Buying a new (Used) Mustang GT Soon. Thoughts?

Welcome to the forum number1alex. These cars are pretty reliable however there are two areas to be aware of. One is that the manual transmission seems to be hit or miss. I have not had a problem with mine but others have had issues so check it out carefully before you buy. The other area is the hood. Check the edges of the hood (especially the front edge) and under the hood around the edges for corrosion. Ford has not done a great job with prepping the aluminum hoods for painting.

Most anything else that you hear about is small stuff and not in any great numbers.

Also remember that this car is a modder's paradise so check to see that the car is stock (if that is what you want) or the the mods are done correctly.

A Mustang will be a great choice of car. Don't worry much at all about the 'transmission issues', as only around an estimated 0.05% of MT82-equipped Mustangs have had any problems- at least, according to the feds, when they investigated to see if a recall or other action was needed.
The paint issue on hoods *may* be more common, although it's hard to tell. People usually don't go to internet forums to say 'today my paint is fine!'.
Look for the lowest-mileage car you can afford, and try to get any service records- it's always good to have things documented.
Hope this helps!

I say this cautiously: buy a car that has not been heavily modified. Ford offers a drivetrain warranty on Certified Used Cars for up to 100,000 miles on the odometer. The price might be higher, but you are getting piece of mind with a used car. Going to Texas might save you money on the purchase but will it cover other costs?

My 2012 was an excellent car. I only sold it to purchase what I have now. The 2011- 2014 Mustangs are excellent cars. The 2012 that I owned became the car that I expected with minimal enhancement. I replaced the shifter, shifter bushing and disabled skip shift. Easy stuff to DIY. Most of the issues with the early 2011 cars was the misinformation or unawareness of the skip shift issue.

Buying a clean car that has not been messed with is the best way to go. I stopped by my dealership this (Sunday) morning. There were five used GT's and a 2001 Saleen that were very clean. If you find a three year old car with less than 30,000 on it jump on it. The Saleen actually had 1800 miles on it believe it or not. My car turned 9000 this morning after two years!

BTW there isn't anything wrong with finding one with a MT and 3:31 gears. Mine had the 3:73 setup, but one of my earlier Mustangs has the 3:55 which I though was an ideal street gear. My current one has a 3:31 gear setup.

Make sure that the previous owner kept track of any service done to the car, even if it was done by the owner. It just shows concern by the previous owner. And a car closer to stock is always better when buying used.

Pete

Pete Grimaldi said:

My 2012 was an excellent car. I only sold it to purchase what I have now. The 2011- 2014 Mustangs are excellent cars. The 2012 that I owned became the car that I expected with minimal enhancement. I replaced the shifter, shifter bushing and disabled skip shift. Easy stuff to DIY. Most of the issues with the early 2011 cars was the misinformation or unawareness of the skip shift issue.

Pete

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I'm in pretty much the same exact situation as the OP here, some of you guys have commented in similar threads I've started. I've been reading up on the shift issues lately but what exactly is skip shift and why did it cause these problems?

Edit: just found out. So is there a way to get a tune that eliminates skip shift while staying otherwise stock or is there a mechanical fix?

Edit: looked that up as well. Just unplug and secure/cover the wire right? Was that really the cause of all the transmission issues I've read about?

Yes. Removing the connector from the transmission will disable skip shift. I would not say that this was an issue but rather a lack of knowledge about the "feature". The remote mounted shifter is the cause of other transmission related complaints especially during hard shifts but this is easily solved with an aftermarket shifter or bracket. There are plenty of threads on this subject.

I agree with the try and find a clean unmodded mustang for your purchase especially if you are worried about warranty. If the car has had something realatively minor such as a tune it could cause issues with engine warranty items in the future. If I remember correctly, the 11-14 ECU's show a tune footprint if Ford decides to look for it. Now if you aren't worried about warranty then disregard that comment. As far as your price you shouldn't have any issue finding a good low mileage car. I picked up my '14 premium with track pack and 13k miles for 26k. Always try and find out the service record prior to purchase. If you can get the Vin any ford dealership can look up the history to see if it has had any issues.

Budman93 said:

I'm in pretty much the same exact situation as the OP here, some of you guys have commented in similar threads I've started. I've been reading up on the shift issues lately but what exactly is skip shift and why did it cause these problems?

Edit: just found out. So is there a way to get a tune that eliminates skip shift while staying otherwise stock or is there a mechanical fix?

Edit: looked that up as well. Just unplug and secure/cover the wire right? Was that really the cause of all the transmission issues I've read about?

Click to expand...

Some of the issues are with the skip shift. I manually disabled it. The 2013 and later don't have it. It was to improve fuel economy. Whatever! The early 2011 panic was because of gear lockout because of skip shift. This made it difficult for some to shift at will. This would force you to skip gears so that you would have to shift into a higher gear, saving fuel but putting you in a comprimising position in traffic, reducing acceleration and the ability to move in or out of traffic safely.

Other issues are with the poor shifter and shifter bushing. I'm sure some had transmission issues but much of it was because of misinformation. Additionally, the torque of the motor on heavy excelleration put the drivetrain out of alignment and the shifting was inconsistent.

Again, I found that the aftermarket shifter and bushing, Steeda TriAx and red bushing, and the manual disabling of skip shift made the car a pleasure to drive. I drove my 2012 as a DD in New England.

Pete

i recently got a new (used) 2013 gt with only 6,600 miles on it. Things i read about looking for have been noted already. Hood paint, transmission shifting properly ect. Check the tires. If they are worn beyond what you think they should be, or have been replaced, that is a good sign of being driven hard. Also look for something with a remaining warranty. Mine "developed" the front upper control arm squeek and clunk. its in the shop now being fixed under warranty. Even the dealer didnt seem surprised it happened. Also, after i got the car (used from toyota) i took it to my ford dealer and had them do a once over to make sure everything was kosher (did it for free as well, they rock). Everything checked out, even the magnaflow cb that was already installed before i bought the car. And if anything else comes up, i still have like 18 months of factory warranty to cover it.

Pete Grimaldi said:

Some of the issues are with the skip shift. I manually disabled it. The 2013 and later don't have it. It was to improve fuel economy. Whatever! The early 2011 panic was because of gear lockout because of skip shift. This made it difficult for some to shift at will. This would force you to skip gears so that you would have to shift into a higher gear, saving fuel but putting you in a comprimising position in traffic, reducing acceleration and the ability to move in or out of traffic safely.

Other issues are with the poor shifter and shifter bushing. I'm sure some had transmission issues but much of it was because of misinformation. Additionally, the torque of the motor on heavy excelleration put the drivetrain out of alignment and the shifting was inconsistent.

Again, I found that the aftermarket shifter and bushing, Steeda TriAx and red bushing, and the manual disabling of skip shift made the car a pleasure to drive. I drove my 2012 as a DD in New England.

Pete

Click to expand...

Thanks, that eases my mind about the transmission. A lot of the huge threads I saw about the issue ended without any kind of consensus on what the problem was. Good to know that some fairly easy do-it-yourself upgrades alleviate the problems.

First and foremost congrats on your B.S.!
I purchased a 2011 Mustang GT Premium Manual this past February with 40K miles for $23K. So far so good! I also purchased extended warranty since I will not be doing any mods anytime soon. Take your time and visit your local dealers as well as different internet sites; your mustang is out there waiting for you:wink:

I just bought my 2007 Mustang GT from a single owner. After some time looking, my decision on which to buy and what to look out for was just to find a clean unmodded car and from an owner that didn't go racing with it. I didn't want any unknowns with premature engine fatigue. It did have some oxidation on back bumper and a few nicks, but I got that repainted and touched up for about $250 from a good friend. I was very happy the interior was solid and the engine was clean and no missing parts anywhere. I also had him test out the convertible top twice to make sure it worked well.

Well I think I found my car! I'm flying out on Thursday night and, assuming everything checks out, will be buying it Friday morning. It's Ford Certified Pre-Owned, clean carfax, 1 owner, brand new tires and oil change records every 5k so I don't have too many concerns.

I'll post pics when I get it!

As a side note, does anyone have any experience with value of the CPO extended warranties? I know that other 3rd party warranties can easily run over 2k, but I thought that I heard somewhere that CPO warranties are usually less expensive.

I have never bought an extended warranty, I found it is hard enough to get dealers to be honest and perform service work. No reason to pay a bunch of cash on the front end when most of the time they will try to dodge coverage. Just my family experience. It is amazing what they try to get away with when my mom is alone at a dealership. fell for the extended plan but on her last new car I got involved and saved her the cash. JMHO