GT350/R Long-Term Reliability

[The_Backmarker]

Hi everybody!

I own a 2019 GT350R with about 4800 miles. It's a wonderful car and a ton of fun to drive. No real issues to report. No problems so far (knocking on wood). I have the extended warranty on my car but I don't fully trust the local dealerships (within 50 miles) to not screw things up. I do all my oil changes.

I've done two light track days a while back but now my GT350R is pretty much relegated to occasional fun drives and Cars-N-Cofffee events. I probably drive it 2 or 3 times per month. Lame, I know

I keep on hearing how fragile these cars can be and I wonder what the long-term reliability is with our cars. In particular, I keep hearing about engine failures, alternator failures, and air conditioning failures (that appears to be a general S550 Mustang thing). Anything else that's failing on these cars?

So my questions are:
1. As far as can be determined, how does the long-term reliability of the GT350/R look?
2. Aside from engine, alternator, and AC issues, what else is failing prematurely?
3. What can we do to increase reliability (e.g., frequent fluid changes, checking oil level frequently, putting the car on a lift and checking for loose nuts and bolts, etc.)?
4. Does tracking these cars greatly increase the likelihood of issues/failures? (I'm thinking it does due to the higher levels of FPC-induced vibration not seen on mainly street-driven cars)

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and Happy Father's Day to all the dad's out there!

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[AvalancheSVT]

I wonder about this as well. I love the sound and the look but I would never get one at this point because the engine seems to be an experiment of engineering compromises.

 

[DCShelby]

My 2018 has 49k miles on it. Each weekend I take it out and hit 120 or so. It uses .5 liters of oil in 6k miles and the AC works. Original engine. No leaks or drips, cause I actually drive it to keep the seals from drying out and running fresh gas it it…even at 6 dollars a gallon. Go see what happens to garage queen GT3s and their leaky rear main seal. Had my 1299S out today and it’s not a queen either. Did a quick 130 on it today, hit a bump on the highway at 110 and got airborne a bit. That was fun.

 

[The_Backmarker]

My 2018 has 49k miles on it. Each weekend I take it out and hit 120 or so. It uses .5 liters of oil in 6k miles and the AC works. Original engine. No leaks or drips, cause I actually drive it to keep the seals from drying out and running fresh gas it it…even at 6 dollars a gallon. Go see what happens to garage queen GT3s and their leaky rear main seal. Had my 1299S out today and it’s not a queen either. Did a quick 130 on it today, hit a bump on the highway at 110 and got airborne a bit. That was fun.

Thanks for the feedback. That's good to know.

I'm a former Army helicopter mechanic and noticed that helos that sit for weeks at a time tend to develop leaks and other issues. Same with cars.

 

[wingnutt]

I drive the crap out of mine…I’ve got the flex plate rattle, and she will use a little oil when I go to Mexico and beat up on M4s and Scat Packs.

bought her with just a tic over 10k, and will roll over 40 in the next couple weeks…already talked to RPG to send them the long block and her her gone thru, as I would like to keep original engine

 

[DCShelby]

Put some dynamat on the flex plate, it’s a cheap easy fix to get rid of the flutter noise.

 

[br_an]

I'm going to drive mine 'til it falls apart or I do.

 

[Inthehighdesert]

This has been beat to death. Most of the conjecture comes from those that don’t nor have had any of these cars. I boosted one of mine with the mileage under 2k. You have ford warranty in place. Wouldn’t give it a second thought nor listen to the noise. One of those examples posted in this thread.

 

[JAJ]

Hi everybody!

I own a 2019 GT350R with about 4800 miles. It's a wonderful car and a ton of fun to drive. No real issues to report. No problems so far (knocking on wood). I have the extended warranty on my car but I don't fully trust the local dealerships (within 50 miles) to not screw things up. I do all my oil changes.

I've done two light track days a while back but now my GT350R is pretty much relegated to occasional fun drives and Cars-N-Cofffee events. I probably drive it 2 or 3 times per month. Lame, I know

I keep on hearing how fragile these cars can be and I wonder what the long-term reliability is with our cars. In particular, I keep hearing about engine failures, alternator failures, and air conditioning failures (that appears to be a general S550 Mustang thing). Anything else that's failing on these cars?

So my questions are:
1. As far as can be determined, how does the long-term reliability of the GT350/R look?
2. Aside from engine, alternator, and AC issues, what else is failing prematurely?
3. What can we do to increase reliability (e.g., frequent fluid changes, checking oil level frequently, putting the car on a lift and checking for loose nuts and bolts, etc.)?
4. Does tracking these cars greatly increase the likelihood of issues/failures? (I'm thinking it does due to the higher levels of FPC-induced vibration not seen on mainly street-driven cars)

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and Happy Father's Day to all the dad's out there!

1. Just fine
2. Nothing
3. Nothing
4. No

If you avoid the urge to modify the engine and drivetrain, it's just another Ford 300,000 mile car.

 

[The_Backmarker]

1. Just fine
2. Nothing
3. Nothing
4. No

If you avoid the urge to modify the engine and drivetrain, it's just another Ford 300,000 mile car.

I hope you're right, man! I'm keeping it 99.9% stock.

 

[K4fxd]

Put some dynamat on the flex plate,

I thought all GT350's were manual transmission cars?

Most of the conjecture comes from those that don’t nor have had any of these cars.

The flat plane crank does have more vibration than cross plane. The Ford UDUD configuration is untested in high mileage mass produced cars. So the longevity is unknown. I'm sure Ford did stress testing and the engines lasted until the warranty expires in enough cases that they let it loose on us consumers.

Testing beyond warranty is not normally done by any manufacturer.

 

[ArnyFlowers]

I’m at 11k with my 2017 R. Bought it with 8k 3 months ago. It has been my daily driver and makes my commute (50 miles daily) tolerable. I don’t baby her and rev her out to 7-8k every time the road opens up. Just drive it and enjoy. I bought it from Carmax and have th maxcare warranty, so I do have a little peace of mind.

 

[Inthehighdesert]

Yawn. One thing that’s consistent is this stuff predominately comes from the Gt crowd. Go figure.

I thought all GT350's were manual transmission cars?


The flat plane crank does have more vibration than cross plane. The Ford UDUD configuration is untested in high mileage mass produced cars. So the longevity is unknown. I'm sure Ford did stress testing and the engines lasted until the warranty expires in enough cases that they let it loose on us consumers.

Testing beyond warranty is not normally done by any manufacturer.

 

[matthewr87]

I have ~1800 mins of track time with mine plus 10.5k miles (mostly to and from track and on track) and so far so good. I imagine I will run into mechanical issues eventually, but that would be the case with almost any car that is tracked.

 

[K4fxd]

Why do I need to drive a 350 to make comments about its design? Nothing I have said is false and I never trashed the Voodoo.

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