Really Disappointed with Ford

[me32]

For you guys who say there have been no major issues with this car and it's the "best" built Mustang ever, have you bothered to even do a Google search?

While I realize that it's anecdotal, a quick search will reveal MANY folks complaining of problems that Ford just has not fixed:

1. Engine ticking (both at idle and under load)
2. This alleged "piston slap"
3. Grinding and notchy gears
4. Multiple clutch issues
5. Hard/long starts
6. Shimmy at highway speeds

I might have missed some here. While you might not consider any of these major, all can be quite disturbing to someone who just paid $36k and would very easily affect resale value.

I don't fault Ford as much for the original problems as their apparent inability or unwillingness to fix them.

you act like no other car company has issues an say the same thing to there customers. every single type of car ever made he some type of issue weather the the driver or owner knows it. hmmmm sounds just like people doesnt it? the issues stated are known issues an ford is working on them. so if you can't wait or help find the solution to the problem you can always just drive you new 5.0 off a cliff an the insurance will pay it off an you can buy another car op:

 

[Ry_Trapp0]

Bending the laws of physics?...this guy is funny. Look simpleton, all I want is for my car to run like the other cars I drove...and that the service manager drove....we cranked the other 5.0 GTs up on a cold morning...with the same warm up time as mine.....and none....again you listening...N O N E of them made the ticking sound mine did & does. And my car has the same oil in it as the others, & it was the same temp. outside, we drove them all with 1 1/2 hours of each other. It's alot easier for you to argue from your weak point of view without it being your $35K spent on the car.

bitching on a forum isn't going to solve any of your problems. try actually being proactive. do you think you have major problems? pursue the lemon law maybe?
sorry bud, money doesn't phase my logic. whether i dropped that coin or not, if ford says it's fine then i'm believing them. if they're lying/wrong, they will be fronting the bill for any future damage.

For you guys who say there have been no major issues with this car and it's the "best" built Mustang ever, have you bothered to even do a Google search?

While I realize that it's anecdotal, a quick search will reveal MANY folks complaining of problems that Ford just has not fixed:

1. Engine ticking (both at idle and under load)
2. This alleged "piston slap"
3. Grinding and notchy gears
4. Multiple clutch issues
5. Hard/long starts
6. Shimmy at highway speeds

I might have missed some here. While you might not consider any of these major, all can be quite disturbing to someone who just paid $36k and would very easily affect resale value.

I don't fault Ford as much for the original problems as their apparent inability or unwillingness to fix them.

i said no major ENGINE issues.

engine ticking is NOT a major issue, many cars(of all different prices) reportedly have a tick.
piston slap is NOT a major issue, ask anyone who owns an LS1.
the shifting is being worked on and may have a DIY fix(temporary?) in the form of a fluid change. no point in mentioning it.
clutch issues have been fixed(pedal box replacement).
i've found all of 1 thread on hard starts, and many think it might be user error because of the 'one start'.
shimmy, are you serious??? see...
http://www.svtperformance.com/forum...rying-douche-ford-quality-control-genius.html

the only major issues are the trans grinding and was the clutch issues. this is a 1st year powertrain[/i], everyone who bought a 2011 took the risk, and problems should be expected to some extent.

you act like no other car company has issues an say the same thing to there customers. every single type of car ever made he some type of issue weather the the driver or owner knows it. hmmmm sounds just like people doesnt it? the issues stated are known issues an ford is working on them. so if you can't wait or help find the solution to the problem you can always just drive you new 5.0 off a cliff an the insurance will pay it off an you can buy another car op:

:beer:

 

[vankuen]

I understand where the OP is coming from. I mean it IS a brand new car. Mine is as well but I don't have those problems in cold weather. I start her up, and wait maybe 10 seconds at best. Granted I drive easy in the cold because the GT500's tires generally dont do well in the cold.

At the same time, Ive had ticking engines, and cars with other unique noises...and most were a non issue except me noticing it and being annoyed by it. Typically though the ticking was from the valves in my cars.

Did the DEALER localize what the cause of the noise was? Was it actually a piston clearance issue? Or did they just call Ford factory?

 

[wbt]

Well, picked up my 2011 GT about two months ago, and since then my thoughts about Ford Motor Company have changed. First off, the minute it turned cold I started getting the balky shifting transmission issue just like mentioned in one of the other threads...it horrible, you have to force the damn thing into second and third gear until the car warms up. I took it back to the dealership and they tell me, yes we are aware of the problem but were not fixing it yet (I have the print out from Ford telling the service department that they are "Investigating the concern and no repairs are recommended at this time"). Problem number two, when it gets below 40 degrees outside the car ticks like a mofo until it gets up to normal operating temps, I took it to the dealership again...they keep it for 8 days...during this time the service guy is communicating with the Ford Hotline about the issue (again..have the print out) and the Ford rep says "Pistons are designed to fit the cylinder bore with the engine at operating temperature. Due to different thickness and expansion rates at various points on the piston, the piston will have different cylinder wall to piston clearance cold to hot. Due to the piston shape some cold piston noise is considered a normal engine characteristic. the noise should be considered a charateristic of the high performace engine design. I asked to be traded out of the car...they said no...I told them I don't blame them, cause they could never sell a car that ticks for the first 10 minutes you drive it. I am very disappointed with Ford on this one. This might be my last Ford...and I've had 6 Mustangs.

As others have recommended, post some video/sound clips of the noise. It will be considered heresy otherwise and ridiculed.

 

[cidsamuth]

I'm shaking my head here at some of these posts.

"you act like no other car company has issues an say the same thing to there customers. every single type of car ever made he some type of issue weather the the driver or owner knows it. hmmmm sounds just like people doesnt it? the issues stated are known issues an ford is working on them. so if you can't wait or help find the solution to the problem you can always just drive you new 5.0 off a cliff an the insurance will pay it off an you can buy another car "

Seriously? This is your response? Well, at least RY_TRAPPO liked it.

"bitching on a forum isn't going to solve any of your problems. try actually being proactive. do you think you have major problems? pursue the lemon law maybe?"

Thanks for the advice, but it's irrelevant to the discussion.

"i said no major ENGINE issues.

engine ticking is NOT a major issue, many cars(of all different prices) reportedly have a tick.
piston slap is NOT a major issue, ask anyone who owns an LS1.
the shifting is being worked on and may have a DIY fix(temporary?) in the form of a fluid change. no point in mentioning it.
clutch issues have been fixed(pedal box replacement).
i've found all of 1 thread on hard starts, and many think it might be user error because of the 'one start'.
shimmy, are you serious??? see...
http://www.svtperformance.com/forums...ol-genius.html

the only major issues are the trans grinding and was the clutch issues. this is a 1st year powertrain[/i], everyone who bought a 2011 took the risk, and problems should be expected to some extent."

There are so many things wrong with this, I'm just gonna suggest we agree to disagree.

 

[Torch10th]

I see a lot of bitching about warming up a car and not being able to shift.

You all realize that you can warm your car up for an hour if you want, but until the car is in motion with the transmission in gear, it's still cold! Of coarse it's gonna be tough to shift.

In all the mustangs and all the cars I've ever had with a manual, they all suck in the cold until the transmission temp is up. 02 Mustang, 99 and 03 Cobra, 05 Mustang, Focus, Celica, C6 Corvette and C6 Z06...yup. ALL of them had horribly shifting transmissions until they came up to temp.

Heck the LS series engines make so much noise both cold and at temperature, you'd think they're coming apart.

I will say this however. My 5.0 does have a tick/thump that starts appearing as the engine starts warming up. It's noticeable only at idle. The car however runs flawlessly regardless of this fact.

My dealership has taken a look at the issue and Ford has advised that it is normal operation. They asked the mechanics to remove the AC serpentine belt and if the noise was reduced or removed the noise is normal.

Although I don't like it there's not much that I can or care to do about it. If the motor grenades itself because of an issue that ford hasn't yet discovered as part of this noise, they will certainly provide a new one.

 

[Go Heels]

As follow up to this guys, the dealership found the noise to be coming from cylinder #3, they advised Ford of the problem and again said the noise was normal. The General Manager of the dealership gave me the ESP that covers the powertrain to 100K miles, he told me he would be upset too....hence the freebe. Going to be interesting to see if a TSB or recall...or something ever comes out on this...seems like more and more people are having the same problem.

 

[Blown2004Stang]

Man, I love it when one wise guy gets witty with an OP that has genuine concerns, and then everyone else, desperate to defend their babies, starts piling on.

You people screaming at the OP about letting the car warm up before driving need to take a giant leap into the 21st century. The piston noise and transmission troubles he's talking about are not things you only get at -10 degrees and when you're gunning it right out of the driveway before the ignition chime stops.

The piston noise he's talking about appears between 2000 and 3000 RPMs at temperatures as high as 60 (in my experience). It takes a solid 15 minutes to go away.

The transmission "clunkiness" is a downright GRIND for many of us, and it takes a good 20 minutes or more to lighten up at 30 degrees.

In 2010, a $35k+ car should not need to warm up for 15+ minutes in order to operate somewhere close to normal. Should you gun it? Nope, but it shouldn't embarrass you, either.

If you're happy with your car, I'm happy for you. But the OP's concerns are legit.

This ^^^^

I get piston slap for at least 10-15 minutes until the car is well into the operating temp range. And, no, I don't "hammer" on it when it's cold. I let the car warm up for about 5 minutes, then, keep it under 2K or so when it's cold. I have to, because I get a nasty rattle at about 2500-3K rpm, even at light throttle. I build performance engines for a living, and I can tell you that this is NOT normal. I have forged piston motors running around at 7-800hp that don't make noise after a 5 minute warmup. These motors have cast pistons, which run tight clearances. There's no excuse for this kind of noise.

As far as the trans.. Mine grinds going into reverse, grinds and is tough to get into 2nd/3rd, and whines like a twin screw in any gear but 5th. I'm talking a nasty, school bus transmission whine.. I took my buddy for a ride tonight, and he was freaking out at how loud it was.

I have a wierd vibration at any speed over 60mph, and my diff is now howling when I go around turns.

All in all, I'm not very happy with this car. I'm going to the dealership this week, and see what can be done about it. I'm not one to take no for an answer, either. I don't care if there's a TSB.. I want it fixed. If they won't take care of it, I'll get an attorney involved. It's that simple. I didn't pay 32K for this mess.

Travis

 

[28]

Here's an idea call me crazy but why not let the car warm up for 10minutes before you take it out? do you know what cold looks like? id compare it to Carmel in the pan. shit i let my car warm up on a 90 degree day.

I also always warm up my car.. Cold or hot out..:shrug:

 

[DTRAIN_WV]

Why don't you try contacting Ford instead of coming here?

Can any of us fix the issue with your car?

Seems like you came here to try and stir the pot.

Also remember that this a first year production on a totally different Mustang. You are going to have problems. It happens with a lot of first run models.

I can't give you any advice on what you should do, but coming here and expressing your dislike of your new car isn't going to illicit a lot of positive responses.