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GT350/R Long-Term Reliability

Thor 142

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Oh, and with that being said, I would still buy one all over again if the prices weren't absolutely ludicrous and gas wasn't nearly double what it cost a few years ago. So yeah, take the risk.

But anyone in here, including owners, saying that this car's reliability fits within the norm is delusional from ownership bias.

Great car. Pure gamble.
Also don't buy a Tesla. It will 100% crash itself on auto pilot and burst into flames, Just ask the internet.
 

OppoLock

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So what was the issue?
I'll list the symptoms since the number of attempted fixes totalled over 20 visits and is too exhaustive, but basically:
-car would lose all power (abs, dash, steering, doors--literally everything) at random
-car wouldn't start 50% of the time
-car would lockout the use of cruise control depending on its mood
-trans started to become a mess; locking out of 1st gear, reverse becoming disabled
-stuttering, choking throttle behavior
-even my headliner started falling apart lol

I became an expert on shitty rental cars during this entire period of almost two years. I almost 20 different rentals spanning all manufacturers. Ironically, the only ones that had any technical issues were Fords (literally every USB port stopped working on every Ford I used for CarPlay) and one Jeep. Thank god for lemon law.

I was so scarred I bought a god damn Civic--bless that thing's reliability--in the meantime and have been dailying it while trying to buy a GR86 in the middle of this nightmare car buying environment. Will probably get back in the next Ford Performance-meddled S650 Mustang, assuming they don't botch the basics.

Also don't buy a Tesla. It will 100% crash itself on auto pilot and burst into flames, Just ask the internet.
Have to love the internet extremes. A car is either faultless or a guaranteed time bomb. In the case of the GT350, it's an obvious, evidence-backed wild card. No need for thread answers to really explain the story to the OP lol.
 

stanglife

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I'll list the symptoms since the number of attempted fixes totalled over 20 visits and is too exhaustive, but basically:
-car would lose all power (abs, dash, steering, doors--literally everything) at random
-car wouldn't start 50% of the time
-car would lockout the use of cruise control depending on its mood
-trans started to become a mess; locking out of 1st gear, reverse becoming disabled
-stuttering, choking throttle behavior
-even my headliner started falling apart lol

I became an expert on shitty rental cars during this entire period of almost two years. I almost 20 different rentals spanning all manufacturers. Ironically, the only ones that had any technical issues were Fords (literally every USB port stopped working on every Ford I used for CarPlay) and one Jeep. Thank god for lemon law.

I was so scarred I bought a god damn Civic--bless that thing's reliability--in the meantime and have been dailying it while trying to buy a GR86 in the middle of this nightmare car buying environment. Will probably get back in the next Ford Performance-meddled S650 Mustang, assuming they don't botch the basics.


Have to love the internet extremes. A car is either faultless or a guaranteed time bomb. In the case of the GT350, it's an obvious, evidence-backed wild card. No need for thread answers to really explain the story to the OP lol.
but you’re not biased, right? I think I see a common factor :)
 

Rev Happy

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I'll list the symptoms since the number of attempted fixes totalled over 20 visits and is too exhaustive, but basically:
-car would lose all power (abs, dash, steering, doors--literally everything) at random
-car wouldn't start 50% of the time
-car would lockout the use of cruise control depending on its mood
-trans started to become a mess; locking out of 1st gear, reverse becoming disabled
-stuttering, choking throttle behavior
-even my headliner started falling apart lol

I became an expert on shitty rental cars during this entire period of almost two years. I almost 20 different rentals spanning all manufacturers. Ironically, the only ones that had any technical issues were Fords (literally every USB port stopped working on every Ford I used for CarPlay) and one Jeep. Thank god for lemon law.

I was so scarred I bought a god damn Civic--bless that thing's reliability--in the meantime and have been dailying it while trying to buy a GR86 in the middle of this nightmare car buying environment. Will probably get back in the next Ford Performance-meddled S650 Mustang, assuming they don't botch the basics.


Have to love the internet extremes. A car is either faultless or a guaranteed time bomb. In the case of the GT350, it's an obvious, evidence-backed wild card. No need for thread answers to really explain the story to the OP lol.

Sorry to hear about all the issues, especially on a 2 year old car. This sounds like all electrical though so I'm not sure what this has to do with the design of the motor. Unless you're heavily tracking the car, and it's modified, I don't see "vibrations" causing all these issues, especially at 13K miles.

I've had some minor issues with mine. Had to replace the steering shaft (took multiple dealer visits) and the thermostat got stock open and threw a check engine light. At the end of the day, the car has a warranty. If something goes wrong outside the warranty, then I'll fix it. You can call the motor "exotic" but they're still essentially a V8 s550 Mustang...not a Bugatti or a McLaren F1. I'm not a long time owner yet, but there are a lot of members on this forum who are that haven't had any major issues. It's a high revving, high compression track motor that can be high strung, but to me personally the car is that special to own.
 

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OppoLock

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but you’re not biased, right? I think I see a common factor :)
I only said that "you can't dismiss the abnormal defects inherent to this car." I'm not saying everyone will have the same experience than me, but I am 100% rebuking anyone who says the GT350 "is like any other 300,000+ mile Ford" with basic maintenance.

Sorry to hear about all the issues, especially on a 2 year old car. This sounds like all electrical though so I'm not sure what this has to do with the design of the motor. Unless you're heavily tracking the car, and it's modified, I don't see "vibrations" causing all these issues, especially at 13K miles.

I've had some minor issues with mine. Had to replace the steering shaft (took multiple dealer visits) and the thermostat got stock open and threw a check engine light. At the end of the day, the car has a warranty. If something goes wrong outside the warranty, then I'll fix it. You can call the motor "exotic" but they're still essentially a V8 s550 Mustang...not a Bugatti or a McLaren F1. I'm not a long time owner yet, but there are a lot of members on this forum who are that haven't had any major issues. It's a high revving, high compression track motor that can be high strung, but to me personally the car is that special to own.
No track work and all stock. I treated it exactly like my 2015 GT that I had prior with almost 100k miles on it. It just aged three times as fast lol. But you really said it yourself in the end; it's a high-revving, high-strung engine. On top of that, it poses inherently high NVH elements that are simply not present on the majority of other road cars. My engine held up; everything attached to it didn't.
 

Thor 142

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I only said that "you can't dismiss the abnormal defects inherent to this car." I'm not saying everyone will have the same experience than me, but I am 100% rebuking anyone who says the GT350 "is like any other 300,000+ mile Ford" with basic maintenance.


No track work and all stock. I treated it exactly like my 2015 GT that I had prior with almost 100k miles on it. It just aged three times as fast lol. But you really said it yourself in the end; it's a high-revving, high-strung engine. On top of that, it poses inherently high NVH elements that are simply not present on the majority of other road cars. My engine held up; everything attached to it didn't.
Interesting issues you had. I bought mine used. The carfax showed like 15 trips to the dealer for "electrical" in the first year. My wife said thats a red flag. I said nope....looks like he got it all worked out for me LOL.
 

stanglife

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I only said that "you can't dismiss the abnormal defects inherent to this car." I'm not saying everyone will have the same experience than me, but I am 100% rebuking anyone who says the GT350 "is like any other 300,000+ mile Ford" with basic maintenance.


No track work and all stock. I treated it exactly like my 2015 GT that I had prior with almost 100k miles on it. It just aged three times as fast lol. But you really said it yourself in the end; it's a high-revving, high-strung engine. On top of that, it poses inherently high NVH elements that are simply not present on the majority of other road cars. My engine held up; everything attached to it didn't.
Will give you that - although you must realize that yours had to be some freak of nature. No, you cant really expect these (at this point) to be as reliable as a Honda Civic - but generally, now that we're passed the initial "oops"'(s) - they seem to be doing pretty well. FB showed a 80k mile oil change and tires only example recently. You had to have the worst luck on that car - most of your issues are not commonly recognized as inherent to the model.
 
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sublime1996525

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I've had my 17 since new and put over 32k miles on it. It's been a great car. Doesn't burn any oil on the original motor. I did have to have the clutch replaced a few months ago. The slave failed or at least that's what the dealer thinks happened. Thankfully I had 2 weeks left on my powertrain warranty and they covered it.
 

Johnnydarkgt350

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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.
Every Lexus design is tested to one million miles. My wife will never wear out her GX460
 

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K4fxd

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So your wife's 460 has the v-10? Or did toyota put a flat plane crank V-8 in a SUV?
 

95CobraR

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I ordered my GT350 in January of 2019. I finally picked it on 7-5-2019.
Bad ass car from Day One:
2019GT350.jpg


I have even raced it at AMP in Dawsonville. It goes out of full warranty on 7-5-22 (next Tuesday).

I may buy some new tires and change soon, but the car has been rock solid for my first 3 years..
 

K4fxd

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Powertrain warranty is 60,000 miles or 5 years, correct?
 

Hack

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How do you do small fuel efficient and NA while still making exciting HP? I'm down with the light weight.
I think if you have about 6 or 7 LB/HP you are in terrific shape. So for a car that weighs about 2800 like my GR86 you want about 400-450 HP. Even 300 HP would be acceptable to me. I'm not sure what you mean when you ask how. You just need a small, light car with a compact engine in it. It's simple other than no one makes it now (at least not in a cheap form) and you would have to do it yourself or at least modify something.

Or easy button Cayman GT4. Hmm, I wonder if that flat 6 would fit in my GR86?

C5Z, even a C6Z. both relatively light weight (3000lbs for c5z and 3200/3100lbs for C6Z).
I really liked my C5. It was about 8/10s of being my perfect car. If I were 6 feet tall instead of 6'4" I'd probably still have it. I just couldn't fit with a helmet on. The LS6 is pretty lame compared to the Coyote and Voodoo, but you can solve that with the right aftermarket parts.
 
 




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