Wait until Ford gets the 'bugs' worked out before buying?

[Vapor08]

What issues did the 1.6 have? I bought a 2014 escape with this engine but did not see many complaints other that my Ford touch issues.

Depending on the build date of the 1.6l it was affected by one of the many cooling and overheating recalls. The latest issues I've seen have had to do with micro cracks in the heads leading to coolant loss. I've spoken to several 2014 owners who have already had a buyback because of this. Again most of the issues were with early builds, 2013's and early production 2014's.

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[Trackaholic]

My 2003 350Z (first model year, pre-ordered) has been great for 180,000 miles.

There were some niggling issues, but nothing major on my car (although there are some things that were known issues, such as front tire wear issues that caused a lawsuit, and 2nd gear grinding issues with the transmission. I do have the transmission issue when cold, so I've mostly learned to drive around it). Given the amount of abuse the car has seen (many track days and AutoX) I've been very happy with it.

For the 2015 Mustang I would not be too worried for the following reasons:
1. 5.0 engine is mostly carried over from before. There are many tweaks to the details, but the overall architecture is well known. I would not expect many surprises. The ecoboost has more potential for issues, but it sounds like Ford has spend quite a bit of time getting it to run at high speeds for long periods (managing temperatures) for Europe. I'd be more nervous about this one, but not terribly so.

2. Transmission has minor upgrades. I don't know much about the history of the manual transmission, other than a general sense of unreliability with the previous generation. It sounds like some subtle improvements have been made, which should only make it better than before.

3. MFT is pretty well understood at this point. It may have weak areas, but it seems like the most common features are now accessible by buttons. Hopefully the touch screen is somewhat responsive, but even then it looks like a decently setup interface now that all the HVAC controls are mechanical.

4. IRS is new, but I think one of the better understood areas in terms of engineering. The moving parts are minimal, the loads are pretty well understood, and a similar design is used on the Fusion I believe.

Overall I think that the main areas of the car likely to cause issues are pretty well understood. The things I'd be a bit leery of would be areas specific to the new design, such as body panel gaps and fitment, interior fit and finish, and squeaks and rattles.

The 2015 will not be as well understood as the 2014 initially, but I am hopefully that the car holds up well over time.

-T

 

[valentinoamoro]

I think u missed the whole point of OP's question.

But to respond to this, I think it is just becomes a slippery slope. Waiting for 2017 to see how Ford will respond to the 2016 Camaro sounds great and all but then you will start to see spy shots of the 2018 refresh and consider waiting for the upgrades and new design. So you wait for the 2018, but then Camaro will be refreshed the next year and you wonder if you should wait to see how Ford responds to that in 2019/2020. It never ends. Bottom line is buy what you like now and stop worrying about keeping up with the joneses because you never will unless you plan to get a new car every 2-3 years.

Anyway back to the topic of BUGS in the first year...FWIW I agree that with the Coyote making a return there shouldn't be many issues there. The tranny has been updated to hopefuly be more reliable and address some complaints I have read. Only big question is IRS... and the EB engine I suppose.

I've got a bunch of friends who suffer from analysis paralysis and never end up pulling the trigger, something better is always around the corner. Personally, I am going for the 15 as I'll be driving a significantly upgraded car that's awesome looking before many are on the streets - if history is any indicator they are also unlikely to continue to offer TY in future years! Additionally, while future versions are likely to get incremental improvements, I am hoping the current package will meet my expectations- it certainly does on paper based on the looks, interior, brakes, technology and most importantly the fact it outlaps and out performs the excellent boss 302 while returning a daily driving noticeable increase in torque, a complaint I have with my current 500hp v10 (high revving but low torque). I'm not super concerned with a possible 15-20 hp increase in the near future (not noticeable IMHO and easily made up through tuning if needed). Heck, even the 13-14 Coyote make 425whp w bolt ons and tune, as you mention engine and tranny are carry overs that are well understood and improved and a possible thousand buck incentive in 6 months is not worth the wait. I would like heated recaros and glass roof but decided to proceed and enjoy the less weight and wait!

New Camaro will handle great no doubt as I feel GM has some of the best chassis engineering teams out there BUT I don't care about their lazy feeling LS3 vs the excellent 5.0. Personal preference, I think the 5.0 is one of the most amazing NA engines out there right now and likes to rev like earlier Euro cars but also has a good dose of torque in American style. I feel it sounds way better than the LT 1 and LS3 and GM interiors just don't do it for me and often smell of glue (except New caddy v-sport) and are plasticky.

My 2003 350Z (first model year, pre-ordered) has been great for 180,000 miles.

There were some niggling issues, but nothing major on my car (although there are some things that were known issues, such as front tire wear issues that caused a lawsuit, and 2nd gear grinding issues with the transmission. I do have the transmission issue when cold, so I've mostly learned to drive around it). Given the amount of abuse the car has seen (many track days and AutoX) I've been very happy with it.

For the 2015 Mustang I would not be too worried for the following reasons:
1. 5.0 engine is mostly carried over from before. There are many tweaks to the details, but the overall architecture is well known. I would not expect many surprises. The ecoboost has more potential for issues, but it sounds like Ford has spend quite a bit of time getting it to run at high speeds for long periods (managing temperatures) for Europe. I'd be more nervous about this one, but not terribly so.

2. Transmission has minor upgrades. I don't know much about the history of the manual transmission, other than a general sense of unreliability with the previous generation. It sounds like some subtle improvements have been made, which should only make it better than before.

3. MFT is pretty well understood at this point. It may have weak areas, but it seems like the most common features are now accessible by buttons. Hopefully the touch screen is somewhat responsive, but even then it looks like a decently setup interface now that all the HVAC controls are mechanical.

4. IRS is new, but I think one of the better understood areas in terms of engineering. The moving parts are minimal, the loads are pretty well understood, and a similar design is used on the Fusion I believe.

Overall I think that the main areas of the car likely to cause issues are pretty well understood. The things I'd be a bit leery of would be areas specific to the new design, such as body panel gaps and fitment, interior fit and finish, and squeaks and rattles.

The 2015 will not be as well understood as the 2014 initially, but I am hopefully that the car holds up well over time.

-T

Good explanation. The risk to reward ratio seems to work for me with the new GT. I'd be somewhat more leery initially with the EB. Who knows though, I've never owned American.

 

[5.0GT]

LS motors do feel lazy ^^, they got gobs of low end torque and feel strong under 4k.

 

[tbonez3858]

I wont buy until the 2016 model but I definitely feel this is one of the "safest" new releases you can buy. The drive train is where the bulk of my worry would be on a year one car. The 5.0 is tried and tested with upgrades that shouldt cause much issue. The tranny is pretty much the same with a few minor upgrades. The only real high dollar things to worry about are IRS and tech. Ford has staked the Mustangs acclaim on the IRS so Im sure plenty of attention and testing have gone into them and any issues would be quickly fixed...That just leaves tech in my personal opinion.

 

[Nitro]

I bought my FR-S the day it was released (actually, the dealer sold it to me a day early). I have had to deal with a few of the early bugs(bad tail-light seals, ECU control module, engine chirping), but I think manufactures now do a pretty good job of quality control before releasing.

Although, it has been over 2 years and Toyota still doesn't have a fix for the engine chirping.

 

[Ericc B]

Although, it has been over 2 years and Toyota still doesn't have a fix for the engine chirping.

Seriously? I haven't been following that issue anymore for quite a while, but I'm quite amazed to hear that.

 

[genericuser1]

As a general rule it's always better to wait a year or three to buy a car on a new platform. It doesn't mean you will have terrible issues if you buy the first model year. You can also buy the last model year of a car and get a lemon.

I may be buying next summer or 3 years from now, just depends on how reliable my current car ends up being.

There will also be a wonderful selection of performance cars in the next few years to pick from. As of right now the Mustang is the best performance and style for your dollar IMO.

 

[Brent302]

As a general rule it's always better to wait a year or three to buy a car on a new platform. It doesn't mean you will have terrible issues if you buy the first model year. You can also buy the last model year of a car and get a lemon.

I may be buying next summer or 3 years from now, just depends on how reliable my current car ends up being.

There will also be a wonderful selection of performance cars in the next few years to pick from. As of right now the Mustang is the best performance and style for your dollar IMO.

Leaky floor board in the S197 didn't start until 2006...

You have to remember this is a first Run of a new everything. There is going to be extra Quality Control at the factory level this year and the workers get that "pride" motivation of a new generation. Technically this would be the safest year to purchase. 2016 it'll just be back to work on the same car with some more options so then the cruise control engages.

 

[Mustangchief]

As a general rule it's always better to wait a year or three to buy a car on a new platform. It doesn't mean you will have terrible issues if you buy the first model year. You can also buy the last model year of a car and get a lemon.

I may be buying next summer or 3 years from now, just depends on how reliable my current car ends up being.

There will also be a wonderful selection of performance cars in the next few years to pick from. As of right now the Mustang is the best performance and style for your dollar IMO.

"Never wait for tomorrow, because there is no certainty in what will come." Me

 

[EiBStudent]

In my opinion, waiting for the 2016 camaro numbers to be released would be a better idea, maybe Ford would want to match and increase power on both the ecoboost and v8 like what happened in 2010-2011

IMO if you wait for reasons like this you may never be happy with your purchase.


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[2yankeesoldiers]

"Never wait for tomorrow, because there is no certainty in what will come." Me

finally... The truth.

We could all wait for the 2030 release, it's guaranteed to be fast due to the yearly increments of HP.

 

[Brent302]

finally... The truth.

We could all wait for the 2030 release, it's guaranteed to be fast due to the yearly increments of HP.

But what about the 2050 Camaro?

 

[fionic]

IMO if you wait for reasons like this you may never be happy with your purchase.

+1

 

[SeventhWard]

Great question - but I'm not one for waiting any longer and if you want the 6th Gen Mustang, get it without worrying about the bugs. Why? You'll have a factory warranty. If there's a defect, you'll be covered. Even if something on the car forces a recall, what's it likely mean? A day in a service bay with Ford picking up the bill.

Being an early adopter is FUN. You'll have lots of conversations about the car. You're going to answer lots of questions. You're going to feel like you're dating a celebrity because you are - you're behind the wheel of a brand new redesigned Mustang. The car turns heads for those first few years like no other time, and I think even Ray Charles could appreciate how fun that can be.

As for performance gains in the form of HP boosts in the 2016 and etc, I think cruising along in a 300-435HP beauty for all of 2015 is sweeter than waiting another year for who knows what. I could care less with what the Chevy and Dodge guys are doing and if one day that 2016 Mustang gets another 10HP and 5MPG, I'll be too busy listening to my 2015 Mustang's delicious exhaust note and keeping track of how many ladies let slip a smile as I roll past to really mind all that much...and neither should you my friend.

-SeventhWard

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