintainence like rotor,cap and wires. NEVER BURNT OIL BETWEEN OIL CHANGES.

This was ORIGINAL ENGINE!

I could not believe it, but I was with the car for 3 years(since I met the nut that owns it, my girlfriends father). Anyhow the car was junked 3months ago in favor for room for a 95 V6 Mustang for his son.

I kinda wish he hadent junked it, would have made a great 5.0 sleeper for sure.

Also, I too love FIEROS... but dont feel too comfortable driving them at high speeds... their plastic panels dont do much for me in my mind for safety.

I know exactly what you are saying GM dude, except my problem isn't quality. I know any car properly maintained will last a long time unless it is an actual lemon. My concern is the amount of them on the road, I can drive 3 blocks and see 5 Mustangs.

I have owed 23 cars in my life, 18 were GM, 3 were Fords, 1 Toyota and 1 Subaru. My attraction to the 2005 Mustang is it looks so much like my very first car, which was a 68 Mustang coupe. I loved that car and wish I still had it. It was in storage at my dads while being restored and my dad made me sell it or park it somewhere else when I moved away to another province.

Anyway, I really want a 2005 Convertible bad. My big decision is do I jump off my GM wagon and go to Ford or wait for GM to smarten up and start pricing their cars more comparatively to it's biggest competitor, Ford. Two years ago I almost bought a GT convertible but my wife convinced to get something else. Now that something else has only 6500 miles on it, I don't drive it because it doesn't excite me. I am thinking, should I dump it and wait for the Mustang...I may just do that cuz it looks awesome.

I am sure pretty much every car company out there has had problems with their vehicles at some point. It bothers me to no end how people say "Fords/Chevs/whatever suck because we used to have one and it always needed repairs" Like today for instance, I was reading the new Motortrend on the 05 stang, and this girl comes up to me "ewww why are you reading about Mustangs, they suck. Fords suck, we used to have one and it was a piece of junk" well the vehicles her family own are NOT well looked after, it wouldn't surprise me if it was your own fault that the vehicle you had was crappy! Granted there are some lemons out there that seem to be unavoiodable, but I mostly believe that if you treat your car well, it will treat you good in return

If you are worried about the quality of the new stang, and since you said you will only be 18 when it is released, why not wait a few years? Then you will get a chance to see how they fair. and you won't have to worry about sinking your hard-earned money into something you may not be fully confident in.

I wish I was in a position to get one of the new stangs, I think they're killer! Unfortunately I will be in college at the time; I just can't justify getting a brand new one

Ehh, there are A LOT of exclusions to it. Also, forget doing any mods then. See you in six years.

I have been involved with cars on a detailed level for 20 years now. Im a degreed auto tech and previously ASE Master Recertified. I KNOW what works and what doesnt, whats breaks and what doesnt.

The only Ford that breaks is the abused or neglected one.

Have no fear, step into the light.

I'm surprised to hear that about the Rangers. My Dad has an 85 Ranger, with 198,000 miles on it, and besides the usual stuff (oil, tires, brake pads) he's only put two mufflers, and a water pump on it. He says it's the best truck he's ever had.

Also my Dad works with a guy that has a Bronco II that has over 300,000 miles on it, and the guy only has good things to say about it.

I used to have an 81 F-150, and the only things I had to get for it was a brake drum, and a new carb. It always got me where I was going though. *sniff* I miss that truck.

So far the only thing I had to do to my 97 Mustang is put on a new water pump gasket.