The Problem With Being an S550 Owner

[Steve44]

My last car was a bmw 335is...great ride, terrible reliability. Just got out of the warranty time period, and had $4k in repairs. Plus the car had only 20,000 miles on it. Brutal!! I am almost positive the s550 will be much better than that.

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[Vile_the_Bastage]

My last car was a bmw 335is...great ride, terrible reliability. Just got out of the warranty time period, and had $4k in repairs. Plus the car had only 20,000 miles on it. Brutal!! I am almost positive the s550 will be much better than that.

And even if it isn't, there will be so many around that you would be able to source parts on the cheap.

 

[valentinoamoro]

My last car was a bmw 335is...great ride, terrible reliability. Just got out of the warranty time period, and had $4k in repairs. Plus the car had only 20,000 miles on it. Brutal!! I am almost positive the s550 will be much better than that.

And even if it isn't, there will be so many around that you would be able to source parts on the cheap.

You were lucky Steve. My last car was a BMW M6. EVERY SINGLE car with an SMG (mine was a much rarer stick, about 10% of production) had SMG failures, vast majority within 40K miles (some on their 3rd transmission by then).

Also, it was a matter of when, not if (by 90K miles 90% chance of occurring from my estimates) of the rod bearings failing and the engine grenading. REfurbished replacement? - 20-28K+install (from vendors/junkyard), 40K+ from BMW. So Vile_, not necessarily cheap.

I wont even get to the Vanos system. I didnt have any issue, but mine was sold with only 45K miles on the clock and a manual.

 

[TeddysStang]

I know I feel the same way! I am lucky to have my 2008 Honda Civic as my DD though. Otherwise, I would probably hate myself.

I cant even drive the mustang 5 miles down the road and as soon as I get home I have the detail spray and micro fiber out getting the bugs off the bumper.

I agree. I am the same way. It's not my daily driver and I don't drive the Stang in the rain, but when I do drive it I can't stand see it even a little dirty. I also keep a detailing spray and cloth in my trunk. Also the Deep Impact Blue color isn't helping, but that's the color I chose.

 

[blkandgud]

LOL I just got an Audi A5 and I'm wondering not if, but WHEN problems are going to start popping up. Glad I have a Mustang as a backup.

 

[yanks1]

I feel that way about both my vehicles... An 08 Mustang GT Vert and my '14 daily driver V6 Accord Coupe. My Accord got blasted by wet snow in rear by snow plow last week while parked at end of our townhouse driveway. Luckily no damage or scratches after it melted the next day. And same with my former BMW, I traded in on Accord in late 2013 due to concern about future high German repair bills, was an '06 with 72k miles but thankfully only tires & brakes (both when certified) were ever replaced or repaired

 

[DarkSubRosa]

OP - Try living in Nashville, born and raised in the country, southern drawl AND now owning a Mustang. I've had almost 30 cars, my first American car and you would have thought listening to my friends pick at me that I actually live inside a WalMart.

 

[MagneticA]

Like many of you, I have owned lots of cars...some better than others. This Mustang is now officially the best car I have ever owned, for a variety of reasons...the thing that really surprised me is how "connected" I feel to this car.

The downside of this love affair is that when anything happens to the car, I freak out. Just last week, after a nasty ice storm hit Texas, I walked back to my car at my work parking lot and my car was covered in dirt and stones from a truck that swept the parking lot with that crud. I almost puked...

My wife says I should just go buy a Corolla and forget about stuff like this...on some days, I think she is right.

Anyone else feel the same way? It is just a car, right??!!:cheers:

Easily the most attractive car I've ever owned. She is sculpted with curves that make it hard to turn your eyes away. I drive her every day, and I feel like a king while doing so. I know it's not a superbly expensive machine, but to me it is top notch. So I take care where and when I park. And I wash her weekly, but it doesn't consume me. On average the washes last an hour, max an hour and a half. She's also become my favorite subject to photograph. I've snapped over 1,000 photos over the course of 3 months. Gotta get those in before the first ding(s) appear.

 

[Tamadrummer88]

Over here I haven't even gotten comments from strangers or looks or anything. People here just don't really care about those things.


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[The Dude Abides]

At 45 I'm glad to finally define myself.... Thanks fellas!!!

I'm a Dallas Cowboys hick fan & I'm loving it...

Not having pretense is a freeing experience...
BTW my Ford rep is a brother of color & hosts track days every month.... I'm winning 'Murican style.... Damn the haters, move over I'm coming through!

 

[KazyMedic]

Down here, the downside of being a mustang owner is everyone automatically assumes you're in the military. Most mustang owners here are military or caucasian, very few polynesians own mustangs.

Such a downside for people to think you have the balls to fight and have a warrior spirit. I thought that this what poly culture was all about brah.

 

[e30og]

what the hell?

do you work on a construction site or something?

also, who the hell eggs cars?

You surely are kidding. My Audi TT has less damage than that DD'ing it for 10 years+!

>>Egged? Who would egg a car? Someone was walking around with an egg handy to throw around?

haha some of the pleasures of commuting on I-95 every day :headbonk:.

The eggs...eh...jealous female and some punk kids. Handled addle:. I knew this car would be a target from the day I bought it. Battle scars, bonding moments, made for a good story. Im happy to this day, it wasnt keyed!!

 

[valentinoamoro]

haha some of the pleasures of commuting on I-95 every day :headbonk:.

The eggs...eh...jealous female and some punk kids. Handled addle:. I knew this car would be a target from the day I bought it. Battle scars, bonding moments, made for a good story. Im happy to this day, it wasnt keyed!!

Wow! LOL!!!

 

[benanderson89]

:clap2:So much win right here.:clap2: My wife's 2001 Golf GTI went stupid after 80K miles. The cost of maintenance and upkeep went through the roof for simple things. O2 sensors on that thing were insanely expensive. VW wanted $80 to check the battery. Yeah, no thanks and never again.

I will defend the reliability of modern British cars and engineering, however. Jaguar-Land Rover is consistently rated up there with Lexus and Skoda in reliability statistics, and Honda's most reliable models, the Fit(Jazz), Civic and CRV, as well as a lot of Ford engines, are built here.

But yes, people keep on parroting "Oh so reliable because German!" shtick because of the obsession with BMWs in the 1970s and 1980s back when American and British cars were.... less than adequate, lets say. ;) But sadly that mind-set hasn't dissipated when a Cadillac ATS could probably outlive a BMW 3-series.

My brother had a SEAT Exeo (Spanish re-badged Audi A4). He recently had to sell it because things were starting to go wrong with it - hadn't even broke 70k miles. But he still parades German reliability and then bought another SEAT. My brother in law also had a BMW X5M, and direct from the factory the rear diff was bad and made the most horrible racket. It took them several months to fix it. He even agreed that his best SUV in terms of reliability and style was his old Range Rover - but he went and got a Mercedes ML63 AMG anyway. I'm waiting for him to complain about something wrong with the gearbox or engine.

Meanwhile me, my mother and father have only ever had British (1990s Rover), French(Peugeot), Japanese (Nissan), Korean (Kia) and American (GM and Ford) branded cars. None of them have ever went wrong. The only exception being, surprise surprise, my dad's 2006 Mercedes C-Class which was so poor with reliability and ergonomics he vowed never to get another Mercedes in his life. He had it for less than a year. He wished he kept his old Peugeot 406, which had a grand total of one fault (CO2 sensor) at 90k miles that was fixed within a week.

There's a reason why VW 's warranties are only 3 years long and 60k miles. Meanwhile Vauxhall (General Motors) have 5 years (used to be lifetime) at 100k miles. Kia 7yr at 100k miles, and any Nissan dealer will bump the warranty up to 5 years if you haggle without much fuss.

Many of them are spewing Jeremy Clarkson nonsense they've heard on TV.

I hate that people treat him as some all knowing car god. He has some funny bits on the show but, overall, he's actually a massive c***.

Lastly, the live rear axle being a reason to dismiss the car is also a repetition of Top Gear nonsense - these are the same guys who laughed the last gen Z06 out of the room because it had leaf springs - even though it kicked the ass of most of the cars they drove (back then). Also, for those with short memories, most 'hot hatches' in England had live rear axles till recently.
Dont quote me on this but I think the UK spec Fit Type R has a torsion bar.
Renault Megane R26.R and R26
Opel Astra OPC

Additionally, a lot of their faves (Fiesta ST), many models of Golf use an inferior Twist-beam suspension as opposed to multi-link.

Hit the nail on the head. Hot Hatchbacks are cheap cars - sub-mustang levels of cheap - so they've always had basic technology under the skin but masterfully engineered to actually be extremely effective at what they do. Same story with the Mustang and the Corvette (especially the C7 with its composite leaf). Yes its "old-school" but its damn effective when done properly.

Just because it has a torsion bar or live axel doesn't instantly mean poor handling. The previous generation Civic Type R had a torsion bar for the rear wheels and it was an absolute maniac (in the best possible way) to drive. We all know how much fun the Fiesta ST is and, of course, throw a couple of option packs on an S197 Mustang and that M3 will be permanently in your rear-view mirror.

Don't get me wrong, though, I'm glad everything including the Mustang is moving to fully independent. Even my little hot hatchback, a Kia Pro_Cee'd GT, has a fully independent rear and that (plus chassis tweaks) makes it run circles around the equivalent SEAT Leon FR (Torsion Bar) and makes it come uncomfortably close to the MK7 Golf GTi (IRS).


apologies for the wall o' text

 

[6g Smoke Show]

It's never just a car! When I had the 3M gloss black film put on the roof. The guy asked if I wanted a clear bra also. I told him no, now I have a small chip on the hood that I look at every time I get into the car. I know I will get chips and bad things will happen. But no matter how much I try to avoid looking, I can't. I love my car, it is my baby!

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