GT350 Daily Use

[matthewr87]

I guess I was just looking for reassurance from owners. The highest mileage GT350 I've seen for sale is 20k miles. This will be my first Mustang and first Ford. So just doing my homework. Thanks guys!

They made roughly 25,000 of these over the production run. You will find some people report plenty of problems while others have had trouble free cars. Is it 1999 Toyota Camry-level reliable? Probably not. But many of these see a lot of track use (abuse?) and are still going strong. Some have had engines replaced. Some have had two engine replacements. Some have had AC issues. There are the regular Ford fit and finish issues. But if you ask me whether would I buy the car over again? Absolutely. Most fun you can have in a car for <60K (well what used to be <60K).

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[webspoke]

Late to the party, but the gt350 is very comfortable for a performance car. Tramlining can be fixed by alignment and tire upgrade (the PSS's are bad for it). The ride with the MR shocks is very good for its capability, and the exhaust flaps make for a mellow cruise. I have 14k on my '18, bought with 5k, daily'd it for about 5k before covid. the rest of 4k are track or drive to the track, and will continue to go up as they say.

 

[slickwill]

I'm in the middle on daily/not daily. I bought my 2020 in Jan 2021 with 1400 miles. It now has 6K. I don't drive it if roads are wet but when weather is good sometimes I drive it every day for a couple of weeks. I've road tripped from Idaho to California with my mountain bike in the trunk. I can't tell the slightest difference in oil level from when I bought it until right now. My commute is 8.2 miles. About 4 miles on a 55mph highway, 1 mile on a 65mph highway, and 3 miles at 25-30 mph. I average 15mpg with what I'd say is probably very average use of the gas pedal. The small tank with that mileage is annoying. I typically average 17mpg in my F150 with the same commute. There are three separate places on my commute where I have to be VERY careful or the front splitter hits the ground. Some days I drive the F150 just to not have to be careful.

 

[scorch088]

Hey guys, I've been searching for a good deal on a used GT350 for a while now and I've noticed that most of the cars listed are really low miles. Another thing I've noticed is that these cars seem to have multiple owners and low miles. Is the ride really that firm and unusable for daily driving? Just don't want to get the thing and hate it I've test driven Roush S3s and normal GTs...not a Shelby yet. (hard to find one close) Any comments are welcome! Looking forward to getting this or the Roush.

Haven't read whole thread, just your initial post. My 2017 GT350 is my daily driver and I love it... then again I am coming from a 2014 Ford Focus so I am sure that helps . It isn't the smoothest, but if you like how it drives, sounds, looks - worth it.

 

[truckinguy92]

I dailyed mine all last year (in MA; through the winter). That includes, racing, burnouts/donuts, highway/city miles.

It's completely doable and a necessity. IMO it's a complete waste to let these cars sit inside a garage only to creep out on sunny days and for car shows.

Just watch your fluids and beat on the car when you're 190° plus on OT.

I don’t have a GT350 but I agree why buy a car to leave it sitting in the garage.

 

[truckinguy92]

The roads are too bad here to daily. Ny burbs

I agree the roads are horrible in NYC. Long Island isn’t too bad. I drive to, in, & around western Nassau and JFK Airport area of Queens every weekday so I know how rough the roads can be over there, especially in a 6 wheeler. Thank goodness for air ride suspension.

 

[P85596]

I am over 60 and daily driver mine in every weather and have a little over 17k on it. The ride is good and the seats are comfortable and I drive everywhere in Sport mode even in the rain. I too am not saving it for the next guy, why buy a car like this and not enjoy it. To me that is a crime.

 

[ShatterPoints]

Hey guys, I've been searching for a good deal on a used GT350 for a while now and I've noticed that most of the cars listed are really low miles. Another thing I've noticed is that these cars seem to have multiple owners and low miles. Is the ride really that firm and unusable for daily driving? Just don't want to get the thing and hate it I've test driven Roush S3s and normal GTs...not a Shelby yet. (hard to find one close) Any comments are welcome! Looking forward to getting this or the Roush.

Bought mine last year with 6400 miles on it. Was a single owner car. I have DD'd it as well as tracked it since. Motor let go with 19k miles on it, Ford replaced it under warranty. Now I have 3500 miles on the new motor since the middle of June. The car is juuust right as far as the spring rates for daily driving and the shock modes do change a little between the settings, it is still over all soft compared to other cars with electronic damping. I have never caught myself thinking, this thing is too stiff.

 

[crazymayhem]

Bought new in 12/16, daily driven since then. Just cracked 40k miles. New engine at 24k due to high oil consumption, and other than the AC, no major issues. Minor issues youd have with any other car.

FP exhaust on it at 15k, and enjoying it. No issue with the ride quality PSS tramlined, PS4S were better. Now running on Sumitomo's, no major tramlining. These were the only ones I could get in almost the correct sizes earlier this year.

Cant wish for a more fun daily driver....

 

[joe603]

not giving me warm and fuzzies with the engine replacement! I found a Roush S3 that had a Ford replaced engine...after I found that out, I looked elsewhere. I know there's a low chance of that, but i would never hear the end of it with the wife. Does it impact the resale to a dealer?

 

[mjhpadi]

I don't drive my HE very much. Just celebrated 1 year with the car with only 799 miles on the odometer.
R
My reason is simple, I owned a '68 GT-350 that I had to sell to pay for my final semester in college and have regretted it since that day.
I waited 41 years for another Shelby and I just want to cherish and pamper this one.
Moral of the story is I would to drive it everyday but I am thrilled to just get her out and give the car TLC and detail and put it away...not quite but that's almost as much fun as driving it

 

[Trackaholic]

I have over 45,000 miles and many track days on my 2016.

It has been pretty much flawless until the last month when it started intermittently surging (usually after getting on the throttle hard). Looks like there may be a TSB to address the issue, but have an appointment at a dealer on Wednesday to take a look.

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2019/MC-10162060-0001.pdf

Other than that, car is awesome as a daily driver depending on what you are looking for. It is relatively loud, has lots of vibrations, but is very fun to drive. The ride is actually quite good, and with my latest set of tires the tramlining hasn't been bad. It actually tracks quite well, making it pretty effortless to drive long distances. 6th gear is very tall, so the car really likes cruising at 75+ MPH. Of course if you have the benefit of twisty roads, the commute all of a sudden gets very fun.

The limits are too high to really push on the street, so you don't get to run through the gears too much, but merging onto the highway in 2nd gear is pretty effortless.

Biggest issue is probably the lousy fuel economy (compared to a modern commuter car).

Overall the car is tons of fun.

I really hope I can get the issue with mine figured out quickly, as I need to get back to the track.

-T

 

[datadatum]

Florida guy here. Good roads, good weather... there's no reason not to daily drive it!

I average about 7k per year. I'll bump that up soon with a 2k road trip this fall.

 

[DaveB]

I bought my 18 in March 2020, with 8000 miles. I daily every single day. I now have 16000 miles. The only time I didn't drive was February. I'm in indy and we had a bit of snow that month, so I drove my wife's 16 gt/cs because it has better season tires and a tad more ground clearance . I've only owned and driven camaros since 98. My wifegas had mustangs since 2011. This is my first non camaro that i have ever had and I have zero regrets! The trunk is soooo much better. Believe it or not, I have had my complete drumset (6 pc) with cymbal stands and everything in this car, with some decent room to spare!!! This car is so much fun that I can't not drive it!

 

[crazymayhem]

not giving me warm and fuzzies with the engine replacement! I found a Roush S3 that had a Ford replaced engine...after I found that out, I looked elsewhere. I know there's a low chance of that, but i would never hear the end of it with the wife. Does it impact the resale to a dealer?

I can understand that if youre a collector and totally into numbers matching. But who cares about that for a daily driver. And honestly - the big reason why engine replacements and high oil consumption has been hyped is in forums. Yes - it happens - so what? I havent looked up any recent statistics on it - but of all the cars out there - we are looking at a low number overall. The only reason people are hearing of it is because you mostly hear the bad things, you hear less of the good things...
Any manufacturer has issues - and a handbuilt engine will have some more, add into that a higher volume than say Ferrari or Lamborghini and it'll happen.

Daily driver - drive it like you stole it and dont save it for the next person. Ill leave the girlfriend saying out - even though it is soooooooooo fitting.

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