how well does the s197 stand up to abuse?
09-05-2007, 01:36 PM
#11
5th Gear Member
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: MD
Posts: 2,083
RE: how well does the s197 stand up to abuse?
+1 Viking396. I have owned several Fords and have not had a problem with any of them. My father has bought 16 Fords over the years and has never had any problem with any of them. As a matter of fact, lately when he decides to buy a new one, I buy the old one and then pass it on to my son. Ford means "Quality is job 1". I'm buying their stock by the way while it is cheap. Check it out in the next year or two.
09-05-2007, 01:44 PM
#12
1st Gear Member
Join Date: May 2007
Location: KY
Posts: 131
RE: how well does the s197 stand up to abuse?
Domestics are actually pulling ahead of Toyata in quality now. They may have been better in the past, but now thats a misconseption. Plus I personally now people who work for bothFord and Toyota. Fords employees are treated well while Toyotas are disposable. You get hurt on the job there your fired. no way am I supporting a company like that, or sending my hard earned money into the Japanese economy.
09-05-2007, 02:04 PM
#13
6th Gear Member
RE: how well does the s197 stand up to abuse?
I hope you all are correct about domestic vehicle quality being comparable or exceeding foreign. I'd prefer to buy domestic. My experiences since the early 70's when I began paying for my own vehicles always proved that the foreign "bang-for-the-buck" was better where my foreign cars faired much better in reliability and repairability (my last domestic vehicle was from '81). We all have our stories of good and bad cars.Hopefully, being a Ford customer now, I'll see things differently.
Rick
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Rick
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09-05-2007, 02:10 PM
#14
1st Gear Member
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location:
Posts: 134
RE: how well does the s197 stand up to abuse?
There are only two things that failed me on the mustang. It was the alternator and the transmission.Besides those two things, everything has been working just fine! Oh and i take my mustang out to the track almost every week. So yea i think i beat on my mustang pretty hard...
09-05-2007, 02:14 PM
#15
5th Gear Member
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Alabama
Posts: 2,935
RE: how well does the s197 stand up to abuse?
ORIGINAL: MustangGT0405
In my opinion it is hard to buy a "bad" car these days. Sure a lemon turns up now and then from any manufacturer but in general cars are very durable these days. I would expect any car right from the lot will do over 100,000 miles no problem. That wasnt true even 10-15 years ago.
In my opinion it is hard to buy a "bad" car these days. Sure a lemon turns up now and then from any manufacturer but in general cars are very durable these days. I would expect any car right from the lot will do over 100,000 miles no problem. That wasnt true even 10-15 years ago.
Lol, but otherwise yeah thats a good point.
FORD FOR LIFE!
09-05-2007, 03:26 PM
#17
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: KY
Posts: 169
RE: how well does the s197 stand up to abuse?
I'm curious about the lifespan on this newest generation of pony cars. I took a 64 1/2 coupe w/289-4V to college, I put 92k on a 72 convertible w/351C-4V and drove a 91 5.0 LX 5 speed convertible 125k with no real problems. As typical the 5.0 ear seal began to leak about 90k, but the weekend I sold her I went head to head on the interstate with a Z28 convertible, redlined every shift and she held together (and beat him to the next exit!). I hope the 4.6 is proven enough and the automatic will stand the test of time. I plan on buying a GT convertible over the winter--maybe late Jan or Feb.
09-05-2007, 04:01 PM
#18
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location:
Posts: 220
RE: how well does the s197 stand up to abuse?
One would expect that if you maintained the drive train regularly, it would hold up for 150K to 200K or more, even if you redline the engine 10 times a day. My assumptions are you have a manual transmission and don't regularly grind the gears. This assumption does not include the clutch as personal driving habits will affect clutch wear(I personally got 150K out of the clutch on my last daily driver, although it did not have the horsepower of my Stang) My assumptions also assumes no FI. If your Mustang is an automatic and you beaton itregularly, it islikely the tanny will go relatively quickly. The bottom line is that if you change the fluids and filters regularly, drive a manual, have decent driving skills and don'thave FI,you will probably get a lot of miles out of your ride without major repairs. Hopefully you can keep the exterior and interior nice too.
09-05-2007, 09:37 PM
#19
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: May 2006
Location:
Posts: 937
RE: how well does the s197 stand up to abuse?
well as far as clutch problems go . . .
i have over 300 wheel and i do redline clutch drops on ET streets . . . STOCK CLUTCH . . .
still have no problems outta clutch and it hasn't slipped once . . . stocky FTW!!!!
i have over 300 wheel and i do redline clutch drops on ET streets . . . STOCK CLUTCH . . .
still have no problems outta clutch and it hasn't slipped once . . . stocky FTW!!!!
09-06-2007, 01:58 AM
#20
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location:
Posts: 1,248
RE: how well does the s197 stand up to abuse?
I think the design of cars has improved vastly over these past years. To be honest, I lay the blame on the owner, and not the car. Viking, I agree completely with you.