GT350 Engine/Oil Usage/Fix thread.

[MCarsFan]

I'm not taking it personally. I'm weighing my options and may end up doing just what you are saying. It's a little hard to sell right now when it is sitting at the dealer waiting for an engine and then it still can't be sold (by a Ford dealer anyway) until the cooler line work is done. Also, like anyone in my position, I'm trying to take as small of a financial hit as possible. So, I'm waiting to see what happens and what my options are under the lemon laws of my state.

Also, I don't buy what you are saying. Ford has been around long enough that they should easily be able to handle a vehicle like this. But, I do agree that it appears they cannot or were not prepared for whatever reason to do so with the GT350 program.

I hear you. In your situation, you have no choice but to wait.

My comment was more for people who are still in the "diagnosing" phase. For example, now that I know this issue, I will monitor it closely until next spring. Give it maybe 5000-6000 miles and also let the temperatures change as I think that might also impact this. If my engine is going through 1 qt of oil every 300-500 miles, I will just sell it privately.

I have been in this game with performance cars for over a decade. I know how dealerships work, their capabilities as far as fixing things and the approach corporate side takes. When these issues arise, you have two choices:

- You let them fix it which in most cases might not fix the issue or open another can of worms (like the dealer not doing the repair properly or other issues arising due to incorrect installation part or an application of the repair).
- You walk away

Look at what happened to the corvette c6 z06 owners with the valve drop or e46 m3 owners with subframe issues or e92 m3 owners with rod bearings. You get a dud, 90% of the time its better to walk away and start fresh rather than being a beta tester.

Now if this issue were to happen 5-6 years down the line with a proper fix and a mature product line, it would be a different conversation.

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[kairojya]

I thought about selling mine too, I even tried to get the dealership to buy my car from me while it was in their possession (having it's engine replaced). If I had taken their offer, I'd have realized a $20k loss in only 5 months of ownership, nearly 1/3 of the cars value (incl tax)! They told me the engine replacement hurts my value, and the current recall hurts it even more (as they'd have to pay lot tax for n months waiting on the recall to be complete).

I've been watching the private market locally, via AutoTrader (and KBB's values for what they're worth) and it seems I'd have been lucky to find someone to buy my car with me realizing a minimum loss of $10k. Better than dealer's price but still, I'm not going to "lose" that money only to go buy another car that could have all the same issues.

Now that I have the car back, I'm enjoying it. I figure I'll try to get my typical 2~ years of enjoyment out of it before I switch to something else. Jason's car issues are far more frustrating than what I went through. I'm not sure what I'd do in his situation.

If I have another drivetrain failure within my first 2 years, attorneys seem confident they can get me a decent settlement with Ford, if I were to go that route. If anything, it'll give me something to complain about in a new thread on here!

 

[Minn19]

I thought about selling mine too, I even tried to get the dealership to buy my car from me while it was in their possession (having it's engine replaced). If I had taken their offer, I'd have realized a $20k loss in only 5 months of ownership, nearly 1/3 of the cars value (incl tax)! They told me the engine replacement hurts my value, and the current recall hurts it even more (as they'd have to pay lot tax for n months waiting on the recall to be complete).

I've been watching the private market locally, via AutoTrader (and KBB's values for what they're worth) and it seems I'd have been lucky to find someone to buy my car with me realizing a minimum loss of $10k. Better than dealer's price but still, I'm not going to "lose" that money only to go buy another car that could have all the same issues.

Now that I have the car back, I'm enjoying it. I figure I'll try to get my typical 2~ years of enjoyment out of it before I switch to something else. Jason's car issues are far more frustrating than what I went through. I'm not sure what I'd do in his situation.

If I have another drivetrain failure within my first 2 years, attorneys seem confident they can get me a decent settlement with Ford, if I were to go that route. If anything, it'll give me something to complain about in a new thread on here!

I'm in the same situation. I got lowballed by my dealer (45k) and would be in a similar situation if I took their offer. It's hard for me even to call it that.

If it comes back ok and I don't have more issues, I'll drive it for 2-3 years and then sell it. Unless I can get it lemoned. If I can do that, I will and go from there.

 

[subtle]

Why lol? When you get a dud of anything, its a viable approach to try a new one rather than trying to fix it which can end up being an ongoing thing

You're suggesting eating the massive depreciation hit PLUS the cost to buy another new GT350 PLUS the depreciation once again on the new car simply because you don't want to replace the motor?

Or did I read that incorrectly and by saying "try a new one" you mean try a completely new car altogether?

 

[MCarsFan]

You're suggesting eating the massive depreciation hit PLUS the cost to buy another new GT350 PLUS the depreciation once again on the new car simply because you don't want to replace the motor?

Or did I read that incorrectly and by saying "try a new one" you mean try a completely new car altogether?

I was assuming (sadly incorrectly) that these can be sold for a few k below MSRP. I paid sticker for mine (60k) and if I wanted to sell it today, I was thinking I could sell it for 58k.

However, if I could only get 45k for it, in that case I would go with option 3, which is to pay $1800 and buy the extended warranty and keep adding oil until it blows up. If it doesnt blow up in the next 5-6 years, just sell it for the next car and move on.

I just think that having a no vin, no signature engine would bother me personally and take away from the ownership experience plus impact further on the depreciation.

 

[MCarsFan]

By the way, I have now done 250 miles since adding half quart and oil level is right where it was, so far so good.

Maybe I should have added full 10 qts after using 1/2 qt on the oil filter during the last oil change, we'll see.

 

[Minn19]

I was assuming (sadly incorrectly) that these can be sold for a few k below MSRP. I paid sticker for mine (60k) and if I wanted to sell it today, I was thinking I could sell it for 58k.

However, if I could only get 45k for it, in that case I would go with option 3, which is to pay $1800 and buy the extended warranty and keep adding oil until it blows up. If it doesnt blow up in the next 5-6 years, just sell it for the next car and move on.

I just think that having a no vin, no signature engine would bother me personally and take away from the ownership experience plus impact further on the depreciation.

45k on trade is pretty low even for a Tech car like mine. I'm sure you could still get retail 55k ish easy for your 17.

 

[MCarsFan]

45k on trade is pretty low even for a Tech car like mine. I'm sure you could still get retail 55k ish easy for your 17.

Then it's not so bad.

Here is some extremely basic/bad math:

* Leasing my M5 is around $1000/month. Its a 120k car. This one is half the price, so say its $500 to "rent" the mustang (I know, I know...)
* So you drive it for what 10 months, or forget that, 6 months and that means your cost is $3000.
* You paid $60k for it, so you lose $2k.

In the grand scheme of things, it's not a bad deal to get out early. The amount of agony, frustration, and further depreciation due to this particular repair will be far worse.

Are you guys following the 991 GT3 forums? That car has a far worse problem where pretty much that engine is considered to be "doomed". Eventually every single one of those cars will have a failed engine. Porsche is very good at handling this which is why this issue is not getting a terrible rep, but bottom line is that car is expected to have a bad "future resale value".

As a result...

You can go to auto trader now and you will see "hundreds", I mean hundreds of GT3s selling for far less than they were before. People are dumping them like there is no tomorrow.

Some of the owners however (usually the rich ones who can afford to take a 40/50/60k depreciation hit) say that they will drive the shit out of their cars until warranty runs out since its Porsche's problem.

 

[kairojya]

I just think that having a no vin, no signature engine would bother me personally and take away from the ownership experience plus impact further on the depreciation.

It bothered me a lot, until I got my car back and drove it. It sucked going through the replacement and not having my car. I missed taking my car on a road trip back home to FL for my wedding and hanging out with old (car) friends for a few days before. Now that I have it back, and it seems to be running ok (i.e. I have >0 PSI oil pressure), I actually have less stress/anxiety worrying about the car and I enjoy it more in a way. I'm still cautious about where I park, and watching the road for debris and potholes and crap, but I'm not worried about little scrapes/scratches or running the car hard (within it's design specification).

 

[CSL]

I'm with you @kairoyja about anxiety over a numbers matching car. This won't really matter until you've owned the car a long ass time, and even then I wonder how much of big deal it will be to any of us that still have the car. These cars are meant to be driven, and driving them is pure fun. That doesn't change with numbers stamped on a block. Enjoy the car and expect it to use some oil based on the design. If you're adding a quart every 3 fills of fuel, get an engine without a number stamped on it. I'm glad you are enjoying your car again @kairoyja.

 

[firestarter2]

I'm with you @kairoyja about anxiety over a numbers matching car. This won't really matter until you've owned the car a long ass time, and even then I wonder how much of big deal it will be to any of us that still have the car. These cars are meant to be driven, and driving them is pure fun. That doesn't change with numbers stamped on a block. Enjoy the car and expect it to use some oil based on the design. If you're adding a quart every 3 fills of fuel, get an engine without a number stamped on it. I'm glad you are enjoying your car again @kairoyja.

Agreed I personally wouldnt mind car buying a used car with a replacement engine as long as it had some miles on it.

 

[Minn19]

I'm with you @kairoyja about anxiety over a numbers matching car. This won't really matter until you've owned the car a long ass time, and even then I wonder how much of big deal it will be to any of us that still have the car. These cars are meant to be driven, and driving them is pure fun. That doesn't change with numbers stamped on a block. Enjoy the car and expect it to use some oil based on the design. If you're adding a quart every 3 fills of fuel, get an engine without a number stamped on it. I'm glad you are enjoying your car again @kairoyja.

I do agree that the whole numbers matching thing probably doesn't really matter. But it does suck a little bit for intangible reasons and is just another negative with this whole process.

 

[04Terminator]

kairojya,

I am very sorry to hear your new problem. Lightning strikes twice. If they do wind up replacing the engine insist on replacing the catalytic converters as well. Ford replaced mine with no fight.

Ford replaced my engine last week for excessive consumption. A quart every 80 miles and getting worse. It ran strong but like Mcarsfan said the pipes were black. The new engine is not using any oil up to this point. Most of the weekend was spent running in the new engine. 500 miles so far on the clock and the dip stick level is right where it should be.

So what does it mean if your pipes are black? Mine get black after awhile but only the inner ones. I thought it was normal??

 

[CSL]

It does suck, no doubt....I used to let those kind of things bother me a lot more than I do now and it's pretty liberating. Best of luck to you in dealing with your issues and I hope you get to a point where you can enjoy your car to the extent most of us do. Fingers crossed!

 

[kairojya]

So what does it mean if your pipes are black? Mine get black after awhile but only the inner ones. I thought it was normal??

I assumed it was just soot from running a little rich (factory tune) under higher or full throttle acceleration. I know our cars aren't turbo/FI but my GTR would get filthy with soot all over the rear end (especially the exhaust tips) from the soot created on the stuck tune while accelerating.

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