Consumer Reports Crappy 15 Mustang Reliability

[jdub.csu]

I race mine with no issues at all... well gear lockout but thats only when its hot and I run too long of a session

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[F0J]

And you know this to be true . . . exactly how?


Norm

Sorry Norm but I can't recall.

I'm sick and tired of buying crap so I do an unhealthy amount of research about the things that I buy. My mom takes Consumer Reports pretty seriously and there were a few occasions where I just couldn't reconcile what I found with what CR recommended. Not so long ago, I did some digging to figure out how they tick and I found some bits of information, like that one, that led me to believe they weren't really "unconstrained ... by commercial influences". Even non-profit businesses have bills to pay.

It's not hard to see that they "change the parameters" of their research to push a narrative.

 

[Vitamin E]

Earlier this year I picked up a CR doing some new car research. According to them practically every car sucks.

 

[Genxer]

I must be "lucky" too. Literally the only real problem I've had is Sync acted up exactly one time and I reset it. It's gone through a software revision since then anyway. There are a few very minor cosmetic issues, but nothing to keep me up at night. So far so good, but it has big shoes to fill. I still own my last new car which is a Honda with 275k. I think CR pooped on that car too for quality issues. None experienced.

 

[Echo4papa]

I had a 2015 GT Premium Vert... AC issue and the back up camera both had to be replaced but those were the only issues I had and I was out of pocket $100 for that repair. So far so good with the 2019.

 

[pmr2000]

You can probably say the same about JD Powers and any other reliability reports. CR says they buy the cars they review and are non-profit. They get a big enough sample on repairs to show a trend.

The summary rankings might be skewed like JD Power due to technology weighting however the CR audience is non-enthusiast and do care about that stuff.

I find CR useful for categories like brakes, trans when shopping for older cars they are not all knowing however any additional data they have is useful.

 

[Norm Peterson]

^^^ so basically, CR amounts to just one data point among several. Sounds about right.


Norm

 

[CrazedAntelope]

I didn't read the consumer reports or the whole thread but I just wanted to say my 2015 was far from perfect.

Here is the list of issues I've had that I can recall.

• Upon delivery, there was a paint defect in the front fender. Entire fender had to be resprayed
  
• Waviness and light distortion of front windshield
• Cooled seats suck as we all know
  
• Front brakes squealed. Had it fixed under TSB but it took me 3 visits to the dealer, a video, and I had to find the TSB and print it out for them. Not really Ford's fault, just shi*ty dealer stuff.
  
• AC line cracked, lost AC. - fixed under warranty.
  
• All my stock charge pipes backed off and caused boost leaks with a stock tune and stock engine around 32k miles
  
• Lumbar adjustment in front seat broke. You can hear the motor moving but nothing happens (before you call me a fat*ss, I weighed 155lbs and under up to the point when it broke)
  
• Sync 2 would sometimes cut out for .5s while playing music (happened on both my phones)
  
• Rear backup camera went out at 37k mi
• Paint run on the edge of the driver's side door
• There are a few rattles here and there...

Despite all this, I still love my car. My 2015 Stang was my first Ford and I think I would buy another Ford in the future (maybe S650 GT whenever it comes out lol)

 

[5tang.0]

I’d like to start by saying I love my car, but it’s a piece of crap. I have had a lot of issues. I do feel like they are exacerbated by crappy dealerships. I’ll run through issues and throw in how the dealer made it worse.

1. Body panel quality: I really thought the cars were hit. It took me forever to find a Stang the way I wanted that had panels that decently line up.

2. Torn frame, I’m assuming torn upon delivery. The dealership didn’t want to help at all, even when their repair guy said I needed a new car. This resulted in a three year long lawsuit. I eventually won, but what a headache. By won, I mean I got some money.

3. Clockspring replacement. What bothers me the most was I had to fight with the dealership, a different one seeing how I could no longer go to the dealer where I purchased the car, to get it replaced. On the third trip, I waited for five hours. They had no loaner, not even drinks or snacks. The manager felt so bad he took me to get lunch, he didn’t pay lol, and we had a pretty candid talk. He explained they don’t need good customer service since they have contracts with local police and the like. It’s also why you see so many more Ford dealers as compared to other dealerships.

4. Puddle light replacement. No biggy, except I have a 2016 and they put in the newer light. When I asked them to either fix it or at least replace the driver side so that they are the same, they said no.

5. Back up camera replacement. I had to go to the dealership, and yes, a different one, like 4 times and when they finally fixed it, the dude scratched up my bumper and left all the garbage, including a razor in my trunk!

6. Driver side lock/ unlock buttons doesn’t always work lol. It’s loose, I think/ hope. If I press on it, the light turns off.

7. Driver side tweeter cover is loose. Like really loose lol. So loose, it stands out in the sea of vibrating objects that is the Mustang.

8. Decklid hits my bumper.

9. My trunk is rusting. She’s garage kept and has 28,432 miles!

Do I love the car, yes. Do they have problems, oh yea. Is Ford going to help, maybe, if you have time and an attorney.

Almost forgot, my driver’s seat is loose and where the carpeting meets the driver’s seat, it pops out of place so you see the underside.

 

[Norm Peterson]

The manager felt so bad he took me to get lunch, he didn’t pay lol, and we had a pretty candid talk. He explained they don’t need good customer service since they have contracts with local police and the like. It’s also why you see so many more Ford dealers as compared to other dealerships.

Wow . . . that dealership sounds like a real . . . Winner.


Norm

 

[ezracer]

First of all let me say that @ 75 yrs. old going on 22 I've had my share of the good and the bad in the automotive world. I "LOVE" my '15 with 52k miles on it. I've had a few issues with the car BUT...you need to realize that this is a high performance sports car and as such, FORD did an amazing job with it. This car should have been the '15 COTY but I believe the award went to the Camaro.

#1..The only thing that truly ticked me off was the hood oxidation after 1 year. This has been a known problem with these cars for YEARS and FORD has never corrected it. I didn't even want to deal with Ford on this issue mainly because I DID NOT want another Ford hood. So, I bought a replacement hood myself.

#2..Had an issue with L. rear tail light not sequencing properly. Vehicle was just slightly out of the basic warranty. Dealer worked with me on price and I got a new $800 tail light for $500. ( did not want used )

#3..At ~49,000 mi., the R.Rear axle seal started to leak. Per Ford SOP, dealer replaced seal & bearing under warranty.

Hey.....I'm still happy. This is just a remarkable machine. I'd love to buy a GT350 but there is a problem! It's called a wife.

 

[Lancer37]

When the OP posted in 2016, CR was talking about nearly new cars. Since the average reliability in CR's ratings for new cars is 1% or less problems for pretty much all of their categories, this could be a case where there were a few early failures and it kicked the % a little too high, even though it was still a small percentage of failures.

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