My son, 19, is looking for a mustang. We are considering 05-14 V6 mustangs. I have tried to search the forum for discussion like this, but I cannot find one. I’m sure there are many so I apologize for a repetitive question. From what I have read the six cylinder engine in these Mustang is pretty reliable. We are looking for something with less than 130,000 miles if possible. Are there any major issues with this generation that we should be considering? We like the body style of this generation. I’m leaning toward the 3.7l because of better gas mileage. Any input would be appreciated.

 

The 2005-2010 had the 4.0 V6, a very strong engine. Not that powerful but can take a lot of abuse (I ran nitrous on mine for 2 years and then pulled it and added an Xcharger supercharger at 90,000 miles) The issue that you need to watch for on the 4.0 is the plastic thermostat housing that splits open, and is often misdiagnosed as a bad water pump.

The 2012 to 2014 V6 is the 3.7. A little more power, a little better MPG. But not as strong in my experience if you mod it -- blew it up three times trying to get a turbo to run on it. But if left stock it will run a long time; or a light tune (nothing aggressive) it is fine.

 

Not really a big deal but two things that I’ve noticed are the inserts in the door panel peel off and the center console lid seems to come apart. Is that common? Also, I have one that I am considering that has a code P0180. It is a 2006 with 107,000 miles. They are asking $7k but will take best offer.

 

The door panel is a fairly common problem, lots of threads on how to fix it. I'm not aware of the console lid being a commong problem.

That code isn't common, it seems to be an easy sensor to replace.

 

We are going to look at two tomorrow. A 2012 V6 black convertible and a 2013 V6 Blue hard top. Both have around 115,000 miles and can be had for around 10,500. I am not sure about him having a convertible.

 

It's a shame you can't get the 3.7 V6 engine in the '05-'09 body, though I do know someone who successfully swapped almost everything except the bodyshell and panels from a totaled '12 V6 into his '07 V6.
The 4.0 V6 engine is very robust, and it's only real weaknesses are the plastic thermostat housing (easy to fix by replacing with aftermarket aluminium unit) plus the rear mounted passenger side camshaft drive system (stupid design that's an engine out job to replace). Unfortunately 210hp & 240lbft from 4.0L is pretty poor by modern standards though simple bolt ons and a tune could make the numbers a bit more respectable.
The 3.7 V6 is undoubtedly the better engine but it's best you don't go mad modding it. You could always opt for the Coyote 5.0 V8 if you really want more power. LT headers, your favourite axle backs, and a tune while retaining the stock airbox (CAI is a waste of money) are plenty enough to make the 3.7 V6 fun. It's too bad Ford fitted the '11-'14 V6 with ridiculously tall axle gears to maximise highway fuel economy for marketing purposes since this blunts performance, when a 3.73 ratio would have been ideal. One could argue that this should be the first mod to do on any '11-'14 V6 model together with an aluminium driveshaft, as these would transform the driving experience.

 

We test drove the 2012 convertible. Overall it was in pretty decent condition. It does need the rear swaybar linkage replaced. The only concern was it showed that it was getting 17 miles to the gallon. I thought this generation got better gas mileage.

 

We test drove the 2013 hardtop. It was not in as good condition. It did have a cold air intake. it was much quicker off the line and had better low end torque. It also showed that it gets 21.6 miles per gallon. They are both 3.7 L. I’m not sure why one is much quicker than the other and gets much better gas mileage. The gas mileage on the 2012 concerns me.

 

I’ve put cold air intakes on vehicles before and the difference was negligible. Cold air intakes wake these engines up that much?

 

The difference in mpg display could be simply one was reset recently while the car was coasting. Or one was driven hard and not reset. Many things will affect that display that have nothing to do with how the mpg is currently.