GT vs GT350, Thoughts?

[Tellme]

Transferable warranty even with the modifications? I'd be weary of that. Clearly he's referring to an aftermarket warranty however I do know Ford loves denying warranty claims when any modifications are done to the GT350. They are more flexible with the GT and below.

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[Hack]

Weighing buying a modified 15-17 GT w/PP vs a 16 or 17 GT350, what are the important considerations?

If I go the GT route, I'm considering buying one already boosted

Aside from the $$ difference, what are the thoughts?
Thinking about reliability, depreciation/resell value, fun factor when driving... etc.

Any and all thoughts are appreciated.

It does depend on what you want to do with the car, but I would stay away from a GT with a blower. You don't know for sure what the previous owner did to the car and that is a huge risk for reliability. Plus, IMO blower cars are unbalanced. They are not really good for anything except spinning the tires or drag racing.

Appreciate all the feedback and ideas. Currently leaning 350 as it will not be a daily driver, just need to get comfortable with a price point in the low 40s instead of low 30s

I think a GT350 is a good choice. I owned one for 3 1/2 years and I loved it. Best car I ever owned, I would say.

My only concern with the GT350 is the engine. Except for the late model 2020s they ALL burn oil between oil changes. Now we all know engine burn some oil between changes but the voodoo is excessive to the point where Ford even states in their manual that this is to be expected.

I predict in with some years and higher mileage that these voodoo engines will start to need rebuilds as regular maintenance. Reminds me of the e92m3 needing rod bearings as a maintenance item every 60-100k. Meanwhile the Coyote won't suffer the same fate.

I put 33,000 miles on my GT350 and it never burned a drop of oil. I think you got some bad information somewhere. I think maybe some GT350 owners babied their cars too much and never seated the rings very well. Or they add oil before they should. Not sure I can explain why some people have said they burn oil. Like I said, mine never did.

I do agree that the Voodoo is less of a known factor compared to the Coyote. However, I would trust a stock Voodoo a lot more than a blown Coyote with an unknown aftermarket tune.

With this in mind, curious about your guys thoughts on this:

Currently looking at a 2016 GT350 with the tech package. Has aftermarket long tubes, resonator delete, and cold air intake. It has 44k miles which seems high to me, but the buyer says it has a transferrable powertrain warranty to 7 years or 140k miles. How much risk does that warranty eliminate if any?

I would generally stay away from the 2016 tech package cars, unless you live in a cool climate and will never take it to the road course. I would either do a 2016 track pack car or a 2017 up, because all of those have coolers. Now if you find a used 2016 with the Ford Performance coolers added in, then IMO that would be a great choice.

I would tend to stay away from a GT350 with engine related modifications. The previous owner may have put a tune on it and messed up the warranty coverage. Maybe if there's a way to confirm that the car really is covered by a warranty, then that would be fine.

44k miles doesn't seem that high to me as mine had 33,000 when I sold my 2016 GT350 in the spring of 2019. I put about 10,000 miles per year on mine driving in the summer months mostly.

 

[Hack]

True.

In my opinion, the GT350 needs 4.09 gears (or even 4.56) to really work well as a street car. That was my overwhelming impression upon driving one. As a track car they're probably fine stock.

It depends on what you want to do on the street. Stock GT350s seem fine to me on the street, but I'm not generally racing anyone or flaunting traffic laws.

I do agree they are not geared for 0-30 bursts or for burn outs.

True. But for the street, when is enough really enough? I could honestly never fully appreciate the capability of a GT350. Just not enough interesting roads with less traffic. Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t want one though. Realistically, it would be probably annoying in metro areas. I think I’d suffer through it for a weekend car though. ;-)

The thing that I noticed about the GT350 is between the sound of the engine, the light clutch and the Tremec transmission - I found it a pleasure to cruise around. Stop and go traffic is fun in a car like the GT350. I've owned some cars where I always had to be hooning it in order to have fun. For me the GT350 was fun without doing anything crazy. Just driving is great.

What makes you believe this? If anything it would be an extremely thrilling ride every day of the week that also gets attention. It will make your commute 30 times better than it is. Even a simple procedure such as switching lanes on the highway at 80 MPH will be exciting. Don't talk it down. These cars are built to run to extremes on the track and be a lot of fun on the street. You'll love every minute of it.

I agree. Some things that people hate about the GT350 like the tramlining I really miss. The GT350 wants to turn and it makes you pay attention when you are driving, which is fun.

 

[JC5188]

It does depend on what you want to do with the car, but I would stay away from a GT with a blower. You don't know for sure what the previous owner did to the car and that is a huge risk for reliability. Plus, IMO blower cars are unbalanced. They are not really good for anything except spinning the tires or drag racing.



I think a GT350 is a good choice. I owned one for 3 1/2 years and I loved it. Best car I ever owned, I would say.



I put 33,000 miles on my GT350 and it never burned a drop of oil. I think you got some bad information somewhere. I think maybe some GT350 owners babied their cars too much and never seated the rings very well. Or they add oil before they should. Not sure I can explain why some people have said they burn oil. Like I said, mine never did.

I do agree that the Voodoo is less of a known factor compared to the Coyote. However, I would trust a stock Voodoo a lot more than a blown Coyote with an unknown aftermarket tune.



I would generally stay away from the 2016 tech package cars, unless you live in a cool climate and will never take it to the road course. I would either do a 2016 track pack car or a 2017 up, because all of those have coolers. Now if you find a used 2016 with the Ford Performance coolers added in, then IMO that would be a great choice.

I would tend to stay away from a GT350 with engine related modifications. The previous owner may have put a tune on it and messed up the warranty coverage. Maybe if there's a way to confirm that the car really is covered by a warranty, then that would be fine.

44k miles doesn't seem that high to me as mine had 33,000 when I sold it in the spring of 2019. I put about 10,000 miles per year on mine driving in the summer months mostly.

I agree with all of this. My 350 is a 2018 with just und 15000 miles and has yet to burn a drop of oil. As far as the ‘16 tech pack, Hack is correct. Mine. Has all of the coolers, and on 100 degree days driving normally, it still gets pretty hot. I’d def want one with the coolers.

I’ve had challengers, LS cars, and I came to the GT 350 from a GT premium PP car. No comparison. This is by far my favorite car I’ve ever owned.

 

[IPOGT]

I agree with all of this. My 350 is a 2018 with just und 15000 miles and has yet to burn a drop of oil. As far as the ‘16 tech pack, Hack is correct. Mine. Has all of the coolers, and on 100 degree days driving normally, it still gets pretty hot. I’d def want one with the coolers.

I’ve had challengers, LS cars, and I came to the GT 350 from a GT premium PP car. No comparison. This is by far my favorite car I’ve ever owned.

I was going to trade my GT in after driving a 350 and then, I added the Bilstein shocks and struts. The end result was close enough for me. Quite amazing actually.

 

[dom418]

Did not have time to read through the all the responses but I own both. 350 is the better car no question in every way. Those that say otherwise aren’t in touch with reality.

The GT will not be worth anything when you go to sell so keep that in mind.

Both have been reliable for me and the majority of others.

If I was going to mod, I’d go with the GT.

 

[IPOGT]

Did not have time to read through the all the responses but I own both. 350 is the better car no question in every way. Those that say otherwise aren’t in touch with reality.

The GT will not be worth anything when you go to sell so keep that in mind.

Both have been reliable for me and the majority of others.

If I was going to mod, I’d go with the GT.

With the proliferation of electric vehicles and the general disdain of the general public over environmental concerns, I’m not sure the whole value thing applies anymore. Shocking, but unfortunately true. The audience for these vehicles is diminishing.

 

[shogun32]

Those that say otherwise aren’t in touch with reality.

the metric is whether the improvement is justified by the 20-30,000 extra in price. That's where you get a lot "NOT!" responses.

 

[dom418]

the metric is whether the improvement is justified by the 20-30,000 extra in price. That's where you get a lot "NOT!" responses.

Oh look who it is. Mr positive again.

I own both, yes it’s worth it.

 

[JC5188]

I was going to trade my GT in after driving a 350 and then, I added the Bilstein shocks and struts. The end result was close enough for me. Quite amazing actually.

Yeah, quite honestly it depends what you are wanting out of a car. You can definitely mod a GT to be more than capable. I have nothing but good to say about the one I owned. Was a great little car.

I actually had planned to buy an Audi RS5, or a ‘Vette Grand Sport to replace the GT. I never could find a V8 version of the Audi with low enough miles to suit me. I didn’t want the new motor, I wanted that NA V8 that revved to 8k. I happened upon the GT350 after realizing it too was a high revving V8. A test drive later and I was hooked.

For me, it’s the totality of the driving experience. The noise, the high strung nature of the voodoo, the tramlining...its a unique motoring experience. But I absolutely get someone wantin to mod the GT...they are fantastic machines imo.

 

[shogun32]

Oh look who it is. Mr positive again.

my dealer forgot to hand me the Cool-Aid mix when I signed the sales contract.

 

[ice445]

My only concern with the GT350 is the engine. Except for the late model 2020s they ALL burn oil between oil changes. Now we all know engine burn some oil between changes but the voodoo is excessive to the point where Ford even states in their manual that this is to be expected.

I predict in with some years and higher mileage that these voodoo engines will start to need rebuilds as regular maintenance. Reminds me of the e92m3 needing rod bearings as a maintenance item every 60-100k. Meanwhile the Coyote won't suffer the same fate.

The new Coyote is built almost the same way as the 5.2 now though, so not really true. The plasma arc cylinder liners are likely the crux of the issue. My car burned a decent amount of oil in the first 5000 miles but now that I'm closer to 10,000, it's slowed down dramatically. Some Gen 3 engines seem to burn oil, some don't. But it's definitely just as common as on the 350 from what I've read around here.

 

[IPOGT]

A clean decent mileage fifth gen GT is holding up quite well in the used car market at about 15-20k. I'm also seeing 15-17 GTs well above 20k and 30k+ for 2018s. Now compare that to similarly equipped camaros and challengers and the Mustang holds ups very well. Compare it to something like and m4 that has lost over half its value in the same time. I suspect the latest s550 GTs will hold up even better as time goes on.

The prices on used low mileage 15-17 GT’s are ridiculous, but it makes sense since the price increases.

 

[JC5188]

The prices on used low mileage 15-17 GT’s are ridiculous, but it makes sense since the price increases.

I think you are correct. I sold my 2016 at CarMax for $24,400. 16 GT premium PP with 40k miles. And it had an accident so they said that knocked their offer down some (obviously). I don’t know what it ultimately sold for, but I was pretty stoked. This was a little less than a year ago.

 

[Hack]

With the proliferation of electric vehicles and the general disdain of the general public over environmental concerns, I’m not sure the whole value thing applies anymore. Shocking, but unfortunately true. The audience for these vehicles is diminishing.

Most people either buy huge, gas guzzling pickups or SUVs. Some do buy electric vehicles, but it's still not a lot.

The environment really isn't a concern for most people, but there has definitely been a decrease in sporty vehicle sales. And many sporty vehicles are becoming less sporty and more big and luxurious.

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