Juntech

Ok whats up with the Mustangs (actually all american muscle cars in general) stigma. Im talking about the "it might not be reliable or well put together, but it's fast and tons of fun". It's exactly that kind of attitude that perpetuates Americas car companies to consistently put out cars that fail in quality. I mean is there some sort of universal law that says Loud Fun cars absolutely cannot be reliable and well put together? I'm sure if every unhappy mustang owner complained about its small squeeks and rattles or its more serious problems Ford will begin to listen. I dunno, i guess it bugs me that the general consensus is "if it's obnoxious and fast, it dosent have to be well built".

thoughts? Opinions? Any idea how to get Ford to build them better (hopefully before i buy one )?

andrews0915

I think that at least part of it is due to the fact that muscle cars like our mustangs are supposed to be pretty inexpensive and available to anyone. They are supposed to be something like a "working man's sports car," and I suppose that means cutting some costs in a few areas so that more can be put towards power. I'm not saying that this is the best strategy or that they still couldn't maybe use some higher quality materials, but that is at least part of the reasoning behind it.

Juntech

you mean like power seats, 120 color instrument gauge and more wheel selections than a bugatti veyron has cylinders? I think people are sold on the gimmics so they overlook the fact that Ford can and would produce better vehicles, but they choose to sell you on things you dont need and also replacement parts later on.

The TRUE working man's sports car dosent break down (unless it's a blown motor or tranny) because a working man has no time to deal with the little problems. wouldnt you agree?

dkano

When I look at my Mustang I don't see it as an unreliable car, that's the reaction I get from other people as well, they just comment on how great of a job Ford did with the new Mustangs. I didn't see my previous car as unreliable either, that was a 2002 Chrysler 300M (domestic ). I never had to take that car to the dealer for any problems, the only times it saw the dealer's service deparment was for scheduled maintenance. I think you're also taking about this idea a lot of people have that American are unreliable and Japanese cars are the greatest thing on earth. I know Ford had problems last year with their trucks and SUVs, but as Toyota keeps getting bigger, they're also closing the gap when it comes to recalls on their vehicles.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/...-recalls_x.htm
I myself would probably never own a Toyota, except for maybe a new Supra if they make it and it's at a reasonable price, the others just don't do it for me.

W1ldcat

A lot of problems are brought on by the nature the car is driven. Driving WOT is harder on cars than using one for just transportation. Mustangs are fun to drive compared to others.

JStang78

It's not exactly like Lamborghinis or Ferraris are "known for" their reliability either. Furthermore, if you look at reliability ratings on used cars, the highest rated cars are NOT foreign, but are Buicks. Why? I suspect that it has to do with the owners more than it has to do with the cars. Why would Pontiacs, which largely share engines, platforms and materials with Buick, not have the same ratings, except for the fact that younger people, who overall have less regard for their vehicles and less time to provide for maintenence drive Pontiacs as opposed to Buicks.

Then you have the issue of choice. Why do people buy Mercedes over Lexuses? The Lexus is far easier and cheaper to repair, has a better reputation in terms of reliability and shares common parts with Toyotas. Some people, I suspect, prefer the LOOKS of the Mercedes over the hopped-up Toyota. Others may prefer buying a German car.

As for my Mustang, the only real "gripe" I have...and it's not really a gripe...just something I noticed that I don't particularly like, is that the door insert where the window controls are rattles sometimes when the radio is turned up. BFD. Seriously. Otherwise, I haven't experienced ANY problems with the Mustang. None at all. It has gotten me to work every day, took me on two problem-free road trips of about 500 miles (round-trip) a piece and otherwise has always gotten me to my destination. If that's not "reliability," I don't know what is.

I think the whole idea that foreign cars are more reliable than American cars, as a whole, is a bunch of nonsense. Before the Mustang, I had a 2002 Ford Escort ZX2. The ONLY time that car saw the inside of a shop was for oil and filter changes. That was IT. Otherwise, the only place the car was, was on the road. And I saved about $4000 over the similarly equipped Corolla, and about $5500 over the similarly equipped Civic I compared to them at the time I purchased the Escort.

I suspect, again, going back to the driver, that the supposed "reliability" issues with muscle cars are more related to driving style and what the car is "used for," as opposed to the cars themselves. As for gimmicks...are you suggesting that Scion then, is similarly unreliable, based upon the fact that their entire sales pitch is based around the availability of various options and equpimpent packages? I really don't see any correlation between factory or dealer personalization packages and reliability.

fairlane292

Having owned plenty of foreign and domestic (Have 2000 Mits Galant and 06 GT) I see the quality from paint, fit and finish, to mechanical reliability as consistently and "obviously" better on the foreign. ...I hate to say; I really wish it was the other way around. The My Color option is a good example; IMO it is totally unecessary; I would have rather seen them engineer the antenna in the rear window (or elsewhere for the conv) as my 6 year old Mits Galant has. The 2007 has even more options coming with the CS; you can have an Orange GT but not in the CS, maybe beacuse the side decal colors they have won't look right. This is something the US automakers just won't seem to let go of. If you want a Honda Accord sedan you have like 2 or 3 choices, with some accessories and other options handled at the dealership. This allows them to focus more on optimal design and quality. Don't get me wrong I love the fact that you can custom order, i.e. "spoiler delete" (almost like the old days); but you can't have it both ways. I'm willing to bet the new Challenger will not have the flexibility of build options as does the Mustang because they will realize by then it's not good business strategy afterall.

The Ford Escort is not a muscle car; do you think it's a higher quality car than the mustang? I doubt it. ...just my two cents.

fairlane292

I guess we don't agree on everything but we all know why Corollas and Camrys out sell Cavaliers and Malibus; ...several reasons and we all know what they are. The American public has spoken for the last 25 years and US automakers just don't get it. And I don't blame the workers, they are getting layed off as we speak; it upper mgt decisions (or lack there of) that is hurting. GM took a few years to dump the Olds and they still need to dump Pontiac, Buick, Cadillac, Hummer, GMC, SSR before they go completely under; Can they even withstand one more year like 2005?

JStang78

I didn't say that the Escort was a muscle car, and no, it's not a "higher quality" car than the Mustang, but that's apples and oranges. However, I don't know why you'd take issue with me mentioning the Escort, and then mention how you have a Galant, which isn't exactly a muscle car either. The fact is, as you indicate as well, that this "stigma" goes further than just "muscle cars" (and on that note, how many non-American MUSCLE cars are there?), but realistically does not apply. There are other issues hampering the American car industry, such as the fact that unlike the Japanese competition, they change the model names every several years, that have affected sales of domestics as well. Many people are simply unaware that the Malibu IS the former Lumina, which was the former Celebrity... On the other hand, there's no question as to what a Toyota Camry is. It's always been the mid-sized Toyota. Marketing has been as much, if not more, of a problem for the American companies as their supposed "reliability issues."

6xStang

This is an oversimplification and will get me flamed to death, but if you got the friggin UAW out of the ford plants and had the cars built by employees who had to do a good job in order to retain their job, you'd have a better quality incentive.

As a company, Ford has already decided to outsource most of their complex R&D work, so they are not getting a lot of first rate engineers. Contrast with your Japanese and Euro counterparts, where they are developing a lot of technology in house.

Flame suit on, zipped, and velcroed.


Edit: NO workers are being laid off. Under the current UAW contracts nobody can laid off till the end of 2007. UAW mployees are being offered lucrative buyouts. Some management is getting laid off, but you know what? That's part of life. Anybody in the high tech biz knows that lesson all too well. We live in a fast paced economic world and if companies are burdened with socialist hiring and firing policies then they will not be able to compete in the global market. Who can spell F-R-A-N-C-E. Today's news is quite telling. Paris is rioting because they want to introduce some employment-at-will legislation. Give me a freakin break.

Uh oh. off my soapbox now.