Is it risky to buy 05 mustang this year?

[Rootus]

Are first year Mustangs always bad? The 94's didn't turn out badly. With all the effort Ford is putting into the new Mustang, I wouldn't be worried about buying an 05. What will make me wait is the probability of a special edition in my price range in 06.

Dave

 

[RICKS]

After the Focus intro debacle, and the '99 Cobra debacle, and the Escape intro debacle, Ford's been taking more time and dotting their I's and crossing their T's alot better. The new F150 reinforces that, they're ALL new with little-if-no issues. I think that was one of the undoings of Nasser, and one of the hot priorities to fix when Bill Ford took over. I think the '05 should be well-sorted by intro. But I think Ford's got an awful lot of enhancements and upgrades "in the well" "on the back-burner" that they'll roll out in annoyingly regular annual doses, meaning they'll be making each successive model year a bit better and a bit more exciting so that the public stays excited and pays attention, and so Mustangs stay plastered on the covers of all the big auto mags year after year. Which means you blow your savings on an '05, only to go "DOH!!!" when the '06 comes out. So you bite the bullet, say "bye-bye" to thousands in depreciation and get your niftier '06, only for the '07 Boss to come out, and you again say "DOH, DOH, DOH, DAMMITT!!" and trade your '06 in on the '07, again losing your a$$, and so-on. Our fathers all had the same issues and were trading-up willy-nilly in the 60's with every new Mustang that came down the chute. I want an '05, but I'm going to try and hold back and keep my ear to the ground on upcoming special models so that I don't get that "I shoulda waited" feeling no sooner than pulling out of the dealer's lot.

 

[shatner saves]

After the Focus intro debacle, and the '99 Cobra debacle, and the Escape intro debacle, Ford's been taking more time and dotting their I's and crossing their T's alot better. The new F150 reinforces that, they're ALL new with little-if-no issues. I think that was one of the undoings of Nasser, and one of the hot priorities to fix when Bill Ford took over. I think the '05 should be well-sorted by intro. But I think Ford's got an awful lot of enhancements and upgrades "in the well" "on the back-burner" that they'll roll out in annoyingly regular annual doses, meaning they'll be making each successive model year a bit better and a bit more exciting so that the public stays excited and pays attention, and so Mustangs stay plastered on the covers of all the big auto mags year after year. Which means you blow your savings on an '05, only to go "DOH!!!" when the '06 comes out. So you bite the bullet, say "bye-bye" to thousands in depreciation and get your niftier '06, only for the '07 Boss to come out, and you again say "DOH, DOH, DOH, DAMMITT!!" and trade your '06 in on the '07, again losing your a$$, and so-on. Our fathers all had the same issues and were trading-up willy-nilly in the 60's with every new Mustang that came down the chute. I want an '05, but I'm going to try and hold back and keep my ear to the ground on upcoming special models so that I don't get that "I shoulda waited" feeling no sooner than pulling out of the dealer's lot.

Clever how they do that, isn't it?

It's probably a bit early to know if there are any chronic reliabilty issues with the new F series tuck. On the face of it though, it's a hella-NICE! If the interior on the '05 'Stang is one tenth as good as that thing...

 

[spanky442]

Its too bad, but most American cars are risky to buy. They usually drag out a design until for as long as possible. IE. Fox Body Mustang, Chevy Cavaliar.

 

[VOORHEES]

I have never intended to buy a first year run or changeover car, but it has always worked out that way. For example, I bought a 94 GT in 1996. It was a fine car, never gave me any trouble. I then traded it in along with an Explorer(due to divorce) in on the 1999 I have now. Still, no major problems with it either. I expect the '05 to have a couple of small problems early on, but what car doesn't? Look at the current Corvette recalls as of late. Small problems are forgiveable.
-Jason

 

[edman1000]

Don't Chu worry mang

Guys, seriously I work for Ford and up until a few months ago, I was a launch engineer. Ford has been going through painstakingly high measures of quality control and testing on these upcoming model launches. There has already been over a thousand of these cars built and are undergoing extensive durability testing right now as we speak. We (sorry) Ford can not undergo another farsed up launch, especially with this vehicle. It's too inportant! You would not understand the amount of testing and crap that has to be done on these. Bill Ford is doing an excellent job of turning this company back to where it should be after nasser had us squeezing nickels out of every bolt! My order is already in, I've been waiting for this car since I saw it in clay two years ago.

 

[spanky442]

I'm still waiting a year or so until all the hype dies down at least.

 

[stangmi]

Guys, seriously I work for Ford and up until a few months ago, I was a launch engineer. Ford has been going through painstakingly high measures of quality control and testing on these upcoming model launches. There has already been over a thousand of these cars built and are undergoing extensive durability testing right now as we speak. We (sorry) Ford can not undergo another farsed up launch, especially with this vehicle. It's too inportant! You would not understand the amount of testing and crap that has to be done on these. Bill Ford is doing an excellent job of turning this company back to where it should be after nasser had us squeezing nickels out of every bolt! My order is already in, I've been waiting for this car since I saw it in clay two years ago.

Your order is already in?? When are you expecting to get it?

 

[vrpirata]

Guys, seriously I work for Ford and up until a few months ago, I was a launch engineer. Ford has been going through painstakingly high measures of quality control and testing on these upcoming model launches. There has already been over a thousand of these cars built and are undergoing extensive durability testing right now as we speak. We (sorry) Ford can not undergo another farsed up launch, especially with this vehicle. It's too inportant! You would not understand the amount of testing and crap that has to be done on these. Bill Ford is doing an excellent job of turning this company back to where it should be after nasser had us squeezing nickels out of every bolt! My order is already in, I've been waiting for this car since I saw it in clay two years ago.

We (costumers) want great products with great quality, if Ford cant do it then there are many other brands willing to do it and doing it already.

I'm sure you guys at Ford can do it!!!, but first you have to prove it to the world outside, then costumers will come back and market share will grow, but only with costumer satisfaction.

I have been a loyal Ford costumer, Im publicity for Ford because I always encourage people around me to buy Ford products instead of Toyota/Honda products, and sometimes is hard to convince somebody when the word quality is mention.

I'll buy the new Mustang, but I'll wait until the 06 model, if quality is good then I'll be in the dealer looking for the 06, but if quality is not that good I might consider something else (Infinity G35 looks good).

 

[Ray III]

What's so funny, Ray? Safety isn't important to you? (Safety is not airbags and seatbelts.... it is avoiding the wreck in the first place.)

It's funny because I have always been beating on FWD cars as being dangerous in low traction situations and all the commercials and people in general still insist that it's superior and now someone finally agrees with me

wrong wheel drive

 

[65conv50]

It's funny because I have always been beating on FWD cars as being dangerous in low traction situations and all the commercials and people in general still insist that it's superior and now someone finally agrees with me

wrong wheel drive

It is a fact. I used to live in the high Tennessee mountains, and you can't give away a FWD car there, because they get 5 to 6 feet of snow a year. My clerk had to back her FWD car to get up her driveway in the winter!!! I've also watched too many FWDs going round and round in the rain.

FWD is OK on flat ground, as the weight over the wheels helps. But when you ask 2 wheels to do both moving and steering, you have less traction for each. Gets to be a real problem when you start uphill and the weight shifts to the rear.

In a RWD, you control the front wheels with steering and brakes, and control the rear wheels with the throttle. In FWD, the throttle goes to the front, so you have NO control over rear wheels. (That makes for a REAL problem if you drop a wheel off the pavement at high speed.)

I'll stick with correct wheel drive, thankee!!

 

[Reimann]

I disagree. I have had a number of Ford products over the years. Never had a serious problem with ANY of them that I bought new. And I tend to keep a car I like for 175,000 to 200,000 miles. Of course, being a Safety Engineer, I avoid front wheel drive products.

Actually, I should say all Fords are problomatic. My parents just a couple months ago traded in their '93 Ford Escort that they bought brand new. They had only 2 problems with it the whole time they had it and the last problem is why they got rid of it. Whereas my Mustang as been back to the dealership three times in the not-quite-a-year that I've had it.

 

[IWantMyNewGT]

Guys, seriously I work for Ford and up until a few months ago, I was a launch engineer. Ford has been going through painstakingly high measures of quality control and testing on these upcoming model launches. There has already been over a thousand of these cars built and are undergoing extensive durability testing right now as we speak. We (sorry) Ford can not undergo another farsed up launch, especially with this vehicle. It's too inportant! You would not understand the amount of testing and crap that has to be done on these. Bill Ford is doing an excellent job of turning this company back to where it should be after nasser had us squeezing nickels out of every bolt! My order is already in, I've been waiting for this car since I saw it in clay two years ago.

This is good to hear. I purchased one of the first Fox-bodied '79s built and it was a complete POS (before you guys think that I must be 102 years old by now, let me add that I was only 19 at the time!). I have been hesitant to buy a first-year car ever since. You may have changed my mind.

 

[blown96bird]

buying a 05

As a first model year car, I was wondering how many bugs 05 Mustang will have.

I would wait till the 06 came out. 1 so that the bugs can be reduced 2. so that the demand is a little less and dealers are not charging over sticker. I would have bought a bettle but the sob dealer wanted to mark them up 2500 over sticker and would not come down so f*** them I would not buy a car from them if they were giving them away.

 

[65conv50]

I would wait till the 06 came out. 1 so that the bugs can be reduced 2. so that the demand is a little less and dealers are not charging over sticker. I would have bought a bettle but the sob dealer wanted to mark them up 2500 over sticker and would not come down so f*** them I would not buy a car from them if they were giving them away.

I agree on that one. I will NOT pay sticker on a car, never more than sticker. That is just ridiculous. The Saturn is a good car in general (certainly not an enthusiasts car, but good for what GM designed it to be), but not so good that it is worth sticker when better cars can be bought for the same $$.

I have found that buying a new car and maintaining it properly (like 99% of people do not do - and I'm not talking about hard driving), costs me LESS in the long run. That is my justification for buying new. I know the car is broken in properly and maintained properly. Something you never know when buying a used one.

 

[TrueBlueCajun]

The only reason for not buying a new platform car/truck would be from dealers hike on the price. Warranty coverage will take care of everything else.