Goodbye to Ford...2018 Mustang Gt ownership

[GreenS550]

I can appreciate where the OP is coming from. I can still remember ordering my 1982 Mustang GT. First year that Ford started back making the GT.
Picked up the car and was excited. On the way home I stopped to buy gasoline and then closing the door, the door handle inside ripped off the door panel. Never attached properly at the factory.
Then, all of a sudden the car shut off. No power brakes or steering and I was turning. I started it again and fine, then next day same thing. Took to dealer many times. They could never fix it or figure it out. So, I spent 4 hours tracking down every wire that supplied power. Turns out the guy installing the fuse box never properly seated the power line. I clicked it in and all good. That is until I was sitting on my porch admiring my silver Mustang GT and the sun hit it and I could see the red primer showing through about 1/3 of the passengers side! I took it to the dealer and they gave me the run around. I kept up complaining and calling Ford and finally the rep came out and, in an exasperated tone said "OK what will make you happy". I said "A new car". He said, "that's not gonna happen". But they did agree to re-paint a virtually new car.

Crappy stuff happens now and then on cars. It just does. I don't blame the OP for being irritated and losing confidence. My '18 10R80 has irritating stuff about it that my '15 6R80 didn't have. The blower and tune helped, but it is a fickle transmission. Yet I like it! The 10 speed on my Ranger is great except for towing in which it hunts until you put it in sport.

I have owned lots and lots of Fords and they are generally very good. But, I wouldn't mind owning a Dodge Charger Scat Pack. I actually looked at buying one a while ago. They are FAST and 4 doors for grocery. Great car.

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[Fly2High]

The passenger side door lock was part of a system to prevent the battery from draining too much. The car automatically shuts off certain systems in an attempt to save amps. The solution is simple: drive more or put the car on a battery charger. Today's cars have way too many computers and parasitic drain when off. The programmers did what they could to reduce it. It doesn't take long for the battery to drop to a voltage that shuts them down. If you drive the car daily, you might never see the issue. Of course, if you do not drive enough, the battery also can be affected. Not ideal, I know, but this is what you were seeing and is normal.

A10 also hunted for me but then again, being a manual driver for most of my life, I think I would have been very sensitive to any non conscience changes the tranny would do. If it did not do what I wanted when I wanted while I was thinking it, I would see it as a problem. Not saying this is you, just why I might have found more issues than a regular auto driver who might be less focused on things since they are use to driving an auto. I am just use to shifting because I thought it was the time to shift. Any deviation from that would be seen as an issue. Might be why any manual guy could have an issue with some autos. Not all but some. Just how we are wired and until we relax or succumb we might always see issues where none exist.

8 instead of 10qt is an issue. Ford should have done better. Ford should have made a cap in all Gen 3 Coyotes that states it takes 10 qts and had it standard equipment in the car. When I had my first 1000 mile change, I told the rep to list it takes 10 quarts. He said that they know and did not. Guess what? They put in 8. Drove 42 miles before checking and having them drain and, refill and replace the filter. Had them drain it over a strong magnet and cut open the filter to make sure no damage. Nothing. At the very least, they need to update service to better be able to recognize a Gen 3 and know it takes 10. This is knowledge transfer. I wonder how many mechanics do not ever check a dipstick? That is the real problem. I am sure many feel that the oil has not drained down enough to verify since they are rushing. Time is money.

I wonder if the paint issue was because your car might have had delivery damage. Sometimes during shipping, cars can get damaged and the dealer is allowed to correct them. I wonder if the back bumper was repainted. My PP2 had a wheel damaged and they ordered the wrong wheel. The front wheel is cheaper or the rear was incorrectly listed in their system so instead of getting a rear PP2 wheel (19x11 et48), they got a front (19x10.5 ET24). Eventually they correctly ordered the right wheel.

Good luck with the Dodge. For me, I will never buy a Dodge unless they start making reliability Job One. Have had too many issues with Dodges and am a bit jaded. If they become more reliable then I might. Sure, there are those who have not had my experiences but I have. Also, for many years, Dodge, Chrysler and Fiat are often found on the low end of reliable by many authorities and magazines. Most cars seem fine for the first few years but I tend to keep my 10+. When I see them climb in those reports, I will entertain. All I can say is I hope you have success.

 

[Qcman17]

Reading the OP's first post most of what I read are mainly annoyances not problems with the exception of the P0300 code which is an odd one and not good. Yeah my A10 is clunky and rough sometimes and other times butter smooth. It's a moody bitch for sure LOL. My car doesn't tick really but it rattles like Holy Hell!

But I still love this car despite those idiosyncrasies and every vehicle I've owned had something that annoyed me at times. Too bad he couldn't get past them and hopefully the Dodge works out for him

 

[GreenS550]

It's interesting reading all these posts. I would really love to pick up a Dodge having owned 383 roadrunner a lifetime ago. But my last Chrysler product was a Jeep liberty. Bought it new. And I came to a stop sign when it was a year old and it wouldn't go forward and it wouldn't go backwards so I called the dealer and they towed it away. Never abused it. $21,000 miles and the trans was completely gone. No explanation as of why and Chrysler replaced the entire transmission. But it was an off-road Jeep and I often would be 20 or 30 mi from any paved Road and the thought of it just dying in the middle of nowhere convinced me not to buy another Chrysler product. It was 17 years ago. So it does stick with you.

 

[Dominant1]

Good luck with the Charger, they're nice cars. Bolt-on a Procharger and takedown hellcats all day long.

 

[GreenS550]

I was at the drag strip and a guy had a leased 6.4 scat pack charger with a baby seat in the back. Ran 12 twos. Not so bad!

 

[Fly2High]

It's interesting reading all these posts. I would really love to pick up a Dodge having owned 383 roadrunner a lifetime ago. But my last Chrysler product was a Jeep liberty. Bought it new. And I came to a stop sign when it was a year old and it wouldn't go forward and it wouldn't go backwards so I called the dealer and they towed it away. Never abused it. $21,000 miles and the trans was completely gone. No explanation as of why and Chrysler replaced the entire transmission. But it was an off-road Jeep and I often would be 20 or 30 mi from any paved Road and the thought of it just dying in the middle of nowhere convinced me not to buy another Chrysler product. It was 17 years ago. So it does stick with you.

I had a '86 Dodge Daytona Turbo Z. Loved the car. Hated the reliability. It was a test car and had a mandatory 7/70 warranty on it regardless who owned it. Bought it 3 years old with under 33K miles. Over the next 11 years, it had 5 or 6 rebuilt transmissions (Getrag A-525 - manual), each were rebuilt also by Dodge service before they replaced them and the head gasket blew 4 times. On one occasion, Dodge had my car for over 2 months and flew in a specialist to rebuild the tranny. The ended up getting 4 transmissions, rebuilt three of those units and finally on the last, things were working. I believe the clutch would chatter if you came off the clutch a little quick. It also ate input shafts. From what I recall, they misaligned the mounting holes with the engine. While they had the car, they had a brace to hold up the engine while the tranny was out. I guess they had to move the car or something and closed the hood. Unfortunately, the mount had a rod sticking up and dented the hood something bad. Another time, they did not believe me that I was having problems with first gear. I continued to drive the car until I lost 1-3. The shaft was designed to ride directly on the bearings without an inner race. When it failed, the shaft would wobble destroying everything.

Basically, every time I had a few pennies in my pocket, it would die. Got rid of it in 2001 for a '95 Maxima. Had that car 9 years and never had to do a damn thing to it besides change the oil, brakes and tires and one Oxygen sensor(changed at the time of purchase). Otherwise, it was great. Of course, I lost first and reverse in that automatic but got a grand for it in trade in on a '10 Scion TC.

Will never buy a Dodge again.

 

[Hattrick]

Sounds like he needed a four door sedan anyway. I love the A10 drive in sport mode and let it rip with pedal to the metal!

 

[camelfarmer]

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.

Wow how much are ford paying you?

 

[GreenS550]

Sounds like he needed a four door sedan anyway. I love the A10 drive in sport mode and let it rip with pedal to the metal!

Yes, in full throttle especially with a blower. Bang, bang, bang through the gears. It is a pleasure to live in America and drive a V8. The OP will have fun with this Dodge and we will have fun with a car that shifts at 8,000 RPM something the Dodge cannot do even in Hellcat clothing.

 

[Zelek]

Has "issues" with a Ford and moves to Chrysler???? Pardon me while I laugh.

 

[Meth 18GT]

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.

I have the passenger problem as well. Its works when it wants to.

 

[LakerStang]

If the car had the ticking issues from the first day why sign the papers and buy it before driving it home?

I’ll be honest I didn’t give it any attention at first until doing research and ppl having cylinder scoring.

 

[NoVaGT]

I’ll be honest I didn’t give it any attention at first until doing research and ppl having cylinder scoring.

What are you talking about?

 

[BlueCollarDaily]

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.

Similar experiences and after 3 engines and fixing to be the 3rd trans, I got out...just ate all the shit I could....this was my first new car and every step of the way it was negative and a battle....will miss the performance but not the headache and denials, I almost got into a fist fight and got banned from my local Ford store and im an old man......
Good ideas without good support just isn't worth it...

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