2020 GT350 Purchase Question

[nikko747]

Hi everyone, new member and first time poster here but I have been following the forum for a while now. I’ve been a Mustang enthusiast my entire life and currently own a 1967 Fastback Pro Touring Mustang. I was just about to pull the trigger on a 2020 GT350 HP when I came across a few threads about people having catastrophic engine failures after only a few hundred miles. So I then went down the YouTube black hole to see a few more via videos. I always wanted a 350 but wanted to wait until the last year model to avoid any issues. To put into perspective, I was one of the people who had a 2016 Z06 on the track when they were having overheating issues and pulling power abruptly on the track. I will be tracking the 350 so my red flags are up. My question is, is this an inherent design flaw or simply a few bad experiences getting overhyped? I just want to do my due diligence before pulling the trigger. Any real world perspectives from owners is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

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[PiZauL]

In my opinion, it’s a few bad experiences getting blown out of proportion. Generally on a forum or YouTube, you will always find the negative experiences consolidated that will make the car seem horrible. But you won’t find ALL the positive experiences here or hear about folks not even on this forum with 0 issues and higher mileage. With that said, there is a high mileage thread here with folks pushing some mileage on this thing that gave me reassurance when I was researching this car. For peace of mind you can get an extended warranty for pretty cheap through floodford. Buy the car, enjoy the car, keep an eye on oil level!

For perspective, my daily driver is a Prius. You would think it’s a Toyota and a Prius is generally known as super reliable right? Head over to a Prius forum (priuschat) and you’ll find all kinds of threads on there with headgasket issues, blown motors, abs actuator issues, and battery failures. Browsing those forums you would think this car is super unreliable. But in reality, it’s a small percentage of people having issues in the grand scheme.

 

[nikko747]

Those are some great points.

In my opinion, it’s a few bad experiences getting blown out of proportion. Generally on a forum or YouTube, you will always find the negative experiences consolidated that will make the car seem horrible. But you won’t find ALL the positive experiences here or hear about folks not even on this forum with 0 issues and higher mileage. With that said, there is a high mileage thread here with folks pushing some mileage on this thing that gave me reassurance when I was researching this car. For peace of mind you can get an extended warranty for pretty cheap through floodford. Buy the car, enjoy the car, keep an eye on oil level!

For perspective, my daily driver is a Prius. You would think it’s a Toyota and a Prius is generally known as super reliable right? Head over to a Prius forum (priuschat) and you’ll find all kinds of threads on there with headgasket issues, blown motors, abs actuator issues, and battery failures. Browsing those forums you would think this car is super unreliable. But in reality, it’s a small percentage of people having issues in the grand scheme.

Those are great points and I appreciate the suggestions. Thank you for your input and sharing your experiences. I'm 99% going to purchase the car just wanted to get some feedback first.

 

[key01]

Overblown. Bought my wife a new Jeep Cherokee with the 2.4L motor just to find out that motor is purported to have oil consumption issues. She has racked up 16,000 miles and it hasn't burned a drop of oil. Shit happens unfortunately, but it's not common. With your background you will love the GT350.

 

[matthewr87]

If you go down the internet rabbit hole regarding GT350s you will see oil consumption issues pre-2019, and random engine failures post-2019. Usually problems are amplified on internet forums because generally people do not post threads about perfectly functioning vehicles.

 

[aggarcia70]

I think the internet has blown this out of proportion. Ford has been good about replacing motors under warranty as long as they are not tuned or modified. I bought the Ford ESP plan to cover me for 8 years as I am keeping my GT350. The Gen2 motors on 19+ seem to have some upgrades, but they could also fail. I just drive my GT350 and no not worry and it.

I share as a daily with my teenage daughter a Fiat 500 Abarth. Its seen as a unreliable car. Had it for 2+ years and only had regular servicing. Again the internet blows issues out of proportion.

 

[rdrarmy]

Nikko,
I bought my 20R back in July. To date I have 3,500 miles on it. I know that it’s not a lot but as of now, the car is a beauty and exhilarating to drive. With that being said, prior to me buying it, I did extensive research online and on the forums. I was fully aware of all the negative threads. And like others have said, you mainly only hear about the negatives. I did not let that be a deciding factor for me whatsoever because in my opinion, the same issues can be heard of on other cars. If you like the car, buy it! However, with that being said just make sure you follow all break in procedures properly, and don’t neglect the maintenance (oil) aspect of the car. I understand you intend on tracking the car, but don’t treat it like it’s 100% a NASCAR car. Have fun with it, but treat the car good. At the end of the day, Ford will make it right if any issues aren’t due to engine mods that you may do to it. As for me, I will keep it stock while under warranty with the exception of an air filter and passenger side oil separator. Hope this helps and again, buy it if you want it and have fun with it!

 

[gmuffley]

I went through the same process about a year ago before deciding to purchase a 2020 HEP. In agreement with the other posters, I came to the conclusion that the horror stories on the internet were overblown and statistically insignificant to my purchase decision.

I was particularly concerned because I had to spend money on my C6 Z06 to replace worn valve guides after 17,000 miles. If you read the C6 forums at the time, you would have concluded that driving the C6 Z06 was tantamount to taking your life in your own hands every time you turned on the ignition.

Buy the GT 350.

 

[460Fred]

Nikko,
I bought my 20R back in July. To date I have 3,500 miles on it. I know that it’s not a lot but as of now, the car is a beauty and exhilarating to drive. With that being said, prior to me buying it, I did extensive research online and on the forums. I was fully aware of all the negative threads. And like others have said, you mainly only hear about the negatives. I did not let that be a deciding factor for me whatsoever because in my opinion, the same issues can be heard of on other cars. If you like the car, buy it! However, with that being said just make sure you follow all break in procedures properly, and don’t neglect the maintenance (oil) aspect of the car. I understand you intend on tracking the car, but don’t treat it like it’s 100% a NASCAR car. Have fun with it, but treat the car good. At the end of the day, Ford will make it right if any issues aren’t due to engine mods that you may do to it. As for me, I will keep it stock while under warranty with the exception of an air filter and passenger side oil separator. Hope this helps and again, buy it if you want it and have fun with it!

Dang man, I thought I wrote this.
Substitute my ‘19 non R that I bought this last June and these are my thoughts as well.....spot on!

 

[RPDBlueMoon]

Hi everyone, new member and first time poster here but I have been following the forum for a while now. I’ve been a Mustang enthusiast my entire life and currently own a 1967 Fastback Pro Touring Mustang. I was just about to pull the trigger on a 2020 GT350 HP when I came across a few threads about people having catastrophic engine failures after only a few hundred miles. So I then went down the YouTube black hole to see a few more via videos. I always wanted a 350 but wanted to wait until the last year model to avoid any issues. To put into perspective, I was one of the people who had a 2016 Z06 on the track when they were having overheating issues and pulling power abruptly on the track. I will be tracking the 350 so my red flags are up. My question is, is this an inherent design flaw or simply a few bad experiences getting overhyped? I just want to do my due diligence before pulling the trigger. Any real world perspectives from owners is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

As others have said, it might or might not happen. It is definitely something to consider. I remember seeing a chart and it was like once you past 1,000 or 2,000 the rate of failure is dramatically decreased. The highest mileage GT350 I've seen on here was either 100,000 or 150,00 miles and it is completely fine. Its even a 2016 too.

If you get the extended warranty 8 years of coverage is pretty good imo. Genesis has the longest lasting factory warranty with 10 years so I think 8 years is pretty good. Every car has its fair share of issues and its really a coin toss whether you'll get them or not.

Personally I'm not worried about the engine failure. I went to Afghanistan in a dangerous area and was attached to special forces. I injured my knees really bad weeks before I left and I had Raynaud's disease (didn't know at the time what it was). Definitely wasn't fun being there in the middle of winter and being the machine gunner. The odds were against me, I really should not be alive but I made it back, so I'll take my chances with the GT350, the odds are in my favor this time around lol. If it happens it happens and I'll deal with it

I am more worried about some idiot crashing into me than my engine blowing up to be completely honest. I've had 3 car accidents and all of them were from someone hitting my car that was stationary in a parking lot

 

[Joe Mac]

Hi everyone, new member and first time poster here but I have been following the forum for a while now. I’ve been a Mustang enthusiast my entire life and currently own a 1967 Fastback Pro Touring Mustang. I was just about to pull the trigger on a 2020 GT350 HP when I came across a few threads about people having catastrophic engine failures after only a few hundred miles. So I then went down the YouTube black hole to see a few more via videos. I always wanted a 350 but wanted to wait until the last year model to avoid any issues. To put into perspective, I was one of the people who had a 2016 Z06 on the track when they were having overheating issues and pulling power abruptly on the track. I will be tracking the 350 so my red flags are up. My question is, is this an inherent design flaw or simply a few bad experiences getting overhyped? I just want to do my due diligence before pulling the trigger. Any real world perspectives from owners is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Buy it drive it ENJOY IT
I hAVE A 2020 GT 350 WITH 3,500 MILES ON IT, I LOVE IT

 

[nikko747]

Thank all of you for your confidence inspiring responses. I really appreciate it. One other question, I saw that Ford does not honor their warranty if something happens while on the track. Is that correct? I really like how Porsche encourages track use and honors their warranty even if something happens while on the track.

 

[nikko747]

As others have said, it might or might not happen. It is definitely something to consider. I remember seeing a chart and it was like once you past 1,000 or 2,000 the rate of failure is dramatically decreased. The highest mileage GT350 I've seen on here was either 100,000 or 150,00 miles and it is completely fine. Its even a 2016 too.

If you get the extended warranty 8 years of coverage is pretty good imo. Genesis has the longest lasting factory warranty with 10 years so I think 8 years is pretty good. Every car has its fair share of issues and its really a coin toss whether you'll get them or not.

Personally I'm not worried about the engine failure. I went to Afghanistan in a dangerous area and was attached to special forces. I injured my knees really bad weeks before I left and I had Raynaud's disease (didn't know at the time what it was). Definitely wasn't fun being there in the middle of winter and being the machine gunner. The odds were against me, I really should not be alive but I made it back, so I'll take my chances with the GT350, the odds are in my favor this time around lol. If it happens it happens and I'll deal with it

I am more worried about some idiot crashing into me than my engine blowing up to be completely honest. I've had 3 car accidents and all of them were from someone hitting my car that was stationary in a parking lot

Wow, that is incredible. Thank you for your service and sacrifice. Talk about putting things into perspective!

 

[RichGT350R]

Thank you for Your Service! Relax and enjoy the GT350! You certainly earned it! Best Regards!

 

[luc]

Thank all of you for your confidence inspiring responses. I really appreciate it. One other question, I saw that Ford does not honor their warranty if something happens while on the track. Is that correct? I really like how Porsche encourages track use and honors their warranty even if something happens while on the track.

Who told you that Porsche warranty their car for track use????
https://www.autoblog.com/amp/2017/02/27/new-car-warranty-valid-race-track/

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