Goodbye to Ford...2018 Mustang Gt ownership

[LakerStang]

I’ve owned 3 cars in my life and they’ve all been Mustangs. I had a 1996 v6, 2013 v6 and what I thought was my dream car, a red 2018 Mustang GT. This car was supposed to be the car I’ve always wanted. It was a GT PP1, 401a package and 10 speed auto. I factory ordered the car in Feb 2018 and it took 16 weeks to arrive due to rail issues. My dealer was not helpful in providing me with any updates. When I finally got the car the dealer showed me they thought were 200 driven miles on the car which turned out was the miles to empty on gas .

Needless to say it didn’t get off to a good start. I wanted to share my honest opinion of the car of what I liked and issues I had.

I loved the comfort of the car. The nav and touch screen was very easy to use, leather seats were very comfortable and the exhaust was second to none. The car looked sleek and handled great. It also had great power.

Some of my biggest problems were the 10 speed was very clunky. It was always guessing which gear to go into and made for some pretty rough shifts at times. Esp with you first got it going. The engine tick I had since the start. I know most get it from the first oil change but mine had it from the get go. It also had the low rpm rattle.


I took it to the dealership for both the tick and trans within the first 6 months of ownership. I was hoping the trans issue was something they could reprogram and wanted to create a paper trail just incase the tick developed into something else. The car sat there for 4 days and they found no issues with the tick or trans.


Other issues I dealt with were my passenger door sensor wouldn’t lock or unlock about 4-5 months into ownership. I took it to the dealership 5x for that alone. Which they kept telling me they couldn’t replicate. My dealer wouldn’t replace the door handle until Ford ok’d it. I called Ford and opened a case to get it replaced, Ford or the dealership never contacted me. The car battery was also consistently going into battery saver mode not sure if that had anything to do with the door sensor.

I had a check engine light for a P0300 random misfire on the cylinders which the dealership pretty much cleared it and didn’t even look to see if there were any real issues with it. With so many ppl having engine issues on 2018+ GTs this def worried me.

I took my car to 2 different service departments under ownership and 2x they put 8 qts of oil in the car. I’m glad I saw thread online to check the oil levels before leaving the dealership. So after that everytime I took it to service I had to be the annoying guy to repeat 10 qts of oil for a simple service visit.

My rear bumper started to develop spider cracks in the paint. This car had roughly 9,800 miles on and I def did not drive it hard. I didn’t hit any bumps or back into anything where the paint should have been cracking.


I had the car for about 2 1/2 years and last Saturday I traded it in for 2021 Dodge Charger scat pack Widebody. I love Mustangs but after this experience I don’t think I will buy a Ford again. Their customer service has been extremely underwhelming and the quality being put into these cars lately clearly shows they are lacking.

I’m hoping I have better luck with my Charger. My gut told me to dump the Mustang as I felt there were going to be bigger issues down the road that would significantly decrease the value of the car and I felt I should get what I could out of it now. Again this is my personal opinion and I’m not trying to come and here and simply bash Ford. I hope by sharing my experience this helps anyone who’s thinking of purchasing a 2018 and up GT. I was really disappointed in giving itbup but felt it was the right move.

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[Smunczen]

Every manufacture has lemon vehicles. The dealers need to improve the service department for sure. Sorry you had issues that didn’t get resolved.

 

[Jmtoast]

1. Ford dealerships suck (in comparison to others). Maybe its just up here around Detroit area. Service is especially horrendous.
2. 2018+'s there aren't "so many people" having engine "issues" that I have heard of. I barely ever read about an engine failure on here. tick is annoying but is usually normal DI. Cats are a problem but that isn't engine and usually its the FI guys who keep them who have issues.
3. A10 is different for sure. I have a love\hate relationship with it.

 

[NoVaGT]

Here's what my critical thought process suggests;

.......the 10 speed was very clunky. It was always guessing which gear to go into and made for some pretty rough shifts at times........

Sounds like what should be expected with a 10SPD trans. I'd imagine they hunt around a lot, since they've got a ton of gears to chose from. And if you yourself don't drive with a smooth throttle style, I'd imagine that would cause even more hunting and changing.

What sort of traffic do you drive in? Are you in NYC? Or out in the sticks?

......The engine tick I had since the start. I know most get it from the first oil change but mine had it from the get go. It also had the low rpm rattle...

Your engine had no tick. It had direct injection, and they make a terrible racket. Unless your engine is burning through tons of oil, there's no problem.

I took it to the dealership for both the tick and trans within the first 6 months of ownership. I was hoping the trans issue was something they could reprogram and wanted to create a paper trail just incase the tick developed into something else. The car sat there for 4 days and they found no issues with the tick or trans....

Doesn't sound so far like there was any issues to find.

Other issues I dealt with were my passenger door sensor wouldn’t lock or unlock about 4-5 months into ownership...

There's a lot of reasons this can happen. Most times members here have electrical issues, it's a simple case of some box being checked or un-checked in a menu somewhere they didn't know about. And those little sensors are touchy, and need a press and hold, not a swipe.

I had a check engine light for a P0300 random misfire on the cylinders which the dealership pretty much cleared it and didn’t even look to see if there were any real issues with it. With so many ppl having engine issues on 2018+ GTs this def worried me.........

There's 0 instances of people having issues with engines on 2018+ engines, unless they themselves fucked with the car. I don't know where you got that info, but it wasn't from here. And sometimes random missfires happen. If they cleared the code, and it went away and didn't return....well, there you are.

My rear bumper started to develop spider cracks in the paint......I didn’t hit any bumps or back into anything where the paint should have been cracking....

Did someone hit you? Where do you park? Are you a youngin' that goes out a lot and parks in random lots near other vehicles? Park in the street?

.......Their customer service has been extremely underwhelming and the quality being put into these cars lately clearly shows they are lacking.....

So far you've posted nothing really wrong with the car. Sounds like it's mostly you didn't have the correct expectations, and didn't do your homework before panicking and selling off what was a perfectly fine car.

.......My gut told me to dump the Mustang as I felt there were going to be bigger issues down the road....

Your gut is nothing to listen too. Emotions mess with you.

 

[ModularKid21]

Here's what my critical thought process suggests;



Sounds like what should be expected with a 10SPD trans. I'd imagine they hunt around a lot, since they've got a ton of gears to chose from. And if you yourself don't drive with a smooth throttle style, I'd imagine that would cause even more hunting and changing.

What sort of traffic do you drive in? Are you in NYC? Or out in the sticks?



Your engine had no tick. It had direct injection, and they make a terrible racket. Unless your engine is burning through tons of oil, there's no problem.



Doesn't sound so far like there was any issues to find.



There's a lot of reasons this can happen. Most times members here have electrical issues, it's a simple case of some box being checked or un-checked in a menu somewhere they didn't know about. And those little sensors are touchy, and need a press and hold, not a swipe.



There's 0 instances of people having issues with engines on 2018+ engines, unless they themselves fucked with the car. I don't know where you got that info, but it wasn't from here. And sometimes random missfires happen. If they cleared the code, and it went away and didn't return....well, there you are.



Did someone hit you? Where do you park? Are you a youngin' that goes out a lot and parks in random lots near other vehicles? Park in the street?



So far you've posted nothing really wrong with the car. Sounds like it's mostly you didn't have the correct expectations, and didn't do your homework before panicking and selling off what was a perfectly fine car.



Your gut is nothing to listen too. Emotions mess with you.

He’s gone. Let him go lol

 

[NoVaGT]

He’s gone. Let him go lol

One-post drive-by hits are annoying.

"Hey Mustang people; I didn't know anything about my car, so I traded it in on another car I know nothing about. One that I'll be complaining about on another forum 6 months from now. Bye."

 

[CorvZ061]

He left some minor annoyances for a lot of electrical gremlins. There is a trade off no matter where you go.

 

[bootlegger]

If you think the A10 is clunky, you shouldn't drive the M6.

 

[Ecoboosted]

Love the look of those Charger wide bodies. Hope you have better luck with it than the Mustang.

 

[NoVaGT]

He left some minor annoyances for a lot of electrical gremlins. There is a trade off no matter where you go.

He had one electrical problem. And it was probably not a real issue. Someone probably didn't know how to properly use the un-lock pad, thought it was an iPhone swipe pad or something.

ETA; I have no clue on iPhones.....don't know how they unlock or anything.

 

[MNstang]

That original post made me nervous about my car! The rest of you made me feel much better

 

[LakerStang]

Believe me I know the passion of owning these cars and I guess I expected some push back from enthusiasts and rightfully so. I just wanted to share my experience for any others on the fence. No cars are perfect but I personally didn’t have the best experience from the dealerships, service or the manufacturer. My 2013 had no issues for the 5 years I owned it before I traded it in for the GT. I hope no one else needs to go through this and this isn’t deflected at anyone who owns or wants to purchase a mustang. Thanks for reading guys.

 

[wilkinda65]

I found my 10 speed auto on my 2018 to be clunky when it was in "Normal" mode. But in "Sport" mode it was perfect.

I also had low RPM rattle but it was a metal plate that was vibrating which was fixed by my dealer. The ticking was terrible on y 2018 but was almost non-existent on my 2015 LE.

Not sure what to say about his sensor issue.

 

[NoVaGT]

......The ticking was terrible on y 2018 but was almost non-existent on my 2015 LE.......

Please. Shoot me in the face with the USS Iowa 16" main guns. Just end it.

 

[PRTK350]

@LakerStang I am sorry you had so many issues with the car.
The scat pack widebodies do look awesome though! I was choosing between a Challenger Scat Pack WB and a Mustang earlier this year, and chose to get the ‘stang!
Anyways, I hope the Charger and Dodge treat you better

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