S550 Mustang GT as a Daily Driver

[Balr14]

I don't see the logic in buying a Mustang and using another car to commute. Yes, a Honda will last a lot longer and cost you a lot less for gas and maintenance. But, the Mustang is going to depreciate like mad, whether you drive it or not and you have the cost and depreciation of two cars. You are going to invest $70k in two cars that will be worth $25k in 4 years. This kind of logic only works for cars that hold their value well, like a Porsche. Not one that has the shelf life of a banana.

Sponsored

 

[ivantwilliams]

I daily drive my 2018 Mustang GT PP1. And, I love the thing. Even my Missus asked me to drive it this week.
The car is just fun to drive, and handles well. Why have it sitting in the garage? Just my take...

 

[GUSTOPP2]

Civic SI's are a ton of fun. I daily my 401A GT PP2. On the highway I get about 25mpg. Total mixed driving I am right at 20-21. I don't RIP on it often but it is a blast! Really comfortable relatively speaking. My wife LOVES driving it. The kids love it. It has been a great car. I will say at 200 miles a day that dis could add up but worth it. I drive 12-15k a year so I REALLY do DD my car. I have had it la year but as of not ll

 

[crimson_crowd_eater]

I daily drive my GT, and generally commute about 70 miles each day. My gas mileage on the highway is about 25 and (if I don't hammer it) I get about 370-380 miles on a tank. However, it's hard to resist redbombing sometimes, so I generally get around 320-330 miles on a tank.
It's an amazing daily car.

 

[Huck FInn]

Hello everybody this my first time posting on the forum. I currently have a 10th Gen Civic SI, which I guess you can consider it "full bolt on," at this point. Don't get me wrong I love my car, but the itch to try something different namely an S550 Mustang GT (due to the 5.0 and IRS), hasn't gone away. I try to forget about it, but it keeps bugging me what it would be living with a GT, and want to feel the power of a V8 and not have to do much to it to make power (maybe it will be the one car I keep till the wheels fall off, which I have never really done before). My predicament is that I drive 100 miles one way to work (200 miles per day), and yeah the Civic SI is a great and fun car especially gas mileage (24 mpg with me romping on it very frequently), and reliable. My question is with that type of driving how does the Mustang GT fair in terms of gas mileage and reliablity. I should also mention that I bought my 2019 Civic Si brand new and it has 41k miles on it now, and not one problem. I get at best 33+ mpg, if I drive it softly on the highway. Looking for advice from you guys, especially since a lot of you DD your car and a lot of them are more than likely modified, which is what I would plan on doing down the road.

I just sold a 2012 GT convert with 241K miles, almost all highway. Long term average miles was about 25 MPG and on generally level highway, on cruise, no headwind, I generally got about 28 at 70 MPH. If your speed limit is lower you will get noticeably better mileage, less if higher speeds. Also, I would expect a 2020 would get better mileage than my 2012. I am now in a 2020 GT350, and while it is still less than 1,000 miles, mileage is significantly less. For reliability, you cannot get better than the Mustang GT. Nothing on mine went until the OEM battery at 221K. If your roads are as crappy as Minnesota's expect periodic wheel bearing replacements. Last, do not scrimp on tires. Whether you look for performance tires or long tread life, get good ones. The little extra cost is well worth it in performance and life. Personally, I put Pirelli on everything.

 

[mnm4ever]

I don't see the logic in buying a Mustang and using another car to commute. Yes, a Honda will last a lot longer and cost you a lot less for gas and maintenance. But, the Mustang is going to depreciate like mad, whether you drive it or not and you have the cost and depreciation of two cars. You are going to invest $70k in two cars that will be worth $25k in 4 years. This kind of logic only works for cars that hold their value well, like a Porsche. Not one that has the shelf life of a banana.

This is a really good point. I have other cars I use for daily driver duties, just to save wear and tear on my Mustang. Now I didn't do this because I expected the Mustang to hold better value or whatever, I do it because I plan to keep my Mustang a long time. Now my 2015 has about 20k miles on it and is basically showroom new. I had given some thought to trading it recently and got a few trade-in quotes. Nothing over $20k, some were embarrassingly lower than that. The depreciation on these cars is insane, I really can't even imagine buying a new one. I have seen several much never Mustang GTs with low miles for sale in the low 20s.

So I would say if you want a Mustang, find a killer deal on a slightly used one... 2 yrs old and 20k miles or so. And then drive the hell out of it. Its a fantastic highway cruiser for 100 mile commute. The gas mileage on the highway isn't too bad like some ppl have said. But with that kind of miles you are going to run it into the ground after 3-4 years tops. No point in eating all that depreciation on a new one. Also, Don't get a PP car, the ride is horrible on Florida's lousy highways. But the standard suspension should be fine, the Magnaride would be even better if you can find one for a good deal. I would recommend the auto too... the stick is fun but the auto is spectacular too and for a car you have to use in traffic you will appreciate it.

 

[Mustang5ohMan]

Have you test driven a GT yet? You need to decide if you want a manual or the 10 speed auto. You need to drive the 10 speed auto in Sport to really see what it can do. After you get one you can think about modifying it. But with 460 hp(closer to 490) you probably won't need to do anything to it, other than exhaust and intake. The GT is mostly reliable.

Coming from a Civic you will need to have a great deal of respect for the car when driving it-especially in the rain. The gas mileage won't be anywhere near your Civic highway mileage, as it looks like you do a lot of annual miles. I don't know your age-but you may want to check with your insurance agent on rates as insurance is a bitch in S. Florida.

Last but not least, expect a lot of Civic guys wanting to race-or at least give you the evil eye at lights(lol).

what do you mean closer to 490HP?

 

[Mustang5ohMan]

I daily drive my GT as it’s my only car. The only downside is the back seat and the trunk space, but we brought I brought a v8 2 door coupe so no worries.

 

[Nomadic]

Your gas mileage if driven like your SI will be closer to 16 or 17mpg IMO. If you can deal with that, go for it. Unless I had a very short commute, I would not commute in a car with horrid gas mpg. I also would get bored of any car if I drove it daily. I'd have a 4cyl as a commuter. Mustang GT weekend/pleasure car.

 

[scotty]

I've been DD'ing a Mustang for over 3 years now ... 2 1/2 of those with a blower.
I have a similar length commute to my office, but work remotely 99% of the time so only ever have to make that trip once or twice a month. If I leave cruise set at 120Km/h, I will generally see about 25mpg, even with the blower. If I decide to have any sort of fun, that will plummet fast.

Honestly, if I were in your shoes, I'd keep the Honda. You say you "romp on it everywhere" .. if you drive the Mustang like that, you'll be lucky to see 15mpg. However, if you can deal with the high fuel costs that will be a result, well, more power to ya.

 

[Ed M]

24 mpg with me romping on it very frequently

“Romping” on a Civic is equivalent to less than 1/4 throttle in a Mustang GT.

 

[Dfeeds]

I daily drive mine and love it. I actually had two cars but I enjoyed the feeling of the Mustang being my only car (I DD'd an sn95 for 8 years). Dedicated snow tires made winter a breeze. Trunk space hasn't been an issue and it's only $20 bucks to rent a truck from Lowe's if I need one.

Although if it were just straight commuting then I'm not so sure. I don't get stuck in stop and go and my trip to work is short. So my car is basically just a 24/7 fun car. A 45 minute commute would be alright. An hour or more expressway way commute would just negate anything that makes the Mustang fun.

 

[GT-SV]

Best daily driver I've owned in years (GT Premium), enjoying it tremendously. I've owned 13 brands/25+ cars for comparison.

 

[Sig556]

I lived in the North East most of my life (Pennsylvania) and all of my last few GT's were my daily driver. 2011 GT, 2015 GT, 2018 GT, My latest vehicle is a 2020GT but a Southern Belle.

 

[jrsimon27]

Hello everybody this my first time posting on the forum. I currently have a 10th Gen Civic SI, which I guess you can consider it "full bolt on," at this point. Don't get me wrong I love my car, but the itch to try something different namely an S550 Mustang GT (due to the 5.0 and IRS), hasn't gone away. I try to forget about it, but it keeps bugging me what it would be living with a GT, and want to feel the power of a V8 and not have to do much to it to make power (maybe it will be the one car I keep till the wheels fall off, which I have never really done before). My predicament is that I drive 100 miles one way to work (200 miles per day), and yeah the Civic SI is a great and fun car especially gas mileage (24 mpg with me romping on it very frequently), and reliable. My question is with that type of driving how does the Mustang GT fair in terms of gas mileage and reliablity. I should also mention that I bought my 2019 Civic Si brand new and it has 41k miles on it now, and not one problem. I get at best 33+ mpg, if I drive it softly on the highway. Looking for advice from you guys, especially since a lot of you DD your car and a lot of them are more than likely modified, which is what I would plan on doing down the road.

I have a gen9 civic its my daily driver.
My GT is a car for weekend racing i would never daily drive it in city i get 15mpg and my drive to work from home is only 10miles away.
Car has been pretty reliable but to daily drive it i wouldnt do it.
But everyone has a different opinion and if you want to buy it just do it you only live once.

Sponsored